Why We are Homeschooling

We’ve been in debate on whether or not to send the Little Man off to PreSchool this year. I’ve talked about all of the reasons why Preschool would benefit him (and me) because of my work schedule and I’ve spilled my heart on how uncomfortable I am with the idea of someone else taking care of him. Being a parent means making these kinds of decisions…choices that will impact and benefit our family, our children, and our own lives.

So after much deliberation, discussion and confiding in close friends and family, we’ve decided to Homeschool Little Man.

At least, for now.

Making the transition from “just” being a stay-at-home mom to being a work-at-home mom was hard enough. Learning to balance my job, my home, my son and my husband is an every day battle. Things fall behind and I have to make choices day in and day out on what is and isn’t going to get done. Now that I’ve decided to add Homeschooling to my plate and possibly a photography business here on the island, I’m starting to wonder if I’m overdoing it…overloading my plate. And whether or not I’m setting myself up to burnout in the future.

But, despite those hesitations and fears, teaching my son from home was a pretty easy decision to come to.

What made up my mind? Well, I’m glad you asked…

For one, we are a military family and homeschooling fits our lifestyle.

There is no doubt that in the coming year or two, the husband will be leaving to go back to school in the states. We may or may not be going with him for a duration of his time there. But, nonetheless, when he leaves the island, Little Man and I will be heading back stateside at least for a few weeks to visit with family and friends back in Alabama. Which would mean leaving behind Kodiak and school and everything else. Moving and traveling is part of our life as a military family. It’s par for the course and something that we just can’t avoid. Homeschooling gives us the chance to work around the Military’s schedule, take time off to visit family as needed (or take time off when family comes to visit us), and not have to worry with him falling behind or missing too many days of school. We just pause and then pick back up as needed.

I can control the pace, the speed and the rate in which we tackle new things.

One of the biggest issues I have with the education system is the Student/Teacher Ratio and the pace in which teachers move on to new topics. By homeschooling, I will be able to spend extra time on things that Noah may or may not grasp as easily without worrying about leaving another child bored. Or, if he catches on to something quickly that we don’t have to spend as much time on, we can easily move to a new concept without leaving anyone else behind. I’ll be able to pick up on his strengths, understand what teaching methods fit him best and really be able to hone in on his strong points while still making sure all of the bases are covered.

My son is only little once…and I don’t want to miss any of these precious years because he’s off at school learning things that I could just as easily teach him here at home. I have the opportunity and the means to stay at home, work from home and enjoy time with my son that a lot of full time working moms would kill for. And I fully intend to take advantage of that. I know that there is a lot of hype about “letting them go” and teaching kids to be “independent” and I’m all for that, to an extent. But when he’s 18 and I look back on the life that he’s led and the years that have passed, I don’t think I’ll regret my choice to spend just a little bit more time with him…to spend just a few more years being silly and goofy and living up the time I have with him before he heads out into the world to lead his own path.

Children are impressionable and I want to moderate what my son learns and when; and who he is surrounded by. It’s no secret that some parents just don’t parent their kids the same as I parent mine; some parents don’t have the same values, morals and beliefs that my husband and I have. And that’s okay. But not for my son. Not in this society. I read a post by Erica @ Confessions of a Homeschooler that said something to the extent of:

“Go to your local middle school, junior high, or high school, walk down the hallways, and tell me which behavior you see that you think your son should emulate.”

I couldn’t agree with this statement more. I spent the first 9 and a half year of my school career in a Public School System before transferring to a Private School, and let me tell you…there are issues everywhere. Peer Pressure will arise no matter what method we choose to school our son, but if I can keep a better grip on the influences in our sons life by somewhat mandating who he is around and what he fills his time with, I stand a better chance of keeping him squared away and on a straighter path,

Am I 100% confident that I’ll be a good teacher? No. Do I think that this is going to be easy? Not at all. Am I scared to death that I’m going to totally fail at this homeschooling thing and end up regretting this decision? Yep. Somewhat. 

But, I AM 100% sure that right now, this is the best decision for our family and for our son.

So I’m just going to go with it.

Are you kids in school or do you homeschool? What factors influenced your families decision about your kids education?