In one of the online communities I frequent, the question "why do you homeschool, in 5 lines or less?" was asked. I read through all the comments on the thread so far. I noticed a common theme... more or less every one's answer had to do with freedom.
No one likes to feel confined. It's stangling and I get out of breathe just thinking about it. When we first began this journey it was more about control than freedom. There was a bus stop outside my home and every morning I would watch little ones, with back backs bigger than their torsos, struggle to walk to the stop. They would stop every few feet and adjust the large bag so that they could walk a few more feet. It broke my heart. Thing 1's first day of school was fast approaching and I was getting nervous. At the time I still kept in contact with the moms in my natural birth circle. We all had intervention free, natural births. Since then we had kept in touch and encouraged each other in attachment parenting methods... breastfeeding, sharing a family bed, not crying it out, using slings rather than strollers. Anytime I talked to someone outside my group about these things I felt judged or misunderstood. Attachment parenting is uncommon and I have yet to meet others who practice it. Well, in this group the newest issue that we were beginning to talk about was school. Most of our babies were getting ready to begin pre-kindergarten. There was a lot of talk about homeschooling. In particular I remember the curriculum company A Beka coming up a few times. I went on the website one evening after a panic attack about the approaching "school year." Right away I knew that I could do this. And not only could I do it, but I was supposed to do it!
We are officially half way through our 4th year of homeschooling. I am learning that this journey isn't so that I can control my child's life, but so that I can have the freedom to let go. Being at home I can give the three little Things more freedom to do what they are interested in. We spend most of our time together so I don't need to guard our evening family time, the way I would if they were gone all day.
I believe that the Lord created the earth. I believe that science is looked at through the lens of Christ. I feel freedom and can relax in knowing that my child isn't being taught the opposite, like I was when I was in school. I like the freedom of slowing down if my kid needs more time or moving through quickly if it's something we are already familiar with.
I love the freedom of being able to do things and go places. We can finish our workbooks, experiments, and notebooking while on the road if we travel. We can take time off in order to do things like camp and go to Nickelodeon studios(like we are this week!) We don't have to take a 2 month long summer break and lose everything we introduced before the break. We take breaks when we need them and we don't take breaks when we don't.
I like the freedom of a tailor made curriculum. We don't need to learn about world history until they are ready. If they are fascinated by something we can go deep into the topic, if they are not, we can just learn the basics.
I like that my kids have the freedom to talk to and play with their friends and to avoid bullies. If they meet someone who's mean, they don't have to see that person 5 days a week. If they meet friends they love, they aren't forced to sit at a desk nearby and not talk to that person. A fellow mom shared with me that she was called "in" to the school because her son was in trouble for talking to his friend when they were supposed to be quiet. I know it's standard, but to me it reeks of disrespect. And because we are paying our taxes, but not taking anything from the school district, I have the freedom to say how I feel.
The list of freedom goes on and on, but I want to end with this...
We have the freedom to openly(openly is the key word here) include, talk about, talk to, and acknowledge the Lord all day long! I don't know how many times we have stopped to seek the Lord after I lose my temper or we are having a rough day. I want my kids to have that freedom. I want them to see me turn to the Lord through out my stressful days, and watch me thank the Lord on my calm days.
A side note that fits in here...
For a long time I felt like I needed to hide how glorious homeschooling is. I makes other un-comfy. I know this because of the responses I've gotten when I've complimented both homeschoolers and parents of school kids. I have a homeschool friend. I once complimented something I liked about her kids. She was very careful to deflect praise and say it had nthng to do with homeshooling. Most moms have no trouble fawning all over their kids. We are proud of them. But for homeschoolers, it's like we can't feel pride in what's being accomplished because it might make someone else feel bad. The thing is, I don't ever feel bad when a public schooled kid's mom is gushing over her kids. If we truly believe that public school/private school/homeschool is what's best for our kids, it shouldn't matter who's being complimented.
Happy homeschooling! Happy regular public schooling! Have a great day!
Love,
Jackie
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