I may receive commissions from purchases made through links in this article. Full Disclosure
If you bring up the topic of homeschooling, most of the time you will get quite the amount of criticism. I don’t really know why. I mean, you don’t get that much criticism if you send your kids to a private school, so why so many comments when you send your kids home?
In any case, I wanted to address the reasons to homeschool as well as explain the reasons that do NOT determine our decision to homeschool.
Reasons to Homeschool – Our Invalid Reasons
Religious Reasons
While I love the fact that I can teach my children about God and bring our religion into all the different subjects that I teach, it is not the reason why we homeschool.
Obviously if I sent my kids to public school, I could teach them about God once they got home so the religious reason isn’t really valid.
To Shelter Them
I am not hiding my children from the real world. Both my husband and I feel like it is important that our children graduate school without being totally naïve about real world topics.
Yes, we will decide when we will teach about certain topics and we will tailor the discussion so that it is age appropriate.
Teaching at home does not need to mean that your kid will be a deer in the headlights when they go off to college.
Because Public/Private Schools are Horrible
This I think is an important one to bring up mainly because of the teachers. When people homeschool, they aren’t doing so because they think teachers are sub-par.
There are many great teachers out there and some schools are wonderful.
It’s a bit like the whole natural living thing. When I tell a person about how I do this or that, I am not implying that the person who doesn’t do these things is some horrible person or even that they are wrong. It is just the best decision for me.
Because I Don’t Want to Let My Kids Go
I will admit that I am a clingy, protective mother. I make sure that my kids are always within my eyesight. Although in all honesty it’s never because of what could happen to them so much as what damage they could cause.
So yes, I am very glad that I do not have to send my kids away to school but if I felt like public/private school was the best option for us then I would let them go. I obviously do not have a problem letting them go as they go to Sunday School, VBS, and various other events.
Reasons to Homeschool – Our Valid Reasons
Individualized Education
Every child is different. Anyone with more then one child of their own will tell you that their kids are drastically different.
I originally had high hopes of bumping up my second son a year so that I could have both him and his older brother in the same grade (the boys are only 12 months apart, you can see why I’d love this.)
However, as it turns out my oldest son is quite advanced. The kid has his father’s sponge-like mentality and he just memorizes everything. My second child is not that way. I’m not saying he isn’t a bright child, he is but he isn’t the textbook type. He is much more the learning through play and visuals type.
Needless to say, I didn’t bump him up a grade. Homeschooling allows me to tweak how I teach. All my kids will still follow a pretty standard curriculum but they can learn it in a way that works for them.
To Challenge My Kids
As I just mentioned, my oldest child is a bit advanced. If he were in public/private school, he’d be bored to death.
Homeschooling means that I can let my oldest son do 1st grade math even though he is in Kindergarten. He doesn’t have to sit at his desk waiting on the other kids because there are no other kids.
If I see that he needs to be in a more advanced math or reading then I can just bump him up. No need to make him do work that would be boring and of no use to him.
Homeschooling also means that I can bump him up in only the areas that he’s ready for. For instance, he’s a grade ahead in math and reading but in his proper grade for the rest of the subjects.
Most of the time, if you want to bump a kid up in public/private schools, it’s an all or nothing situation (at least in elementary.) You can’t just do the next grade up in math but not the other subjects; with homeschooling you can.
An Expanded Education
Most schools stick to the basics. That of course is great. However, with homeschooling I can add in subjects that I feel are worthy of being learned.
For instances, we include Bible in our subjects. And we are starting to add Latin in as well. I will probably be adding a character building subject next year as I feel like character/manners/etc are extremely important.
Obviously as kids get older, they generally do electives in school whether it is public, private, or home. Homeschooling allows for anything to be added as an elective and they can be added whenever. You can bet that my kids will be getting a good dose of “Crunchy” electives.
A Literature Rich Education
My husband and I both love to read. One of our dreams is to have a room solely devoted to being a library. In fact, as it is now we have more books then anything in our house.
The curriculum that we use is very literature based and I love it because it motivates children to love reading. History isn’t as boring when you are reading a non-text book about it! Not to say that textbooks do not have their place because I do love those too! I just love literature-based learning.
Influence
As I mentioned in my invalid reasons, we aren’t homeschooling because we do not want our kids to experience the real world. However, that doesn’t mean I have to just throw them to the sharks.
