Why I decided to homeschool

      I have always gone back & forth on homeschooling for my kids. I was homeschooled on & off as a child myself. I was homeschooled thru 2nd grade, and when I was enrolled at the local private school I completed 3rd & 4th grade in one year. I was homeschooled again my 9th & 10th grades of highschool (we were actually in South America for my 10th grade year). Because of the way I was raised, I have a very fluid view of education. Once I pick a school, I'm not committed to it for life. It's something I re-evaluate every year. As long as my kids are doing well where they are at, I don't mess with it. But if need be, I re-evaluate their education plan.

      I always assumed I would homeschool my boys the first few years of school, but it turns out that wasn't what they needed. If I had to do it all over again, I would still enroll them at the local public school. They thrived & really came out of their shells there. That being said, this past year, I had to re-evaluate because they weren't thriving. Even though we loved the school, the teachers, the principal, and the students, neither of my boys were thriving academically.

Casey, my youngest, was in the gifted program. He's always been advanced at reading & math, and this past year we were able to get him in the program for gifted students. Even so, I still didn't feel he was being challenged enough. He was still doing grade-level assignments – he was just pulled aside twice a week for 30 minutes to work on an extra project. That was great, and I totally get that they can only do so much, but he was still bored with the work at school & wasn't able to really go at his own pace (totally understandable when you have 20+ kids in a class). Again, the school did the best they could – he just needed more.

      Connor, my oldest, is on the autism spectrum. Our local public school has been absolutely amazing with him & I have recommended it to so many people. Even so, he was struggling academically. He's a very smart kid & thinks outside the box (what box?? hahaha), but his grades were all C's & D's. We've tried doing extra work at home after school, but when there are just 3 hours between the kids getting off the bus & them going to bed, there wasn't much time or mental energy to work with.

      So we decided to try something new. We pulled them out of school after Thanksgiving break & have switched to homeschooling. It has been going great! Both of my boys love learning & are self-motivated. This morning while eating breakfast, completely unprompted by me, Casey was doing math on the computer & Connor was reading about Saturn. Yesterday, “for fun”, Connor (again, completely unprompted) pulled up his online Astronomy course (way above his grade level – probably a highschool or college level course) and continued it for almost an hour.

      With today's technology, homeschooling can look entirely different from how it looked when I was a kid. When I was young, homeschooling was basically just replicating school at home. Instead of being taught by a teacher, you were taught by your mom. Today, because of the internet, my kids can learn from the top experts in each field. They can learn in fun, engaging ways that are more likely to keep their interest & “stick”. They don't have to sit for 7 hours in a classroom each day to learn these things – there are other ways.

      When I share my homeschooling experience, I am not doing so in order to “convert” everyone to homeschooling or judge those who don't homeschool. Not at all. I don't believe there is a one-size-fits-all. It's something that can change with each child & even over time. It's something that we as parents can figure out for our own kids. If traditional schooling isn't a good fit for your child – for whatever reason – I want you to know that there is another option! Depending on your circumstances, it has the potential to be a much better fit for your family.

      A Ted Talk I listened to recently estimated that roughly 1/3rd of students do well with the current traditional education system. Roughly 1/3rd do ok (either are ahead of or behind, but go thru the system & come out ok in spite of the system). And for roughly 1/3rd of students, the traditional system doesn't work at all. That's pretty sobering, especially when we try to make all students learn the same things at the same pace with standardized testing. Truth is, it doesn't work for everyone. Yes, you can make your kids “tough it out” because life doesn't make exceptions so why should school? But is that really the best way? “If a child can't learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.”
― Ignacio Estrada

      When I share my experience with working from home, I am not trying to judge people who have “traditional” jobs or say everyone needs to quit their jobs & work from home. But it IS a great option for those who want something different. In the same way, homeschooling is a great option for those who want something different. If what you're doing now works for you, great! If it doesn't, explore other options! You have more control over your life than you may realize & it's ok to think outside the box & do things differently.

      When I share why I like homeschooling, I'm not trying to knock on “traditional” schools or teachers or those who choose to have their kids in those schools. Not at all! I'm just sharing why this is a better fit for us right now. There are pro's and con's to each option. The thing I miss the most about “traditional” school is getting a break from my kids every day – hahaha! But for us at this point, the pro's of homeschooling far outweigh the cons.

      And by no means do I think homeschooling is perfect! There is certainly the potential to screw things up big time - probably far worse than traditional schooling would ever do. So it definitely has to be done intentionally & is not a good fit for everyone. But it also has the potential to be amazing!
When I look at the jobs of today & the jobs of the future, I have to wonder how much traditional schooling is actually preparing my kids personally for the future workforce. Technology is changing so fast, and so many of today's & tomorrow's jobs didn't exist even 20 years ago. Perhaps it's time we think outside the box. And yes, there are some jobs that will be always be around, and by nature need the traditional format (medicine, for one). But there are many, many jobs that do not. So perhaps we should consider options outside the one-size-fits-all format.

Voluntarily doing math over breakfast

Reading about Saturn over breakfast