Some reasons we homeschool…
1. Sometimes I let the kids sleep in!!! hallelujah.
Truthfully, most mornings, we are up at 6:30. And I feel guilty sleeping in…and sometimes sleeping wreaks havoc on our schedule (see Expectations blog)…but some mornings, I lay around for an extra hour. On those mornings I work on a blog, or eat toast in peace, or take a shower without anyone knocking on the door to let me know that someone is STARING at them, or breathing too loud, or can they have cake for breakfast?
It is good. and quiet on the sleep-in mornings, at least temporarily.
hallelujah, again.
2. I like challenging people’s stereotypes.
Let’s be honest…some people think homeschooling is all nerds, long skirts and pants-pulled-up-to-pits. I find it thrilling when my sometimes-mohawk-ed, sometimes-earring-ed boys jump up to give a lady their seat without being asked. I love it that my girls want to bleach a strip of hair and then dye it pink or blue, have black fingernails…and then ask if they can help a sweet, little, elderly man unload his groceries at the store. I love it that they prove weird hair and ear holes have very little to do with character. Stereotypes are for the birds.
3. Flexibility…sort of.
I am a little obnoxious about our schedule. I really like the kids to get things done in a timely manner. However, I also love to grab the school books, pack up the bus and head for the beach, or the lake. I love it that we can make a library run to research something that is especially interesting. I love it that the kids can go work with Nigel.
This flexibility means all the kids can pursue activities they love..Judsen and bikes, T.C. with music and sports, Joseph, Corban and Mia love gymnastics, and Celee with her dancing. I could NEVER do all of that craziness with a 7 to 3 school schedule. I couldn’t get anyone where they needed to be on time. It just would not happen. So along came homeschool…with all it’s flexible hours, night school, and Saturday morning school…so we can manage education with lots of activities…it works for us.
4. Together.
Corban and Mia do science together. They love it. They beg to do science first. And I sigh and insist they do their math (which is their least favorite subject for the moment) and then “reward” them with kindly “allowing” them to do their science assignment together.
I am positive Mia and Corban would never be in the same science class if they went to school. It makes me smile to see them obsessing over Uranus and Neptune. And spending lots of time when they are done with school finding out how old each one of us would be in Jovian years. (on Jupiter) They discuss it, read about it, write about it, and they do all of it together. They are science buddies. So maybe I need to take back my nerd comment from earlier..this makes us nerds, doesn’t it?
The other kids are very similar. Judsen and Joe like doing their history research at the same time. Celee and T.C. do grammar and science together.
Some things the teacher (that’s me) has learned…
1. to be less neurotic
2. that generally, the kids are smarter than I am
3. that I have GOT to study Algebra II before next year! EEK!
4. that homeschool IS a real word, even thought my spell checker says it isn’t…for about a year I was never sure…home school? home-school? (check grammarphobia blog at grammarphobia.com or Merriam-Webster)
Definition of homeschool (vti)
- teach or be taught at home: to teach somebody at home, or be taught at home rather than in the public school system
- school run at home: a school run usually by parents in the home for their children, using an approved curriculum
5. School doesn’t always mean at-the-table and quiet. On nice days…and sometimes not-so-nice days Judsen and Joe’s school room looks like this…
the sometimes 8 irons 
Just now saw this post. Well said! 🙂
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