About Homeschooling-Part 2

So We Began

When we lived in West Texas we were near a cousin of mine.  He and his wife homeschooled their children and I found much encouragement and advice (the good kind) from them.  I was introduced to an idea of raising life-long learners.  I saw first hand what a homeschool setting could look like.  I was warned against doing "school at home" as opposed to "homeschooling".  Of course I didn't follow all of dear Amy's advice.  For instance, the second Aidan showed an interest in learning, I plopped him at the table and started "teaching" him stuff.  It didn't take me long (although maybe longer than it should have) to figure out that all the reading, the talking, the playing we were doing, and the life we were living was the learning he needed.

I read every book on homeschooling I could find, and immersed myself in the culture of homeschooling as much as I could.  I loved what I heard about homeschooled children being able to connect with people of all ages, be ahead academically, be close to their families, etc... I had an ideal image of what homeschooling was.  Even though it was a bit idealistic, my vision of homeschooling helped to direct what we wanted for our family.

Below you will find a list of my pros and cons of homeschooling.  I've tried to stick with the actual pros/cons that I've noticed in our experience not the supposed pros/cons of homeschooling.

CONS

* This takes time, and a lot of time.  Right now, most of my time is focussed on creating a learning environment for the kids and helping them along the way.  The house still needs to be cleaned, the laundry done, and every one still has to eat (tried to experiment with that last one, nope...still need to eat).  I'm personally not one who needs a lot of "me" time as a mom.  This is good because at the end of the day, there's not a lot of time left for anything.

* We are together all the time.  All...of...the....time.

* It can get pricey, especially if you spend the first handful of years flitting about from one set of materials to another, to another, to another, to another.  You get the picture.

* It can be easy to let the flexibility of homeschooling get out of control.  When you have a late night and no one wants to get up in the morning, it's very tempting to let every one get up when they want to and not demand work to get done.  Also, it's easy to let life's interruptions become excuses to not "do school".

* It's hard to not get emotional involved when teaching.  There have been times that I get very frustrated at a child's inability to "get" something and then I get upset.  Not cool.

PROS

* I know my children's learning styles and can accommodate accordingly

*We are together all the time.  We've worked to raise our children to be people we enjoy being around (and hopefully others enjoy them as well).  Sure, we get sick of each other at times, but we truly love being together.

*Homeschooling is much, much cheaper than sending a child to a private school.

*Having the flexibility to say "no school" when I need to is wonderful.  New baby?  Trip?  Illness?  Sometimes we just need a break.  I've discovered that most of their learning (surprise, surprise) has come from an unexpected event.  My kids have learned that life and learning are not two separate events.

*My kids are great friends.  Do not mistake this for "my children always get along".  I love the relationships that have developed between all the siblings.  They get to be around one another in a way that they wouldn't if the oldest group was in school all day and the younger crew left at home.

*My kids are not influenced by pop culture.  No, they are not social misfits either.  I want children who can see something for what it is and be able to form their opinion without being influenced by what "every one else is doing".  I realize that my kids are young yet and this will probably change somewhat.  However, so far I'm impressed at how my children can be individuals and yet still relate to people of all kinds.

*My kids truly can communicate/relate to people of all ages.  I love that!

*I get to pick what my children learn, and I know them better than any one else, so I also get to decide how they will learn it.

*Our faith is central to our schooling.

*If we are in the middle of an excellent read-aloud (which we often are) and the kids want to hear "just one more chapter, please!" we can continue to read.  We've spent countless hours sharing good books with one another and if nothing else gets done that day, I still count it as a school day done well.

*When Brett is home, we can be together as a family.  We schedule our school year around the university calendar so we can optimize our time together.

I'm sure I'll think of more pros (and cons) to our specific homeschooling experience.  We have days where I want to flag the big yellow bus down and tell the driver she forgot a couple of kids, but most days I cherish the time I get to be with these little (and not so little anymore) ones.

(Next up...what our homeschool looks like)