Why Do You Love Homeschooling?
It’s Valentine’s Day. The day of hearts and flowers and chocolate.
Mmm, chocolate….
Sorry, where was I. Oh yes, Valentine’s Day! Since today is supposed to be all about the love I thought some homeschooling love would be in order. Many people have shared why they choose to homeschool, but I want to know what you love about it. What do you LOVE about homeschooling your kids? Feel free to get as mushy and sentimental about it as you want. It’s the day for it after all.
I have so many reasons to love homeschooling it might take me several posts if I tried to write them all. So instead i’ll just share the top things that makes my heart flutter.
- Not having to get up, dressed, and out the door at an insane hour in the morning. I can barely function on the sleep I get now. And you do not want to meet my kids if they’ve been woken up before they’re ready!
- Getting to be with my kids all day. OK, yes there are moments (and whole days) where I think aobut shipping them off to a deserted island for a while. But really getting to spend the day playing and learning with them rocks.
- All day jammie days. OK, I know I’m not alone here (I’m pointing at you Kate!). While some stay at home moms get up, dress nice, and put on make-up every morning I’m not that kind of mom. I’m usually in my jammies til noon, at which point I change into sweat pants and a baggy shirt.
- I know what my kids are learning. No need for homework, teacher meetings, or digging through crumbled papers in backpacks to know what’s going on.
Those are just a few of my reasons, now share your’s! I want to know all the little things about homeschooling that have you grinning from ear to ear.
homeschooling, love, Valentine’s Day
February 14th, 2008 at 7:59 am
Fun topic! I love homeschooling because:
1) my kids beg me to teach them to read….so they can huddle under the covers at night with a flashlight and “Calvin & Hobbes”,
2) I am able to explain life’s truths to them in a way that is clear and compassionate- for example- we are going to their ‘first funeral’ today of someone they knew personally,
3) the kids constantly surprise me with what they are curious about, what they are interested in, and how much they really do ponder various topics (so they can spring strange questions on me when I am elbow-deep in dirty dishwater),
4) I can’t imagine anything else!
February 14th, 2008 at 9:31 am
Love this message! I’m so glad I’m not the only HS mom who spends mornings in her pj’s (and has PJ Days with her kids, too!). Aside from the points you made about sleeping and not rushing around in the a.m., I have to add that I love HS’ing:
1)for days like today — holidays when they’re normally in school but we can take the day off and maybe make some cool Valentine’s day crafts or something totally fun. No “homeroom mom” getting to celebrate with my kids today!
2) not having to worry about what to do when 1 child (or all 5) are sick. No make-up work from school, no one to call to say my child won’t be there today, no letters to write tomorrow when he’s feeling better
And, 3) being able to take off to the zoo or to COSI (science museume) when we just HAVE to have a day to run around!
February 14th, 2008 at 9:36 am
What I love about homeschooling is:
1. choosing the best for each child. That means some go to charter school this year.
2. Having charter school teachers tell you how wonderful you are and how well you did homeschooling.
3. Having a child ask to withdraw from charter school and come back home, even though he’s popular, top in his class academically, and loves school– but he misses you and he misses homeschooling.
4. Keeping my babies with me until they are ready to step out confidently into the word.
5. Raising kids who have the confidence to step back into the home and give themselves more time to grow up.
February 14th, 2008 at 9:37 am
I love it! Here are the reasons I love homeschooling!
1.) I am not willing to give anyone my children’s best hours of the day! I love having them at home with me and wouldn’t change that for the world.
2.) I love watching my children learn. I love seeing the “ah ha” moments. I love the challenge of figuring out how I’m going to present a concept so that the child who isn’t getting it, will get it!
3.) I LOVE not having a rigid schedule!! I love sleeping in and having a lazy breakfast with my kids…starting school when we feel like it and taking a break to watch a movie or Law and Order, or just having a cup of coffee. (my school age kids are older now!)
Plain and simple…I love my kids! And I love homeschooling them!
February 14th, 2008 at 10:55 am
This one is sooooo easy for me today.
