Why we homeschool?

Somewhere between all the looks of "Is she crazy?" and the never ending questions of how will I ever give my children the socialization that they need, there always remains the question of why do we choose to homeschool our children? And while I will definitely give to you that on some days I feel slightly insane in all of this. It truly started out as a lack of options for preschool that quickly turned into just not the right options for preschool for our family. Honestly, the answer is truly simple: our son. Not exactly the answer you were expecting I bet and while I, myself have read many blogs that go on with an endless list of reasons why they are against traditional school choices, I will not be doing that. As any parent can agree when it comes to your children, every single thing you choose in their lives and yours is very personal decision that doesn't come lightly. My choice was really that simple, it all came down to my son and who he is as an individual.

I am beyond blessed already to be a stay at home mother with both of our children and when we looked into the time that our children would actually spend in school compared to how much time our children spend at home, well it's no secret that the larger portions of their lives are spent here in our home. That's when my husband and myself agreed that it just made sense to go this route. I was already home with both of our toddlers, that wasn't changing anytime in the near future. So the question of why do we choose to homeschool our children quickly changed to why not homeschool our children?! We just started our journey off the beaten path to our own version of homeschooling and the best advice I ever received in general for this was "It can take awhile to fall into a routine that works for your family." When my friend told me it could take awhile ,she meant even years! Years, seriously? Yes, you read that right and I was just as shocked the first time I heard it as well. Once I really dove into all that homeschooling was, it didn't sound so shocking. There really is a lot involved in going this route, even when just starting with preschool that I just wasn't aware of. Just figuring our where and how to get started is a whole other topic in itself (keep on the lookout for my next post on how I started).

You might of recalled how I mentioned that there always seems to be an endless amount of people sharing why the choose not to go the traditional public or private school route and how I would not be doing that myself? I always feel like it comes off a little too negatively sometimes and honestly, I just lack any experience in my children ever going that route. So, instead of doing that I will be sharing my slightly smaller list of why I think homeschooling is seriously awesome! Here is my top ten list of why homeschooling works for our family:

1. I get to spend my entire day with our toddlers! I know exactly where they, what they are doing, and who they are with at all times. How awesome is that?!
2. My preschooler has an actual say in his curriculum throughout the year. We get to spend the extra time really discovering and diving into all the things that he is really interested in without missing any of the main curriculum. My son is completely obsessed with all things dinosaurs and I get to use that as a great theme for part of our school year to really explore it with him.
3. I'm learning right alongside my children! I was humbly surprised at how much I learn in the process of teaching them.
4. Our days are flexible. So when the random park play date pops up, an impromptu trip comes along, or somebody comes down with a bug, it doesn't throw off our entire lesson plans. We just adjust.
5. Pajamas aren't frowned upon in class and there is no morning rush to get out the door in time for a bus or class itself. If you are anything like me, this is a blessing in disguise! I have two early risers who hit the ground running when the wake up and have yet to find the secrets to becoming a morning person myself.
6. The Bible and our religion is incorporated into our school days. While I understand that this isn't something that everyone feels necessary, to my family it is nice to have this included.
7. I now can justify the endless hours I scour on Pinterest each night looking for ideas to incorporate into our school days as part of my curriculum planning.
8. Most of my days are spent elbow deep in paint, glitter, dirt, and play dough. There are almost always markers scribbles on my hands and glue somewhere on me, who could possibly complain?
9. The overflowing amounts of children's books we have taking over every single bookcase in our home is justifiable on so many terms now.
10. Lastly homeschooling has become a lifestyle, it isn't just something that we do part of our days. Everything becomes an opportunity to learn whether it be a simple trip to the grocery store, a hike with the family, or a fun trip to the zoo. It all becomes part of our learning environment.