Why We Homeschool

lately i have been getting what seems like raked over the coals for our choice to homeschool. the strange part is, that it is coming from rather unexpected places. the usual used to be from the complete stranger that wondered why our oldest was in the grocery store in the middle of the day instead of the classroom or from the relative who thought we were doing some irreparable damage to our children. it's been so unexpected that all i can do is wonder why, strengthen my resolve and pray for those who do it. so, this leads me to write, partially for myself and partially for the two or three and a half people who read this here blog, why we homeschool.

yes, you read that right. i said, "why we homeschool." it is not i who solely homeschools. our family homeschools. this is why we do it. it makes us the family we are. it is hard sometimes. sure. anything that is worth it usually is. and sometimes i sit down, make plans to send the kids to boarding schools and jet off to a really warm deserted island. oh yes i do. but then, a warm little person snuggles up on my lap and let's me play with their hair, or i overhear an adorable little boy telling his sister that he thinks she is the prettiest girl he has ever seen, or i find three little people curled up under one blanket on the couch with their oldest sister reading them a book. and then i am grounded and i know this is the definition of family i choose to adhere to. the one that keeps us together as much as possible. that makes us function as a complete, five piece unit whenever we can.

do i think my children are getting a better education than they could be getting in a brick and mortar school? in some ways, yes. in some ways, no. do i think they are getting some things that they would not be getting in a traditional school? in some ways, yes. in some ways, no. it doesn't matter though. are they getting a good education? yes, a great one. are they being afforded wonderful opportunities to learn, explore and shape the world around them? yes, definitely. but all of this put aside, are they learning to live and love in the first community God gave them? yes, our family. i am a firm believer that they will not be able to live and love properly in the great big world if they are not taught and allowed to practice that within our four walls and (for now) five people. this is not an educational choice for us. this is a family choice. homeschooling is not how we choose to educate...it is how we choose to live.

i do not write this to put down those who choose other ways. the choices that others make on how to school their children are precisely that, their choices. i write this to say, this is why we do what we do. it's something i have said 'til i'm blue in the face to those who still espouse their "homeschooling is definitely missing something" rhetoric. is it missing something, probably. it's missing my children being absent from my home for at least one third of the day. it's missing fancy labs and state of the art computers. it's missing school buses and bells and milk money. but that is the choice we have made. it doesn't have to be the choice that anybody else has made...it is ours...for our family.