What does Homeschooling Mean to Us?

I have seen many post on twitter about this question

What Does Homeschooling Mean to Us?

I know why Jeff and I chose to homeschool our children but I wondered if the children knew the reasons why we choose to homeschool them.  So I asked them to come together to answer this question.

10 Reasons Why We Homeschool

1.  Family - This could mean several different things but we come together in many of our subjects and learn as a family.  We usually are all together as a family.   Homeschooling gives us more time to be with our family, not only the five of us but with grandparents and cousins.

 

2.  Pray Together - We start our day praying as a family and we end our day praying as a family. We are not rushed out the door meeting a school bell or rushed at home at night to get to bed so we have enough rest for a full school day.  We share praises and request.  As a mom, to hear my children pray gives me a glimpse into their hearts.  

3.  Money - not really sure about this one but my guess is they get to earn money by doing responsibilities during the day.  We do talk a lot about money and how we are on a budget since I stay home with the kiddos and we buy curriculum and things for school.

4.  Faith - God called us to homeschool our kids so we are honoring him in all we do.  We wanted our kids to know that if God calls you to do something, you need to be obedient to Him.  Homeschooling also gives us the opportunity to have Bible and Worldview as curriculum that we teach in our day.  Homeschooling gives us a chance to share our faith with others because most people have questions about homeschooling but this is just the door to talk about the Gospel with them.

 5.  Learn good - We talk about how we choose curriculum based upon what we need - strengths and weaknesses not just cookie cutter class because you are in a certain grade but what you need or want to learn about each year.  Example, Seth was eager to write in cursive so in second grade he learned cursive. 

6.  Praise - This means we build each other up by paying attention to all the good everyone does.  Effort is what we are looking for each and every day and in each subject.

7.  Mom Happy - Ha!  I have a hard time explaining this but hopefully they mean they work hard to make me happy.  I try to show them how much time and effort I spend in planning each and every day. 

8.  Better Education - This makes me feel as though their education is personal.  We are picking and choosing things that make them well equipped to give back and serve when they are older.  The solid foundation will carry over into the next generation.

9.  Time - Time to do the things they enjoy doing, but time to spend on the areas that need more attention.

10.  Good atmosphere - Yes we have high standards and things aren't always happy and jolly but our children feel safe to let down their guard and be exposed to their weaknesses without begin made fun of, picked on or just when the day is just a bad day. 

I also asked my kids

 10 Reasons Why You Love Homeschool

1.  Fun - We do have fun around here but I think they enjoy the fun activities or places we are able to go because we can rearrange our schedule to meet our families needs

 

 2.  Breaks - you usually work for 9 weeks and take a week off.  Homeschooling gives us the flexibility to make those choices.

3.  Not as much stuff - I think we do just as much stuff or more but I am able to integrate things into the different subject areas so they feel as they learning is taking place all at once and not just in individual subject areas.  I love themes

4.  Family Time - Like I said - we do many things all together.  We are side by side a lot. If you see one of us you usually see all 4 of us.  Ella goes to TKD and the boys go to ballet practice each week.

Spending time on trips and traveling

 

5.  Friend Time - we love being able to get together with others families to learn, make, bake or just go.

 

6.  Sleepovers - My kids love to have friends over or go to their house.  We can adjust school schedule to do this during the week.  We have even had friends join us for schooling.

7.   Technology - not that this is a biggie but Garrett loves have his Ipad to work on for assignment.  We use Ipads quiet a bit for even playing games or apps to reinforce what we are learning.

8.  Help - I am here to help at any time.  Lots of reinforcement and one on one given here

9.  Nice teacher - I think this means a coop.  It is wonder to walk beside other families that are doing the same thing you are, teaching God's Word and living God's Word to their children.  It is wonderful to be able to turn your kids over to moms who will speak wisdom into your kids but do it in a way that you would do yourself.  Or my kids could mean that they have the best teacher in the world - their own mom  ha

10.  Own pace - if we need to slow down we can, if we need to speed up we can, if we need to double up on day to take a day off the next day we can, if we love a subject we can spend more time.  If we need a break, take one.  Garrett was able to run with me in the mornings as we were training for a 5K. 

 

Learning is a beautiful thing and I am so blessed that I am the one who gets to see these sweet moments take place each and everyday.

We are so blessed to be able to homeschool our children.  I love the opportunity to do this.  I am so thankful for the families that have gone on before us to make this homeschooling thing possible.  I am so blessed to see how God works in the lives of my kids but also in mine.

I have a sticky note on my lessons plan that I move each week.  So when people ask me how I do this:  Here is my answer

"The weight of homeschooling is not on my shoulders but HIS shoulders."  God would not have called us to do this if he was not going to walk us through this.  Our goal is to raise up children who will use their gifts and talents to serve the Lord.