Why homeschool?

Last week I had a friend ask me for advice and info on homeschooling.  I got carried away with my response (as I always do when it is about something that I am passionate about) and it got a little windy.  Thought I would share with my readers and anyone who seeks homeschooling advice.

Here was my response:

As for homeschooling-

The summer prior to Emma's kindergarten year I knew at the time that sending her to school didn't seem right! I had this tiny baby when I was so young, stayed home with her for 5 years, slept with her, taught her to walk, taught her to share and taught her to read. You know how it is-we work so hard to prepare our children for the world. The thought of me dropping her off somewhere at 8 am everyday and letting her there all day flabbergasted me! It is in no oaffense to the teachers and staff-just my thoughts on what I owe my child. I have a very old school belief that our children are our responsibility and that includes their eductaion. Wether you believe that the best education you can give your child is a private school, public school or homeschooling is up to each and every parent but for Josh and I we truly believe we can provide the kids the best learning experience they could get here at home.

So-
Emma's kindergarten year, after much thought and consideration we decided to keep her home. Emma and I had a wonderful year. Layed back, spending time with me and her siblings every day. No we did not always wake up at 7 am and start school at 8 and do it all day. That is ridiculous and takes away from the beuty of homeschooling. When you homeschool you get that authentic lifestyle-one that works for you and your family.

We ordered A Beka Book curriculum. It is a bit prciy but worth it if you can swing it. It is chrsit centered and also includes respect in the daily lessons-even at a kinder level. It walks you through every lesson-even tells you word for word what to say to your child. I highly recommend it.

We took a break from homeschooling when Emma moved onto 1st grade due to a panic attack/insecurity of my own. I was worried about money and work was offered to me so I felt led to take it (health dept). Emma had a wonderful year in 1st grade-adapted fine, made lots of friends, excelled academically and was blessed with a wonderful teacher. All that said-she also changed a bit in personality and attitude. Picked up poor habits from peers and was bored with the curriculum as she was so far ahead. We had her tested at the end of the kinder year and she scored at 4the grade level in some areas. SHe was not behind in anything. More prrof that one on one homeschooling is so effective academically!

Anyway-we decided to keep the kids home for good this school year. Emma is in 2nd grade and Ella in kinder. With the cost of curriculums we decided to try the free online school Connections Academy. We have been using the program for almost 2 months now and we love it. All books, school supplies and computers were shipped to us for free. Their lessons are posted online each day and I teach 80% of it to them face to face using workbooks etc and 20% they are online taking quizzes and watching videos. I am pleased so far with the way things are going.

Basicially if you decide to homeschool you just let the school know the summer before they start that you will be homeschooling. You will have to fill out a form and submit it to the superintendent. The form can be found online easily. I will let you know where once I find it.

Feel free to ask any questions at all. If you are even considering being home with your kids then you are no doubt going to be a wonderful teacher to your children. When your heart is led to this it will be a good experience. If you are doing becasue someone tells you to or you feel pressure then it can be an aggravating and stressful situtaion. Do it becasue YOU want to!

As far as affording things on one income-it's tough! Sacrifice is the name of the game! For us it's no new car, no shopping sprees, no cable etc. But the results you get and the time you spend with your kids is worth every sacrifice!

I will pray that you can thinkl about this with an open mind and do what works best for you and your family!

Good luck!

Courtney

I should add some more to my story as I left a crucial part out.  The summer before Emma's kinder year when I knew it didn't make sense to me to send her to school I kept thinking and thinking about what in the heck my options were?  I had thought about homeschooling but was embarrassed to bring it up to Josh for some reason.  The only people I knew at the time who homeschooled were people who wore long skirts and buns in their hair and to no offense-I knew that wasn't us!  Anyway, I finally brought it up to Josh casually and he didn't quite get it and we dropped it.

One sunny August day I was running errands with the kids and saw a garage sale.  I think garage sales are fun and a great idea but I am not typically a garage saler.  I never carry cash on me and garage sales don't accept my VISA and with three kids in the back who already have enough toys they always see some giant stuffed animal that they had to have at the sale.  So, I typically avoid them.  ANyway-this day was different...I practically slammed on my brakes to pull over for this sale.  We all got out and browsed a bit and I came across a tote full of workbooks and school papers.  I thought "Wow, I could totally use this to teach Emma!!"  Then I saw all these text books on math, reading, spelling etc!  I was pumped!  I asked the lady running the sale if she was a teacher.  She said "no, well not really, kind of."  OK?  Are you or not, lady?!  Anyway she got up from her chair and came to talk to me.  SHe said I have 5 children and I homeschool them-I was immediately interested.  We ended up talking for close to an hour about it.  SHe was just the person I needed to see.  SHe told me to follow my heart and give it a try.  SHe was not pushy or anything just really laid-back and informative!  Come to find out she was having the sale as a fundraiser for her youth group.  Her husband is a pastor.  I know this was the Holy Spirit at it's best.  God had his hand in this decision and that is what makes it feel so much more right.

I went and told Josh about it and I think sometimes when you retell an encounter with the Holy Spirit you come off as a crazy lady.  He was patient with me and listened and still I think he secretly thought this was a phase and he couldn't wait until I got over ,lol!  The Holy Spirit continued to wrok in our family-Josh did a 360 and was eventually more psyched about it than me.  People continued to enter my life that were homeschooling families and all was well with the world and our decision to spend every waking moment with our children.