We are
homeschooling! Today is the first official day of homeschooling my 4th grader and 8th grader. Only through God's help will it be possible! Jayden has a desk set up in her bedroom and Jacob has a desk in
the corner of the living room. I am diving in…I think I should include my list of reasons why I chose to
homeschool.
Reasons why
we chose to homeschool
1) In order for our kids to be light and salt, we need to
prepare them for that. Kids can be swayed or pulled in the opposite direction
as they are so impressionable at a young age. We want to build the right foundation
while they are young. Rather than
someone else spending the majority of our kids day, why not let it be us. Most kids see their parents briefly in the
morning and a few hours in the evening.
I don’t want to give them over to someone else to shape and mold them
for 8-10 hours a day. They want to be
like those they are around, those they see and admire. They will fit into one mold or another.
2)We can teach the word of God. We can teach creation and
truth. We can study scripture and our kids can learn to follow Jesus, this
should be our number one priority as a parent.
We can teach the kids how to love and serve others. We can PRAY out
loud.
2)I enjoy my kids, I enjoy being with them and spending time
as a family. We have such an appreciation for family. Time is precious and
before long they are grown up and off on their own in this world. I am going to
savor them while they are here and living in our home. Also, the kids can be involved in our work and
understand and appreciate what we do, from farm work, animal chores, book work,
gardening, to cooking. The kids can be
involved in what we are doing rather than having a whole separate life that
revolves around all the school activities and sports.
3)The kids will get to learn at their own level. All kids
learn at a different pace. I want to
make sure they are understanding and learning rather than just sliding by.
4) We can show them learning and reading can be fun by going
to museums , taking field trips, getting hands on experiences. It doesn’t have to be routine text books and
lectures.
5)They can focus on things that interest them. If they are
studying a certain topic that interests them we can do research and spend more
time on the things they like
6) You can get it all done in less than half the time it
takes in public school. There is no
switching classrooms, no recess, no stopping class for behavior issues.
7)Homeschool allows the ability to start and stop schooling
according to your families schedule. Some days may we may double up on work so
we can go somewhere , go to the field, or spend time with a grandparent.
8) Teaching what is worthwhile. I get to decide what I teach
my kids. I can spend time on what is important and worthwhile. So much time is
wasted in school learning about insignificant things.
9)Socialization is often a concern of many. In a school
setting there are 25 kids to one teacher. The kids establish most of the rules
of childhood from other children. They
learn a lot of things I wish they never had to,: how to lie, cheat, swear,
disrespect, bully. We will still be involved in youth groups, sports, horse
activities, field trips with groups, etc. The kids will not be without
socialization. Homeschool kids tend to be more social with all ages and not
just peers.
10)A public school room is full of kids, noise and many
distractions, making it hard to focus.
11)The kids will get more teaching and attention. A 1:2
teacher/student ration is much better than 1:24.
12)Some teachers love to give out tons of homework. Kids
spend so much of their evenings working on time consuming homework. It takes
away from their family time and free time to be a kid.
13)No more dealing with the school buses. There are a lot of
things that go on in those buses. My kids all heard lots of new words I wished
they never had to hear.
14)The kids will not have to deal with fitting in being like
the cool kids and dealing with peer pressure. Pressure into drugs, sex,
alcohol.
15)Having them home keeps them away from germs and kids with
poor hygiene. There is so much sickness that goes through the school. So many
parents send their kids to school with fevers and sickness because they can’t
miss work. These kids are exposing their sickness to everyone else.
16)Head Lice- need I say more
17)School lunches have such strict guidelines, most days my
kids come home so hungry because they did not get enough food or the food was
gross. I have eaten enough meals at the school to know its not good!
18)We won’t have to deal with the mean kids, the bullies.
19)Weapons and Kids that are threatening. With all the
school shootings, there is always a fear for your kids safety. I know for a
fact in the Jr. high alone, there is a child that was in a Juvenile
institution for beating up her parents, one boy was sent to away for domestic
violence and pulling a gun on the cops. He has lots of behavior and anger
issues in the school and has no friends.
One kid was sent home for bringing knives to school. All of these kids
are back in the school attending regularly. What happens when a child
snaps. There is no better and safer
place than in our home.
20)Some Jr. high kids already claim to be gay, lesbian, or
bisexual. Society supports this and so
do schools and they form clubs to promote themselves. That is the kind of
worldliness I do not wish my kids to be around.
21)Homeschoolers score higher on state tests.
22)You don’t have to commit to homeschooling forever! At any
time we can chose to go back to the public school. We will take it one year at
a time
In the end, I may not be the best teacher, but I will try my
best. I will do what I can, I can’t do it all and that’s ok. My kids will not
be perfect, they will make mistakes, they will fall just like any other kid. We
are all sinners by nature. I do know my kids will have a good foundation to
fall back on. I am praying that God will guide me through my teaching and
prepare me for what is ahead. Here we go….
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