When God first began calling me to homeschool, I felt confused and hesitant. Over the past few years, he has encouraged me to change my outlook on what it means to raise our children, especially when it comes to educating them. I have grown to love homeschooling and through it have come to trust the Lord's plan for our family more and more. Here are 9 reasons why we homeschool our kids.
1. To Cultivate Virtue
The best piece of advice I ever received regarding homeschooling came to me at a Mom's Night Out. I was chatting with a homeschooling mom who had five kids at the time. I told her that God had put it on my heart to consider homeschooling (which was a very foreign idea to me!) I confessed to her that I didn't think I was "patient enough to homeschool." She honestly and cleverly responded to me with, " yeah...I don't think sending your kids to public school, is going to help you grow in patience." I was shocked! But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me. If I sent my kids to school all day wouldn't I be less accustomed to being around them, and therefore more reactive to them when they arrived home from school? Could choosing to be around my kids more, help me have more patience? Well, going into our third year of homeschooling this fall, I can definitely say it has! I have quite honestly been forced to grow in patience. I am so grateful for the cultivation of this virtue. I love homeschooling, and also the mom it has shaped me into so far. I am not perfect! I am still very impatient actually (I had a low starting point of it I think), but I am growing in it. Not only do I get to experience this growth as a person, but my children are witnessing and practicing virtue along with me. They get to see the real-life example of their mother growing, failing, and trying again in virtue and other lessons along the way. I truly think I learn more during the school year than the kids do. God is always teaching me lessons in our homeschool, and I love being a student alongside our children.
2. To Cultivate Faith
I want our kid's to do what they were brought onto this earth to do. That is to know, love and serve God! The reality is, we are all born with a God-shaped hole. God is the only one who can fulfill us completely. Aaron and I are imperfect and unfortunately we are going to fail. I want our kids to know Jesus personally, the One who will never fail them. I hope this foundation of faith will carry them through life’s many trials, joys, and decisions. I think it's important to show this faith in real-life situations. Homeschooling is a beautiful way to relate God to my kid’s in real-life, non-textbook ways.
3. Socialization
Yes, you read that right! I know well the misconception that homeschooled kids aren’t socialized and I think it’s important to define the word here. Socialization is defined as "the activity of mixing socially with others" and "the process of learning to behave in a way that is acceptable to society." Children don't learn how to be a part of a society by sitting in a classroom with thirty peers the same age as them. This is not socialization, but rather forced association. I want our kids to learn to interact with the world around them, not only with kids their same ages. Learning to be a part of our world is not taught in a classroom, but in the real world. And a large part of this is taught in the family. I think when people ask me, "what about socialization" they really mean "what about them having friends?" Not only do our kids have friends, but most school days their work is done by lunchtime leaving them most of the day to interact with these friends. I love homeschooling for the freedom it creates in our kid's schedules for interaction with each other, their friends, and the world around them.
4. To Foster Sibling Relationships
Aaron and I place a high value on the relationships our kids have with each other. Sometimes we almost feel jealous of them for the bonds and friendship they have with one another. My brothers are five years older, and eleven years younger than me, so naturally I never experienced the relatability that comes with having siblings close in age. The way our children play, create, laugh, fight, resolve, forgive, it's all so beautiful to witness. I love that homeschooling gives a foundation for our kid's relationships with each other. I really value the time they get with each other on a daily basis, and I hope to continue fostering their closeness.
5. To Be of Service
Just as marriage is seen as a sacrament of service, this also carries over into the vocation of motherhood. I am called to serve my children and to love them as Christ loves them. Homeschooling is the choice that requires more of me, and allows me to serve my children the most. Homeschooling requires more giving, more creating, more sacrifice, and more growth in myself. All of these things are worth it to me, to know that I am giving my children the best education I possibly can. When my husband and I first began discerning homeschooling, I had a family member tell me that I was not "qualified to homeschool." Maybe it's for the best that I am stubborn, because her comment made me research the idea all the more! All joking aside though, if I was truly not "qualified" to teach my children who I know better than anyone else in the world, why on earth would I send them to the same education system that left me so very unqualified? We are called to be our kid's first educators. God has chosen Aaron and I specifically for this mission. In the same breath, I am aware of my dependence on God more than ever, now that we are homeschooling. I realize that I cannot do anything without His help. Homeschooling has a way of highlighting my weaknesses, and beautifully highlighting God's strength. I love that I get to participate so closely with the Lord, when it comes to raising up the children He has blessed us with.
