Since we have finally got on the road, we were finally able to start our homeschool year. I constantly get asked “why do you homeschool?” My answer? “Why not?” Allow me to answer with a few more questions.

There is no school equal to a decent home and no teacher equal to a virtuous parent. – Gandhi

Why would I want my someone else to teach my children the “black and white” of education when life is every color ever created and more? Why would I want one or two people to teach 20+ children one style of teaching when their are multiple learning styles and not all children are the same learning style, predestining their failure because they cannot comprehend thus then labeling the child and more often than not, leaving them behind, educationally?

Why would I want to send my children to an institution that doesn’t even teach our children skills to prepare for the scary big world we all live in, once again predestining their failure as an adult? Having graduated from public school myself and personally knowing what they DID NOT prepare me for in the real world, why would that be considered okay to pass the struggle and the possible failure on? I don’t think, as a parent, that should be an option.

Every student can learn, just not on the same day or in the same way – George Evans

None of this is the teachers fault by any means. There are some teachers in the world that truly care about the success of their students.

Public school is a governmental experiment. I’m not saying this to sound like a conspiracy theorist (that’s my husband’s territory LOL) and until my oldest was showing signs of struggling in public school, I would have never entertained the thought of homeschooling. NO ONE from the school came to her rescue, I decided to be her hero, mostly because that is my job as her mother, but also because she deserves to succeed in life! Don’t we all?

Life, as mentioned in early post, is about taking the “mistakes” and turning them into lessons. Learning from them, adapting and never repeating them. My oldest, in fourth grade at the time, was terrified to make a mistake because of how her teachers treated her when she did. Talk about making mama irate! These teachers better have been “PERFECT! In every aspect of the game!” (If you don’t know that quote, you have been missing out SUNSHINE! LOL) if they are going to belittle these children for forgetting to take a paper home or whatever the issue may be. And we all know there is only ONE who was perfect, our savior.

Those specific teachers are only teaching for a paycheck, not to shape our future!

Covid helped us with the decision to homeschool. At first, it was a joke but for months, I could not shake the idea. God was telling me that it was important and to not ignore.

For about 7 months, I did extensive research into curriculums, guidelines, state laws and honest opinions about homeschooling and I found myself understanding why God was pushing so hard. Because it was right for my family. All 5 of us.

Homeschoolers are labeled as different or weird but why? Because we have freedom? Because we learn at our own pace and in the learning style that is tailored to our needs to ensure understand that naturally will flow into success? Because we have no dress code (no seriously, my 3 year old works on his coordination and ABCs in his Ironman underwear while eating a banana)? Because we figured out that school can be fun, engaging, interesting and creative even in high school (we played wahoo today to work out counting and listening to instructions)?

Childhood is not a race to see how quickly a child can read, write, and count. Childhood is a small window of time to learn and develop at the pace which is right for each individual child. – Magda Gerber

Maybe it’s the fact that we know that 8 hours a day, behind a desk, keeping quiet are not what kids are supposed to do!

But wouldn’t that make public school different or weird because they are taking children’s creativity and imagination away? Most adults cannot stand to sit in a cubicle for 8 hours a day or having a job that’s not engaging or challenging enough. Why would expect our children to do it?

We must be careful not to discourage our twelve-year-olds by making them waste the best years of their lives preparing for examinations. – Freeman Dyson

We knew that deciding to homeschool our children would mean we would be a one income family. But we know money can’t buy happiness and our children’s intelligence, creativity and knowledge is more important that Keegan and I’s want to grow the bank account.

Taking the time to listen to what God was trying to tell me about homeschooling has opened so many doors for my family. Being able to be there when my oldest finally understands a math lesson she was lost on before was beyond gratifying. Being able to have full on conversation with decent sized words with my 5 year old is unheard of, but it happens everyday.

As a parent, you are supposed to want the best for your child(ren) and pour into that bucket of greatness and success. We chose to homeschool to ensure that our 3 children will be able to survive and thrive in the world that most of us adults cannot.

Yes, I am with my children almost 24/7. Yes, I have my bad moments throughout the day, most days. I won’t ever say I’m perfect. I am not God. I’ll even one up you. We gave up our 1500 sq. ft house to live in our fifth wheel and we still homeschool with the lack of space. Why? Because my kids deserve it. That’s the number one reason as to why most families will not homeschool, “I cannot be with my kids 24/7”.

There are ways to have your me time and self care time while being a homeschool family. Most people just don’t care to figure it out so homeschooling is not an option. Okay. That’s your choice. Good for you. But you can’t complain when (not if) public school fails them. It’s not a recipe for success.

If you have any questions or are curious at all about homeschooling, DM me on facebook or instagram. It has been the best decision for my family and it could be for you, as well, if you look past the unknown, the uncertainty, and the labels.

Once upon a time, all children were homeschooled. They were not sent away from home each day to a place just for children but lived, learned, worked, and played in the real world, alongside adults and other children of all ages. – Rachel Gathercole

This is an unusually long blog post that I will not apologize for. I want people to be informed. The more, the merrier in the homeschool world. Homeschooling has become popular again since Covid and it wouldn’t hurt to engage into your curiosity (if there is any) and see where the rabbit hole leads you. You might be as surprised as we were! Change can be good. Change can be successful. You will never know until you make that one decision. God is good, y’all!