Why we chose to homeschool

Hello! Thanks for visiting my new blog and sharing in our journey. We have been "schooling" most of the summer, but this week we made if official and started our curriculum. We also established more of a routine for our school day. Some of you know the reasons I've decided to homeschool, but for those of you who are curious or saying to yourself, "What is she thinking?!!", I will share my thoughts.

Why we chose to homeschool

  At the beginning of summer, I spent a lot of time praying about where to send Jordan to school. I went back and forth between public school vs. private school. I wasn't planning to homeschool and frankly, wasn't even praying about that option. However, at some point homeschooling sparked my interest and I began my research. I spent countless hours reading the blogs of other homeschooling moms. I borrowed books from the library on this topic. Much time was spent emailing with others who were choosing to teach their kids at home. As I began praying about it, God spoke to my heart and made it known that he was leading me in this direction. I was nervous about something that seemed like foreign territory, but God gave me a passion and excitement that I knew HE was instilling in my heart.

  I quickly learned of a homeschool group called Classical Conversations. It was not long after that I began reading a book titled, The Well-Trained Mind. This book fascinated me. It emphasizes the importance of giving your child a classical education and it teaches you how to do that. Classical Conversations is a co-op that meets every Monday morning for 3 hours. There, teachers are modeling a classical education to both students and parents. The students are learning math, science, literature, latin, history, geography, and the fine arts. Parents are then responsible for working with the students and continuing this learning at home. Classical Conversation's mission is this: We believe parents are their children’s primary teachers not because parents know everything but because each child is uniquely (and wonderfully!) made and because the people who know and love a child best are the ones most motivated to help that child succeed. 

I love this. Why do I want to homeschool? Because I believe this mission to be true. I also believe that when you homeschool, you can create an education full of opportunities your kids may not have otherwise. As I have come to this decision, these are my beliefs that have led us down this path.

1. I want my kids to know and understand God now, not later. Homeschooling provides more opportunities to focus on JESUS. For me, that could have been enough of a reason. I could expand on this point alone for a few more paragraphs. However, here's some other points that heavily influenced my decision.
2. There is such benefit in giving your children a classical education. If you don't know what that entails, I encourage you to find out! We will be schooling classically, and I am thrilled to think of what they will be learning. The Well-Trained Mind is a great book to read more about this.

3. I want my kids to learn to love people. I want to provide opportunities for them to serve others on a regular basis. We live in a world where we're taught to do what makes US happy, what gives US satisfaction, what makes US successful. While this is important to an extent, I want to teach my kids the importance of serving others before themselves. I have ideas in mind to keep my kids serving throughout the school year. I am looking forward to these experiences. It gives me joy to think about my kids learning to serve and LOVE.

4. I enjoy teaching. I taught 3rd grade before I had kids. Who better to teach now than my own children!
5. A one-on-one education cannot be beat. I have already seen the benefit of this as I've worked with Jordan this Summer. To teach to your child's strengths and weaknesses and to work at a speed that is perfect for him/her is powerful! We can move so much faster than if he were in a class of 28 other kids. We finish more work in 1 1/2 hours than I believe he would if he were in school for 8 hours. No time is wasted and the rest of the day is spent playing and exploring and using his imagination! I love that he's not stuck at a desk for most of the day.

This is going to be a busy year. The kids are going to be involved in more than ever before. Mondays will be our busiest day. Classical Conversations runs from 9-12. Iris starts gymnastics, which will be from 3-4. Then both Jordan and Iris will be playing soccer from 5:30-6:30. On Wednesdays, all of us will be a part of CBS (Community Bible Study). Each of the kids will go to their own classrooms for bible school and I will join up with a group of women each week to study God's word (this year the study is on Romans). On Wednesdays from 4:15-5:15 the kids are joining a children's choir. My neighbor told me of this program and raved about what a wonderful job the choir teacher does teaching the children how to learn and sing music. Then on Saturdays, we're back at soccer from 9-10 a.m. Whew!! I'm tired out just typing all that! At the same time, I'm really excited for everything to start!

Homeschooling is not for everyone. I really believe that. And who knows, in the future, it may not be for us either. But this year it is, and God has given me a confidence in saying that. I know that it will not be easy, and I know that it will be another year of sacrifices in order to make this happen. I'm continuing to pray and believe that God will provide us a positive experience in our home. If you would like to see some things we're doing each week, stay tuned!