Why We Chose to Homeschool: 5 Reasons That Changed Our Family’s Life
Hi! Welcome to Rejoice About, where we want to encourage and inspire every family on their home education adventure. I wanted to introduce our journey by telling you why we chose to homeschool: the 5 reasons that changed our family’s life.
We are a family of 5 with kids ages 6, 4, and 2! We decided to homeschool our oldest, starting with pre-school when he had just turned 4.
Currently kicking off our fourth year of homeschooling, and I have no regrets!
At first, when I was fully committed to home education, my husband was not convinced by the idea.
If you had asked me 5 years ago, I too would have said no way, we won’t be homeschooling our kids! Neither my husband nor I was homeschooled; it was truly a foreign concept at the time.
Oh, the beauty of time and change.
A little backstory
Let’s go back in time to 2019 for a bit! We lived in North Dallas, Texas, and were within walking distance of a nice elementary school.
I saw myself walking, my then 1-year-old, to school when the time came, and was excited about it.
Then 2020 happened. If you are not aware, that year exploded the homeschooling world – and for good reason, I believe!
My sister, who was living in California at the time, was “forced” to homeschool her kids. After months of schooling at home, she decided that, given the state of the country and her local school situation, she would switch to full-time homeschooling.
I thought that was a bold move. Again, I had no interest in homeschooling. But as time went on, I could see the beauty of homeschooling.
I began to see the appeal of the flexibility, freedom, and the ability to step out of the public school machine, which was headed in a questionable direction post-2020.
Fast forward to 2022, I had an almost 4-year-old and was considering our schooling options. I had this tug on my heart, I believe from God, that homeschooling was the right choice for us.
I had this tug on my heart, I believe from God, that homeschooling was the right choice for us.
I was growing more weary of the local public school system; I couldn’t shake my nagging feeling about it.
My husband was still set on public school during this time – class pictures, class parties, the first day of school feeling, etc., you get the idea.
He also believed the misguided stereotype of “weird homeschoolers” in his mind. You know, the what about socialization and how will they learn types?
After more conversations and a missed preschool application window, oops, we decided to give preschool at home a test run!
At this point, we had a 4-year-old, an 18-month-old, and I was 6 months pregnant! Good times.
I loved our pre-school at-home system, 30 minutes a few days a week. Very simple and not forced!
We used The Good and Beautiful Pre-K course, it was great.
Let’s jump to February 2023. I had a 4.5-year-old, a 2-year-old, and a teeny 3-month-old, and then my husband got promoted to a job out of state!
This brought us to the Midwest!
School was top of my mind as our oldest would be 5 by the time school started in the fall, and my husband was still on board for public school.
So it was either begin the registration process for public school or commit to homeschooling.
I began research on our options in our new location. We found a co-op and went to an information meeting.
After a very informational meeting, my husband began to see the benefits and the beauty that homeschooling could bring to our family, and he decided we would give it a try for Kindergarten!
We finished up the pre-k curriculum in April of 2023 and began our Kindergarten curriculum in August of 2023!
I am so thankful we are pursuing this journey! I love the adventure, certainly not always easy, but so very worth it!
Why we choose to homeschool: our top 5 reasons
- Flexibility
The flexibility of home education can’t be beat! You are in charge. You get to set your schedule, your pace, etc. Since my husband works non-traditional hours, this was a main deciding factor for me. We can school on the days he works and take off the days he is home. We can school later or earlier in the day to allow for more quality time with him and the kids.
If we chose public school, we would lose out on that family time together.
Another advantage of homeschooling flexibility is just life. Sickness, pregnancy, travel, family visits, and holidays. The list is endless here, but you are in control of the schedule and when and where school happens.
Have a fussy baby? Wait until nap time to work with the older kids.
Cold day? Cozy up by the fireplace and do school on the floor!
Headed on vacation? Bring some schoolwork with you to tackle on the plane or drive.
Family visiting? Work ahead the week before and take a break to enjoy that sweet family time.
Need some fresh air? Take a nature walk and do a scavenger hunt!
Take a field trip to a local museum and count that as a history lesson!
The learning ability of your student is another area where flexibility shines. Maybe they are struggling in a specific area that needs extra time and attention. Spend extra time mastering a subject with no need to worry about them getting lost in a sea of kids.
This will help give them confidence and an appreciation for learning.
On the reverse, if your student excels in certain topics, you can work ahead or skip grade levels to match their abilities.
The flexibility of learning allows you to meet your child where they are at and address their needs one-on-one.