School has come a long way since I was in it! When Kindergartners come home talking about sex or 7th graders who are already hooked on drugs, it is not a good thing.
Now I’m not saying that kids won’t hear/pick up/even do these things outside of school. Sadly our world is a messed up one and there really is no full proof sheltering of that.
However, with homeschooling I can be the one who talks to my kids about these things. My kids will have the benefit of getting my information rather then Billy’s or Jessica’s.
Of course, those with kids in public/private schools can talk to their kids at home about these subjects but think about it, your child spends 6 or so hours with these kids and maybe only a few hours with you (at least on the week days) who do you think will have more influence?
Time to be a Kid
This one saddens me. I hear it all the time, “Jon goes to school till 3pm and then has another hour of homework.” You can basically equate kids going to school (and all that it entails) with putting in a full work week. I don’t really think that’s what kids need.
Now of course, homeschooling varies from family to family and even kid to kid. For instance, I was able to finish my day’s worth of school in 2-4 hours (I was homeschooled from 4th– 12th grade). However, my sister almost always took 6-8 hours to do her school.
I guess my point is that with homeschooling you can get school done as fast as possible instead of waiting for all 30 kids to finished their math before moving on.
Flexibility
Ok it’s not really a reason why I chose to homeschool but it certainly is an advantage! Since I am the one making the schedule, we can do spontaneous events or take a vacation whenever we want.
There are no snow days that make school go long in the summer. Well unless I want to enforce a day of playing in the snow.
I can adjust our schedule for our vacations. If I’m having a baby I can take two weeks off of school by tweaking the schedule.
As you can see, there are many reasons to homeschool. However, there are just as many that did not have an influence on our decision.
Homeschooling is the best fit for my family. I am not saying it is the best for all families. I personally have seen examples of poor homeschooling (quality wise not financially) and I know that it is not for everyone.
However, like all things crunchy (although once again, I don’t really think homeschooling is crunchy…maybe natural?… speaking of you should check my post on natural living reasons to homeschool!) I think it’s best to at least research all your options and then decide.
Want more homeschooling posts to read?
Choosing a Homeschool Curriculum
How to Schedule Your Homeschool Year
How to Cut Costs on Homeschool Curriculum
How to Homeschool the Preschool Years
I really appreciated reading your reasons behind homeschooling. It's something I've always thought I will do with my kids. I want to sit down, now, and write out why I think homeschooling will be important for our family. I am both looking forward to, and intimidated for, when my child(ren) get to that age, and seeing what will work for our family. I'm definitely scared I won't be able to do it – but I hope I will. It's important to me especially for the early ages. As they get older, depending on each's individual needs, I might end up putting them in public school. We shall see!
this is really interesting, brittany. i love the idea of homeschooling for a lot of reasons (many of which parallel yours), but as a working mom, it's not feasible for my family. i'm already nervous anticipating how i can help influence and manage my daughter's education once she's in school. if you have any thoughts on how to maintain that level of engagement despite schooling outside the home, i'd love to hear them!
While I respect your decision to homeschool, I just have to pipe up and defend what us teachers actually do in elementary school classrooms. Your example of your oldest being bored in math because he's advanced, and sitting and waiting for all the other kids to finish before moving on, has irked me. I taught grades 4/5 split classes and I worked extremely hard to make sure that my students were NOT bored or sitting around twiddling their thumbs. One year I had students with abilities that ranged from kindergarten to grade 9. I worked my tush off to make sure that every student was working to the best of their abilities, no matter what those abilities were. I feel that elementary school classrooms can be very tailored to your child's needs – much more so than high school classrooms. If your child's teacher was doing their job properly then they would provide materials and resources for whatever your child's grade-level is. Skipping a grade (which is what is sounds like when you talk about "bumping a kid up") is very rare because of the social impact on that child. I don't say all of this to put down your decision to homeschool, it's clearly very important to you and the best fit for your family. Just had to defend my profession 🙂
Gillian – Yes I'm sure that there are teachers who are diligent and amazing like you. However, I would say that not all teachers are like this. I've known maybe children who were under stimulated in class. Like I mentioned in my post though, not all teacher or schools are like that but some/many are. Especially with cut backs and larger classes I would assume. I, of course did not want to imply that teachers are not hardworking. I just wanted to point out that lack of stimulation can happen.
i agree…we are really enjoying our homeschooling adventure…we are bonding and making so many memories! 🙂
We pulled both of our daughters out of public school. This year is my youngest daughter's 4th year to learn at home and my other daughter is starting her 2nd year of home school. It has been both a challenge and a blessing.
