5,345 Reasons to Homeschool Part I

This could take many posts to cover. I weekly have the "no we aren't doing preschool or kindergarten, but we've started homeschooling" conversation. I usually try to sum up all our reasons and just cannot encapsulate them into a few neat sentences. So hear come many paragraphs in no particular order on the subject!

I've spoken of not sharing my real opinions about things with folks in a past post and I'm about to share some real opinions, here. Some of the best advice I ever heard was from a lady in our church who said that just because something is a good choice for some families, it may not be the best choice for YOUR family and you and your husband need to prayerfully make choices apart from what others are doing. (paraphrased : ) ). Some of these things I feel strongly about, but I recognize that EVERY family is different. In sharing my opinions, I'm not judging others for their different choices and reasons!

1. I love my husband, my kids love their daddy and we like to be together as a family. Tuan has one of the coolest jobs in the world. It is a perfect job for him, but it has crazy hours, and seasons of normalcy. Sometimes we see lots of Tuan, sometimes we don't--especially when school is out: Spring break and all summer from May through August and MANY weekends he works long hours. In fact, he can easily work 35 hours from Friday through Sunday morning alone, meaning our "weekend" is often Sunday/Monday. With normal school attendance, we would not have much quality family time, let alone a family vacation!

2. Tuan occasionally travels for work and we like to go with him. If he is taking a course in NC or TX, by all means we are going! Those trips always occur in the bleak winter or lovely fall. Have you ever swum in an indoor pool with a blizzard outside the picture window? It's marvelous! (I digressed)

3. Our school choices are limited. We are in a rural school district and the nearest public school is 17 miles (24 minutes) away. Private schools are even further and our budget is not one amenable to private schooling. : ) Nor do I have an desire to drive to and fro twice a day (1 1/2 hours of driving a day! Minimum!), nor am I putting my babies on a school bus in the wee hours of the morning--with who knows what going on. Amen. I know there are the possibilities of carpool, but we carpooled 1-3 grade, 30 miles round trip and as a child I hated it. Loved the people; hated the carpool. : )

4. I'm a loosey-goosey free spirit. I admit it. I LOVE the freedom homeschooling offers. Whether it means taking a day to read, dropping everything for a field trip, having night school one day of the week, or working on an art project for four hours straight, I am all about it. Honestly, the idea of being forced to stick to a school calendar and getting kids to school at the same time every day with no flexibility makes me need fresh air. It's like caging a wild animal. Seriously.

5. I'm a believer in sleep and lots of it for children and babies. I LOVE the fact that I rarely have to wake the kids up in the morning. They can sleep as much as their little bodies need to. Of course as they get older that will change, but in these "growing years" sleep is important.

6. I know many schools are different, but making my little boy sit still and quiet in a desk for hours when he was created for motion and filled with God-given energy and enthusiasm and conversation bothers me. Don't think I'm an advocate for loosey-goosey parenting. I'm all about discipline, correction and training, but boys need to be boys.

Whew. Only six out of the 5, 345 reasons. More to come!