Why Homeschool?

       After years of homeschooling my children, teaching at homeschooling co-ops, and writing about homeschooling, the question I get asked the most is ironically the one that I have the hardest time answering. There are a lot of frequently asked questions like, Are you allowed to do it?, How do your children get socialized?, and my personal favorite, How can you spend all day every day with your children? But this one question is the most frequent - Why did you decide to homeschool?

On the surface there are many answers and every family will give a slightly different one, from wanting to control the content of their child’s curriculum, to meeting the special needs of their child, to concern about underperforming schools. While all of these are valid concerns and do figure into the equation of why to homeschool, there is one underlying one reason why all of us homeschoolers are doing it. 

We don’t speak about it, we rarely share it, and we sometimes feel ashamed about it. What is the reason, you ask. It is simply the desire to share everything with our children, the undying need to be around them all hours of the day, and to feel the desire to be with our children. That’s it? people respond when I voice this and immediately ask questions trying to figure out where it is more complicated than I make it out to be. But it really isn’t.

Sure, we have all these highbrow reasons that make sense, but the unifying reason that most homeschooling parents share is the enjoyment of being with their children. Sharing the excitement of when your child first reads, understands multiplication, or recites the first poem they wrote, is what fuels us. Instead of a hectic morning routine, we can snuggle in bed with our offspring choosing to attack the day a little later than usual. When the kids are grumpy, there is no fussing through homework, forcing them to complete a project that is due. When you, the homeschooling parent is grumpy or not feeling well, there are no deadlines that are imposed by others, no places that you HAVE to be.

This is an oversimplification I know. As a homeschooling parent of 19 years, I had deadlines, outside commitments, and plenty of grumpy kid and parent days where I had to go do, but our underlying life was a little more simple. A homeschooling family can afford to slow down a bit and enjoy life, reteach concepts that were missed, or simply take a deep dive into subjects of particular interest. The reduced pressure from outside sources and the extra time can allow a child to pursue their passions and develop interests that simply aren’t possible when outside sources dictate your schedule. 

Also, homeschooling families are typically more bonded simply due to the extra time spent together. Siblings become playmates and families become the center of the social circle with peer pressure becoming less influential. This closeness and relative decreased pressure shared by all homeschoolers gives us a common ground making for more diverse groups and the promotion of more tolerance than is found in other groups. At any homeschooling conference you will find families homeschooling for religious reasons, special needs, and secular concerns all mingling and chatting together, sharing ideas and making friends. 

So, why do I and many other families homeschool? Look beyond the obvious intellectual answers and delve into our parental emotions - we just aren’t willing to sacrifice any of the already too little time we are given with our children before they grow up and head out into the world on their own.