Why We're Homeschooling, part 1

Pictures of some of our school events so far. Here we
are making a model of the Nile River to flood.

Coriel practicing being a flamingo at the zoo.

I have been meaning to explain in detail why I am homeschooling my little girl this year. There are so very many factors playing into it that I can’t possibly condense it into one single post. I also recognize that homeschooling doesn’t work or make sense for everyone, and in fact it remains to be seen whether it will make sense for us long term. It was a decision that took a lot of thought and consideration and prayer. There are pros and cons galore on both sides of the topic. In the end of all the considerations, I am quite certain it is a good idea for us for the coming year, and then we’ll go from there.** In fact, I’m loving it so far (we’ve been going for about a month-ish, depending on how you count). If you would like to hear a little about how this came about, read on.

***

“Parenting is hard.” These are the words of my older brother as we discussed the pros and cons of homeschooling. What he really said was something like this: “Homeschooling is hard. But seriously, parenting is hard.”

Yeah, this is true. There’s nothing particularly easy about being a parent. But that comparison there—hey, homeschooling is hard, but so is parenting—that kind of caught me. Life wasn’t going to be easier just because I was sending my child to school every day. It was just going to be different.

So instead of starting from the assumption that either homeschooling or public schooling or private schooling was going to make life inherently easier, I started with a question. Which method was going to be better for our family as a whole and for the individuals in it?

Then a more fundamental question. What and who did I hope my children would become?

When I asked myself that question, and really thought about it, I quickly stripped down a lot of stuff. Of course I want my children to be smart, well educated, fun, happy, hardworking, able to get a good job in the future, all that great jazz. But fundamentally what I really hope is that they will be good people.* Now, for me, this involves my beliefs and religion. I believe that our kids stand the best chance for being good if they follow God’s guidelines and maintain a close relationship with Him. However, even laying aside religion, I still believe that one of the highest and best goals for a human being is to be a good, moral, thoughtful, and kind person. You don’t have to believe in God to want your children to make a meaningful and positive difference in their world.

Asking and answering this question—who do I want my children to be?—was the first major step for me in deciding to homeschool.***

Stay tuned for next time, when I discuss the liberating idea that we all mess up our children.

Arts and crafts day--we made wire hangers for her dolly clothes. :)

* I will add that I believe that being a good person tends to improve your chances of being all those other good things. There is joy to be had in goodness, and there is motivation to improve yourself (which leads to working harder, educating yourself, being the kind of employee people want to have, etc.).

** I’m speaking in first person singular, but this all really came about between me and Brice. It was a very joint decision.

*** Even though answering this question eventually led us to the decision to homeschool this year, please remember that I am not saying homeschooling is the only answer. Seriously. It’s just the answer for us, for the moment.