Last night we got a terrible call. My in-laws (who are in their 70’s and retired) used to run a motel - like RUN it - their phone was the motel phone - they were the plumbers and the electricians and the maids, etc. Well, they sold it to a couple two years ago, and have been financing it themselves.
Long story short, the other couple has royally screwed them over. It ended with the guy handing my father-in-law the keys yesterday as they drove away into the sunset, not caring about the legal ramifications. My in-laws have been thrown out of retirement and back into the 24/7 small town fisherman’s court motel business (and, as you can imagine, the other party involved left the place in a SHAMBLES!).
So, why does that make me love homeschooling? Because we are all in the middle of a family emergency of sorts right now. Grandma and Grandpa live twelve hours away, and they need us. The kids and I are currently throwing all of our favorite books and learning tools into a laundry basket, and packing up enough for a good two weeks. We are relocating ourselves to south Texas for a bit.
Ya’ know what? My kids will be learning soooo many things while we’re down there, including hands on experience in how to run your own business! And we’ll be helping family. And we might catch a day or two at the beach.
If it weren’t for homeschooling, we could not be doing this right now. We’d have to wait for a school break of some sort. They wouldn’t be allowed to “miss so much school” JUST for a family emergency.
I heart homeschooling.
February 14th, 2008 at 11:33 am
LOL, I’ve been publicly busted for my extensive pajama-based wardrobe! This morning’s are red with big white hearts in honor of the holiday, in case you’re curious. Around lunchtime I’ll probably take a shower and switch into my red sweatshirt with a big white heart on it… and a pair of PJ pants.
Why I love homeschooling?
1. Our schedule is really our schedule. My son and I can snuggle on the sofa and watch cartoons together for as long as we want in the morning. He turns 8 next month, and I know the time is coming when snuggling with Mom won’t be interesting at all. I’ll miss those mornings, but at least I’m getting them now!
2. He learns what he’s ready to learn about. In addition to the big type that Christine points out, we also enjoy the ability to pursue my son’s interests. No “well, that’s an interesting question but we’ll cover that next month” here.
3. Our lives are so much less hectic than those of our public school friends. We know nothing about racing home through rush hour and hurrying to get dinner on the table while juggling homework, laundry and household chores. We’re clueless about morning stress over eating breakfast, getting dressed and out the door to be somewhere before a bell rings. We don’t have to worry about sick child daycare, nasty notes from the teacher or bad behaviors picked up from kids whose parents haven’t raised them better.
And, of course, there’s the whole all-day jammie thing!
February 14th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Oh I feel SO much better knowing SO many others are pj mama’s!!
All of the above reasons plus:
1) I love the relationship my 4 and 12 year old get to have vs. them not knowing each other very well at all.
2) I love that hubby is home with us as well and is able to homeschool with us.
3) I REALLY love researching all the cool stuff out there that is available and only choosing those things that I know each individual child will LOVE!
4) I love the other homeschooling families that journey with us and support us with laughter and hugs.
Homeschooling ROCKS!
February 14th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
PJ mamas RULE. i do have to admit hurrying yp and getting dressed just before my hubby walks thru the door. i don’t want him to feel bad that he missed out on the jammie day.
i love homeschooling because i get to be there for those ah-ha moments my children have. when they finally get the lessen or idea or whatever. i get to be there when they learn how to read, write do multiplication, not hear about how they are doing at conferences.
i don’t have to send them away from the love and security of our home for them to learn, i love that too. ( i have tears in my eyes)
i’m just glad that i get to be there on their journey of life and help them experience it and learn from it.
i love homeschooling!!
February 15th, 2008 at 11:33 am
I love reading to my kids several times a day and having them be for just one more chapter.
I love seeing them reading on their own to each other.
I love having relaxing days of learning when we don’t have to be somewhere at a set time.
I love that they don’t get sick every week.
I love parent/teacher conferences now.
I love being with my kids and helping them to stretch who they are and discussing with them what that means.
I love that I get to learn everything over again. Who knew that chemistry could be fun when it isn’t being taught by an old mono-toned woman who looks likes she’s got one foot in the grave?
I love days off.
February 19th, 2008 at 3:16 am
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