I Never Imagined Homeschooling My Children
I never imagined homeschooling my children. Like most others, I was very uninformed and believed homeschooling was harmful to children. After motherhood settled into my life, I realized how much I loved being a part of their learning process. We spent a lot of time doing hands-on activities together, reading books, and going outside. I watched their natural inclination for learning blossom. I admired the excitement in their eyes and the way they became captivated by things that interested them.
How My Interest in Homeschooling Started
It saddened me to think that they may be among the many children who don’t enjoy learning. I decided to forgo preschool and homeschool them until kindergarten. By chance, I met a mother who homeschooled her children and became immediately inspired. Yet, I had many doubts. I didn’t believe that I was capable. I had too many naysayers in my life and I temporarily gave up the idea. I ended up touring several schools and was sure that I would be sending my firstborn that year. Yet, something just didn’t feel right instinctively. Something kept pulling at my heart continuously about homeschooling them.
Trusting My Gut and Researching Homeschooling
I decided to listen to my instinct and research homeschooling. I stayed up late reading blogs, looking at Youtube videos, mailed numerous universities about their opinion of homeschooling, joined support groups, and checked out library books. I watched videos about homeschooled children and reached out to local mothers. I ended up discussing my thoughts with my husband. We discussed everything from social opportunities, what it would mean for our one-income family, and numerous other concerns. He was skeptical at first but we decided on a trial year.
We’ve just dived into our second year of homeschooling. We had plenty of hiccups along the way from health issues, doubts, figuring out learning styles, time management, etc. I slowly am becoming more confident with my choice. I wouldn’t have it any other way at this point in my life.
Our Top 6 Reasons Why We Homeschool
- To nurture their love of learning- I wanted to give them a chance to explore their interest and show them that education isn’t always something they do only for test. I wanted to show them the beauty of books, exploring, and how education can benefit them. I also wanted to nurtute their learning styles.
- To preserve their childhood – Childhood passses quickly.Children face too much pressure at an early age. There are studies that prove early academics do more harm than good. Yet, children are not allowed to be children in most school settings. It’s sad that children spend almost 8 hours in school and get only 20 minutes of reccess. I am a firm believer that children need to play, explore, be outside, and move around.
- To have more family time together- Everyone’s family life is unique but many children spend more time away from their families than they do with them. Life passes extremely fast. Family last forever. It’s very important for us to create a strong bond.
- Moral values- I often wondered if children spend more time away from their family than they do with them then how are they suppose to fully build a strong moral foundation? It might not have been a concern in the past but it is today. Parents and other family members are responsbible for teaching their moral values when it comes to religion or whatever beliefs that they hold.
- Learning diverse topics and languages- With homeschooling we can teach them unique languages like Hindi and Arabic. We can immerse them in our everyday life. We can also teach them about their ancsetors or the hsitory of other groups that most people don’t hear of that often.
- Unique Social Opportunities- Most people believe that homeschooling is harfmful for the social upbrining of a child. Yet, this could be further from the truth. With homeschooling I can expose my children to unique social situatuons with people of all ages ( when there is not a pandemic.)
I’m sure I could list a few more but these are my main reasons for wanting to homeschool my children. Will I always homeschool them? I don’t know yet. What I am sure of is that my efforts and the time we spend together will always be cherished. I hope that I can influence them to be lifelong learners and have a strong moral background no matter what path we end up taking. If homeschooling has been weighing on your heart…listen to your instinct. It’s not easy going against societal norms but it’s worth it!