Both of my daughters asked to be taken out of school. My youngest, who is 13, begged me after her 4th grade year. She is exceptionally bright and was bored and miserable at school. She would finish her work (which was usually done with no mistakes, and would then sit and read while she waited for the rest of her class. She did have a couple of teachers who tried to give her extra work to keep her challenged, but overall she was extremely bored. It got so frustrating to her that she would feel sick and it was at that point that we made the decision to home school. She has done amazingly well, is working at her own pace and is learning well above her grade level. It just so happens that her 2 best friends are now home schooled, so she is one happy girl. 🙂
My 15 year old asked to be home schooled last year after struggling with mean girls at school for several years. I have to say that, although the first year was difficult, she is doing so well. It is such a blessing to see her smile and be happy again. She is beautiful and bright and is finally feeling like she can be herself without being judged and condemned by others.
I never would have thought I would be a home school mom. Two of my best friends are public school teachers and I know how hard they work. I totally respect that but feel that the public school system definitely has many, many issues.
Anyway, sorry this is so long :). Thanks for your post! It is encouraging to hear of others who have been home schooled through high school!!!
We are going to home school our kids if we don't send them to private school. Like 99% certain we are homeschooling though if we have more than two kids though, but right now we just have only a one year old so still some time to decide.
I was one of those who was bored to tears in school. I would sit and read for hours while others finished their work. When I think about how much I COULD have learned and how far I could have gone …. it makes me sick. Teachers try so hard, but the system is just set up to work against (my husband and my sister are both teachers). I couldn't believe when I went to college how much more the homeschooled students had learned! And they were in no way socially inept! 🙂 That was when I decided not to put my kids in public school.
We homeschool and my husband is a public school teacher. Teachers work so very, very hard in a system that is set up to work against them! So many teachers work hard to keep kids engaged, but others have just given up. The key to success in public school is a great teacher AND active parents. Keep up the great work, Gillian!
This is very interesting and I appreciate your thoughts. I had never considered this but I can see why others would. It makes sense – growing up I was fine with school and studying, but my brother, who is actually so much smarter than me, didn't do well simply because he was bored. He remembers things like a sponge and is so quick with new information but the structured environment was just not a good fit for him. Interesting!
My hubby sounds a lot like that. When he was in middle school, he'd act up just enough to get sent to ISS, where he'd finish all of his work in an hour or two and then read the rest of the day. He was also bullied quite a bit. (This was back in nineties when they didn't have a lot of awareness about bullying, so he was miserable.) The teachers couldn't do much for him. My sister is a teacher, and like it was said earlier, she's great, but it's hard to focus on just one child out of twenty.
I think parents need to honestly assess their own abilities and limitations first when considering homeschooling. While Brittany and many other parents may be able to skip a day of school to take advantage of a gorgeous day or to have fun with a surprise visit from friends, they do return back to a schedule of learning. I have known more than a few parents who have taken a day off that has then lead to a few months off. I had a friend that, thankfully, eventually recognized before her kid was too far gone that she was not home school material and sent her child to public after second grade. It is those parents that will ruin it for the competent parents. My husband is a teacher and there have been terrible stories of kids that were “homeschooled” because where do you put a kid who should be in fourth grade but doesn’t even know their abc’s? Kudos to those who can pull it off! And I mean that! But don’t be afraid to recognize that you are not cut out for homeschooling because you are embarrassed or are afraid of looking like an idiot at the expense of your child’s education. Homeschooling is not for everyone. And that’s ok. You can still be “crunchy” without homeschooling. I’m sure Brittany would agree.
That is a good reminder. Although I’d disagree that it has to do with abilities or limitations but more of a commitment (at least in the sense of taking a day off and it turning into months) But you are correct, parents do need to really think about the commitment homeschooling is and be ready to hold to it if they decide to homeschool… and alternatively, parents need to be ready to change course if they find they are unable to homeschool their child so that they stay on schedule.