6. Real Life Lessons
One thing I really missed out on in public school, was real-life learning. As it is currently structured, preschool prepares our kids for elementary school, elementary school prepares them for middle school, middle school prepares them for high school, and high school prepares them to get into college. If they do reach this goal, attending college hopefully secures them a job. Then what? What happens after they go through this system? Do they work a 9 to 5, and hope they can cover their bills plus have a little extra for savings and enjoyment? Who teaches our kids how money works? Not only how to make it, but how their money can make money? Who teaches them to plan, budget, or to invest? Who teaches them about cooking, cleaning, organization, taxes, oil changes? I personally did not receive lessons on these real-life subjects during my public school education. Every day our kids witness real life being lived out in our home. That may be grocery shopping or paying bills, collecting the mail, tending to the garden, interacting with our tenants, wrapping presents, praying throughout the day, hosting dinner parties, praying the rosary, cleaning messes, etc. I hope the time we spend together as a family sets our children up well for the real world.
7. To Teach Their Whole Person
The public-school system, in general, is focused on teaching our kid’s minds. God has more for our children than the grades they achieve and the job they eventually earn income from. Of course I hope our kid's are successful and have an abundant life, but I want this abundance to apply to their whole person. Children need lessons that teach their souls, not only their minds. Who teaches our kids to love and serve God? Who teaches them about faith? Who teaches them how to be a loving spouse, or to live by virtue? Who guides them to prioritize Jesus? Of course, these lessons can be taught when kids come home from public school, but there is very honestly much less time to do so. Our kids are not just minds, or bodies. They are also souls. They should not only be treated as such, they should be educated as such. Homeschooling allows me much more time to pour into our kid's as a whole, as they were created by God.
8. To Cultivate a Love for Learning
I went through elementary, middle, and high school never having cultivated a love for learning. For most of my education I was not permitted to study anything I was truly interested in. This is such a shame! I spent so many years studying things that I didn't want to learn about, and I think this really bogged down my hunger for learning. Because I was not interested in the material, I did not retain much. I was also never was taught how to learn. In my opinion this should be one the first things we teach. I want our children to have an educational experience that is different from mine. I want them to love learning, to feel they are good at it, and to know how they each learn differently. I want them to be in the driver seat of their education when it comes to their passions and interests. I want them to ask questions, to dig deeper, all because they choose to. I love that I was able to meet our son's interest in volcanoes last year by doing an eruption experiment. In public school, he would have waited years before doing that, and by then his interest would be entirely different. In our homeschool, there is no set age for when an interest should be explored, they learn when they are craving the knowledge. I also find peace knowing that I can cater to our kid's unique educational levels. If I need to, I can have a child in between first and second grade. I love that I can move them along to the next "grade" level whenever they are truly ready, instead of when they reach a particular age.
9. I Like My Kids!
Lastly, we chose to homeschool because we like being with our kids! I know this sounds obvious, but in a culture that treats pregnancy as a disease and children as a burden, it can tempting to believe some of the lies our society projects about kids. Children are a blessing! I am called to be present to my kids, by being their main caregiver and teacher (see "more than a mother"). Sending kids to school outside the home works for many families, and I do not judge this decision! For our family however, we see the short time we get with our children while they are young and teachable as precious. I see this season as a gift to pour into them, and that of course comes from spending time with them. It is not easy to spend my days with the constant needs of kids ages 5, 3 and 1, but I choose to see it as a time I "get to" have with them. The days are long (so long!) but the years are short.