Homeschooling: A Survey

A good friend of mine who is praying about homeschooling sent a survey to a group of ladies, some who were currently homeschooling and some who had in the past but currently had their kids in school. I really enjoyed thinking through our reasons for homeschooling and spelling them out. Here are my answers, for any of you who wonder why we feel God is leading us down this path:

1. How did you come to the conclusion that homeschooling was right for your family? I know this is a loaded question, but what were a few of the stronger motivating factors?

Where do I even begin?
A few of my reasons are completely selfish:
*I cannot stand the fact that another woman (or man) would be spending more waking time with my sons than I would be. That crushes me. I am their mother and I am selfish with my time with them. Not codependent, mind you, I just value every second that I am privileged to be with them. I am busy soaking it in.

*You know that joy that washes over you when your child learns something new, her letters, her Bible verse, how to draw a square? I love that feeling and I love watching my child rejoice in finally accomplishing something he has been working on. The pride I felt when Owen stumbled through his first Bob book was overwhelming! And I taught him that. And I got to witness it. Selfish, I know, but I don’t think a public school teacher would rejoice quite the same way a mommy would.

On to a bit less selfish reasons:
*There are things I want my kids to have written on their hearts, so very many things. I don’t feel that if my kids were gone for 7-8 hours a day, I could possibly train them up in the few hours that are left. God gave these Boys to Jeremy and me, blessed us with these lives, trusted us to train them to be godly. How can I possibly do that if they are at school more than they are at home? Even if we had intensive Bible training at home after school, there would be so many missed opportunities throughout the day. Opportunities to mold character and shape heart attitudes. Jeremy and I are to be good stewards of these lives we have been trusted with.

*I also feel like it is our responsibility to guard these little hearts until they have a firmly established foundation in the faith and the Word. There are things they may be faced with during their school day that they are not equipped to handle quite yet. One day, when faced with these same issues, they will know the Truth and be able to form a godly opinion on the matter, or at least be able to search the Bible themselves for God's view. For now, I want to offer them just a bit more protection.

*Now for the education aspect: I think O is probably a little advanced as a four year old. I want to ensure that he is challenged, not bored, and that his creativity is encouraged, not squelched. I also want to use his time wisely. The curriculum we bought says kindergarten should take about 1-1 ½ hours/day. The rest of the school day, O can be living life with us, learning life lessons, playing, being a kid instead of sitting at a desk. Plus, we can move through curriculum as fast or as slowly as we need to depending on each kid.

2. Is it something you feel/felt pretty strongly about and plan to do through your child(ren)'s entire education?

I feel very strongly about it. Jeremy does not feel as convicted at this point. We will take it a year at a time and see what God does. I would love, love to homeschool through 12th grade!

3. If you had a public school right down the street, we're talking 2 blocks away, in a great school district, and you keep hearing wonderful things about it as well as the teachers and you even know a teacher or two at the school, would you be more inclined to send your child there?

Nope. That would not change any of my above reasons. We actually do have a school just like that 3 blocks away.

4. Are you, or do you plan to be involved with any homeschool co-ops or organized groups on a regular basis?

YES! I just need to find one and see if they will let a 4 year old (and mom and brother) join!

5. What do you use for curriculum and how did you choose it?

I had visions of piecing together the perfect curriculum for O by gathering the best of the best. I wanted to take a somewhat loose Charlotte Mason approach. However, when it came right down to it, I chickened out. I hope to do that in the future as I gain knowledge and confidence, but right now, I have no idea what I am doing! And I am afraid of missing some important piece if I put my own curriculum together. So considering that and all we have to deal with lately with Noah, I went the easy route and bought the A Beka Box o’ Kindergarten. It is fabulous!! It lays everything out for me, what to do each day, extra fun if needed, resources. It was more expensive and I am sure it will stifle some creativity by being super planned out, but it is what I can handle right now. And since A Beka is what mom used with me, I know it is a challenging enough curriculum to keep up (if not surpass) the public school requirements (if we were to put the kids into public school down the road). We will do Bible on our own using resources from Doorposts and Truth & Grace books from Founders Press. I also love literature based stuff, so I will supplement with crafts and lessons based on what books we are reading at the time.

6. How do you do your "lesson planning," or do you just go by a pre-planned curriculum?

The past two years, I have planned all my lessons myself: first a very simplistic preschool curriculum; last year we did a character-based study. Let me tell you, it was A LOT of work! And since I planned week to week, there were weeks we just winged it…not ideal! I am so looking forward to using A Beka and just filling in my whole lesson plan this summer. It will all be laid out for me!

7. How do you balance homeschooling the older ones with a preschooler/ toddler/ baby as well?

Nosy (2 ½) does pretty well. He loves to be involved in whatever we are doing, so he joins us at the school table. He will listen and participate on his level. It is amazing how much he picks up on! He loves to do the crafts with us. When he gets restless, he will either play quietly alone or I can toss him a ball to chase while I work with O. Keep in mind that last year for O, school only lasted about an hour and we would usually do half in the morning and half in the afternoon, so it is not a great length of time for Nosy to occupy himself. This year (for Kindergarten) the curriculum says to plan about 1-1 ½ hours per day.

8. How many mid-week activities or extra curricular things does your family participate in on a weekly/ monthly basis? (this can be related to, or not directly related to academics...ie: sports, music lessons, church events, etc.)

Usually we have AWANAs weekly, a weekly church mtg in which the boys play with the other leadership kids, and growth group every other week. In the Fall, Owen will start soccer. We usually have one play date per week. I feel it is important for the boys to learn the social skills and manners required for being in group settings, so I definitely want to give them opportunities to be with other kids. I also want them to learn to submit to and respect other authorities besides their parents.

9. Did your schooling as a child in anyway influence your decision making regarding your kids education?

Yes. I was homeschooled and loved it. Jeremy went to public school and had almost a "Leave It to Beaver" type of experience: great friends, popular, no peer pressure or acting up. Entering marriage we were both open to whatever God would lead us to do regarding educating our kids. When O was born though, my heart’s desire became to homeschool (for the above reasons). After a lot of prayer and discussion, we have agreed to take it a year at a time to see how God leads. Jeremy is realizing the importance of it more and more. He does not feel as strongly as I do, but he is definitely supportive. Especially with Noah’s health situation now, the loose plan is to home school at least when they are little.

I am not posting this on my blog to be judgemental in any way. These are the conclusions God has brought us to, and I thought maybe some of you were wondering about our choices. I know it is not going to be easy, but Jeremy and I feel like this is the right path. It is more expensive, much more time consuming, hard work with no "me time" scheduled in...and yet we are so excited...and the Boys are excited. This is right and no matter the sacrifice, this is the plan we will joyfully carry out. I can't wait to see how God works in all of our lives this year as we obey his plan for us!