school @ home: why we do it

Today I'm finishing up a little series I started on homeschooling.

For those that aren't homeschoolers, I'm sorry for draggin' on...

I'll quit now.  For now :)

Homeschooling is something that I've become incredibly passionate about, so it's hard not to talk about your passions non-stop, but lucky for you I have lots of passions :)

So far in this series, we've covered

Getting Started

Staying Sane :)

and

A Collection of Questions from you.

So last, but not least...why we, as in The Hutchinsons, homeschool our brood.

Good question...why would we do such a crazy thing?!

Well, here's what I've got...

It started out in the spring of my oldest's, Noah, first year of school.  He was just finishing up his year of kindergarten and it had gone fine.  Just...fine. 
To be honest, I was turned off by the 20,000 worksheets in his backpack and his blah attitude about school.  I had wanted to homeschool from the moment the kid was born, which is odd because I became a mama way too young and didn't know squat about being a mom, let alone a homeschooling mom.  I had no clue what I was thinking, but that feeling never ever went away.

We sent Noah to kindergarten at a private Christian school as a truce because Jarrod and I could not agree on the homeschool issue.

He didn't want our kids to turn out to be weirdos :)

(smiling to myself at where we're at now)

I started up the nag-fest yet again that spring of Noah's kindergarten year.

Note to other wives: Nagging doesn't work, really it doesn't.

I HATE that it doesn't work, because I'm a master at it.

But when I came to the conclusion that I would not be able to nag him to my side of the spectrum, I did what any respectful wife would do...

no, not bribe him with you-know-what....I gave him a deadline.

Very calmly I said,
"Ok, I know you don't want me to do this...BUT here's my list of pro's....(handing him list)...

think, pray, meditate on this.  And let me know in a week."

PS: it really helped my cause that as we were having this convo he was packing his bag for a motorcycle trip to an outdoor Jack Johnson concert....do I know timing or what!?! :)

Ok, so upon his return he answered me, yes.

Sidenote: I am not a weak-willed woman.  I think it's a little creepy to ask your husband "permission" to do every little thing.  But this was a biggie and I knew we needed to be united on it.   If I had really wanted to, I could have said I'm doing it and ordered my stuff.

But I knew I would have created a huge barrier between us.

I wanted him on board with me.

The rest is history, folks.

We have two months left of our 3rd year of homeschooling.

I love it for so many reasons...

here are a few:

{Freedom and Flexibility}

The flexibility that goes along with schooling your kids at home is huge to me.

If we feel like blowing off school to go to the museum or decide to spend the whole day doing art projects, it's all school.  And I love that.

I can use curriculum that fits my kids' needs and learning style.  I can choose to study things with them that truly interest them.

I can go spend the day with my mom in my hometown with the kids picking apples and not have to schedule around school.

 

{The Love of Learning}

I did not love learning until I was out of school.  I want that to be different for my kids.

I so desire for my kids to LOVE (with capital letters) to learn.

I want them to be passionate about learning new things.

I want school to be a fun part of our day, not a chore.

I want school to be something we all look forward to, not dread.

And most days, I think we accomplish that.  And that makes this mama very happy.

{Sheltered}

I'd be lying if I said I'm not glad my kids have avoided certain things because of homeschooling.

I'm ok with them not knowing certain things they shouldn't know anyway.

Sheltering my kids from the world was never a reason we started homeschooling, but it is an added bonus.

{I wanna be with my babies}
Ya.  That may sound weird, but really...I do.

I like them being around me.  I don't want them gone all day.

We have so much fun, I can't imagine them not being here while they're still so small.

That day will come, this I know, but right now they're still all mine.

{A deep desire}

For whatever reason, God gave me a deep desire to homeschool....waaaay back when my first baby was born.

I think in the back of my mind I always knew I would.

I decided to grab on to that desire and have had such a blast along the way.

I am not the type of homeschool mama to ask about IQ scores or how many languages my kids speak...they are not rocket scientists and we are not perfect in any way.

But I have passion for what I'm doing.

We have fun together.  We start each school day by reading the Word and praying together.

We argue like everybody else, but we've bonded as a family and my boys are the best of friends and they adore their little sis.

I don't know how long we'll have this blessing of schooling our kids, but while we have it, I'm gonna praise God everyday that I do.

Thanks for reading along.

xo

{alicia}