Flexibility is a major advantage of homeschooling.
- Freedom
Next is freedom, which goes hand in hand with flexibility. Freedom from schedules, from set curricula, and outside influences.
Mainly, freedom in choosing what you teach. This is huge.
Unfortunately, some public schools are teaching way more than core subjects these days. That can be problematic.
When homeschooling, you are the teacher and principal, too, for that matter 😉 You choose what gets taught.
Want to do a whole unit study on the United States Constitution? Go for it!
Does your child love animals? Try a zoology study with lots of field trips to the zoo.
Do you want your kid to learn a specific foreign language or maybe just master cursive? That is your choice to do so!
Sometimes I think we can get imposter syndrome as homeschool parents. We often think leaving their education up to the public schools is the best thing for them. That “everyone” does it, so we should too.
Or maybe you question, am I capable enough for this? Can I really teach my kids? The truth is, you have been teaching them from the very beginning! How to walk, eat, talk, tie their shoes, be kind, share, etc.
We are constantly teaching our kids, and schoolwork is no different. Homeschooling puts you in the driver’s seat and allows you to decide on what gets taught.
For some of us, there is also a huge importance in what doesn’t get taught!
I have found so much beauty in the freedom of homeschooling, and I encourage you to find it too!
- Faith
We are Christ followers in this household, and it is a core part of who we are, what we do, and what is taught in our home!
Our faith is integrated into every aspect of our lives, from the books we read, the shows we watch, the music we listen to, and our homeschool lessons.
We have the freedom to teach our faith freely and openly. It is so important to us that our kids learn from us first and foremost, especially when it comes to our faith.
It is so important to us that our kids learn from us first and foremost, especially when it comes to our faith.
We can go in-depth and focus on topics as we desire.
We are currently doing a Names Of God study, and we are loving it!
Our jobs as parents are so important! We are to “raise A Child up in the way they should go” Proverbs 22:6
I don’t want to leave that in the hands of someone else.
In paraphrasing a Voddie Baucham quote, he said, “You can’t expect to send your child to Rome and not come back a Roman.”
Being able to express and teach our faith is another wonderful reason why we choose homeschooling.
- Family
This ties back into the flexibility of homeschooling. We value family time. It is so important for kids to have a solid family foundation that gives guidance and love, sets boundaries, and encourages learning!
I felt that homeschooling was the best way for our family to accomplish this. As I mentioned earlier, my husband doesn’t work traditional hours, meaning he often works weekends, early mornings, and late nights.
Because we homeschool, we can prioritize family time by adjusting our schedules accordingly.
Homeschooling emphasizes family time when we are all learning together. Family read-alouds are one great way to do this! Another is simply doing school together.
Our toddlers are most often sitting at the same table as I work with my oldest on schoolwork. They are usually coloring or making a mess, but they are there, and they are absorbing the lessons for that day.
Sometimes I even catch my 4-year-old answering me before my 6-year-old does! Or she can recite a line from a poem we worked on a few weeks back.
They are like sponges, and simply being around a learning environment sets them up for success!
- Re-claiming my education!
The fifth reason we choose to homeschool is that I am reclaiming my education.
Full disclosure. I am not the smartest person in the world. Shocking right?
This sounds counterintuitive to outsiders when they hear we homeschool. But there is beauty in that, too. Since I did not love school and have often felt like my education was lacking, I want something different for my children.
I want to foster a love of learning in our home. I want to demonstrate to my kids that we should all be lifelong learners. There is beauty in seeking out wisdom and knowledge as long as you live.
I want to foster a love of learning in our home.
This could be in actual book studies, a new skill, biblical knowledge, or learning an instrument.
The list of learning is endless!
I am reclaiming my education while teaching my children. It is strengthening my education as I teach them.
When you teach someone, you become more efficient and confident in that subject!
This makes for another beautiful reason why we chose homeschooling.
These are the 5 main reasons we chose homeschooling for our family!
This list is not exhaustive; there are certainly other reasons many families choose home education. These are simply the five main reasons we decided it was best for us!
I hope this list helped you see the beauty of homeschooling in hopefully one of these 5 ways.
Our goal at Rejoice About is to inspire and encourage you on your home education adventure!
If you want a faith-filled focus in your homeschooling, check out our biblical printable resources here.
Are you considering homeschooling? I’d love to hear—what’s the biggest reason you’re drawn to home education?
His mercies are new every morning! (Lamentations 3:22-23)
