Why Homeschool

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A lot of people have a misconception of homeschooling. Many people have gotten drilled with questions about why they homeschool. My husband and I looked deeply into homeschooling before we made our final decision. We knew that some family and friends would question why and others would be highly supportive. It's important to have a support group when homeschooling whether it be family/friends, co-op, or other support group. Here are 20 reasons we decided to homeschool.

1. More time with the kids. Since our kids will be home and not at public school, we wont only see them in the evenings, we will be able to go on field trips together and do a ton of amazing activities with them.


2. Bible study. Public schools don't and wont have Bible study with kids. They don't allow praying in schools, no christian group meetings, no prayer around the flag, not even the Pledge of Allegiance is said before school starts anymore. Homeschooling gives us the opportunity to have daily Bible study along with teaching the kids the Pledge of Allegiance. We can teach them all about prayer and the history of Jesus.


3. School our way. We are able to teach our kids truth about history, science, health, and other subjects. We know what they are learning at home where as in a public school sometimes you have no idea what your kids are learning. There are no notes coming home about what changed in the curriculum from the previous year, no notes notifying you about what exactly was taught is sex ed. Nor can you opt out of what your child is learning. Having a curriculum that we pick and can modify is important to us. If we feel that something is wrong in the curriculum, we don't have to teach it, we can change it and we can add to it if need be.

4. Field trips. We get to go on field trips! So many different field trips. (I will be blogging about different types of field trips you can take with your kiddo's). So, not only do the kids get to have fun and get out of the house, but so do we! Sure public schools go on field trips, but homeschooling gives you the availability to take your kids anytime that YOU feel like going. Plus, you don't have to watch a handful of other kids if you volunteer to help with a public school field trip.

5. Our kindergarten child. Our kindergartener is a handful to say the least. We know that if we enroll him in a public school, we would get calls daily from his teacher, vice principal, and principal. Which brings me to #6.

6. Learning styles. A lot of teachers only teach one style to fit all the kids. However, all children learn differently. With our child being such a handful, we know that he has a special learning style. This learning style will also be something that we learn with him. The way he learns isn't a bad thing, its unique and special to our child's needs.

7. Socializing our children. A lot of people don't know about the socialization that kid DO get with homeschooling. The kids don't just sit at home and learn. We get to socialize our kids with field trips, co-ops, other homeschoolers that want to have play dates, having our children join a sport or other extra curricular activity, community service activities, and more.


8. Friends. Our children don't have to be friends with just their own age group, when we go out, they can friend and play with any child any age. In school, they typically friend children their own age and grade.

9. Grade. If our child has grasped the concept of a lesson we can move on. If he flew through a grade, we can start teaching the next. Same as, if our children aren't ready to move on, then we can focus on the things they don't understand. We aren't confined to a "Grade". We can do 1st grade math, 2nd grade reading, etc.


10. Less distractions. At home there are less distractions than in school. If our child is the distraction, then he wont be distracting other children. If our child is being distracted then he gets himself in even more trouble in public school. 

11. Excelling academically.  Homeschoolers excel academically. Many colleges are now searching out homeschoolers for admittance. The higher the schools test scores are, the higher they rank nationally, the more people want them to attend their school. Since homeschoolers tend to test higher than traditional students, many colleges SEEK THEM OUT. This gives them a great advantage.


12. Special Interests.  You have more time to focus on their specific interests. Do they love science? Spend more time teaching in this area. Do they love sports? Sign them up for additional classes/camps/etc. Do they love technology? Add an online course teaching them how to assemble a computer. Love gaming? Find a course that teaches them how to create their own game. You have time for this now!

13. Life skills. You have the time to teach your kids important life skills. How to cook, change a tire, clean, install a toilet. Anything you are working on, they can be right there with you learning. 

14. Bad habits. Train bad habits. Do they leave clothes on the floor? Dirty dishes in the living room? Don't put their clothes away? You have the whole day to instill good habits in these areas. Now they aren't rushing out the door in the morning, so they have time to focus on these areas. And, since they don't have extra homework when they get home from a full day of school, you also have all afternoon/evening to train in these areas too! Which brings me to number...

15. No homework. NO HOMEWORK!! More time for family, sports, church, friends, creative play, travel, field trips, etc. They also have the time now to make dinner. WOOHOO!!!


16. Peer pressure. Less peer pressure and bullying.

17. Sleep.  Most traditionally schooled kids do not get enough sleep, which doctors maintain is necessary for learning and healthy growth/nutrition. If you homeschool you can work your schedule around their sleep habits.


18. No common core.
  A. Top 5 Facts about Common Core: 
     1. All tests/school work is reported to the national student database - there are over 400+ data points collected, including child's medical history and parent's political and religious affiliations. 
     2. It is federally mandated - no local (meaning state or teacher) or parental control over curriculum.
(It use to be that teachers/school districts chose their curriculum based on the needs of the children parents could approve or disapprove. This is no longer the option.
     3. Curriculum is not written nor approved by educators. (When they first began putting Common Core together they asked Sandra Stotsky to review the English Language arts standards. She is known for creating the strongest set of academic standards in our country. She looked over the standards and wouldn't sign off on them. They were not only poorly written, but would actually "dumb down" students. She found out the standards were written by special interest groups. Not a single educator had been involved in the creation of the standards. Since she wouldn't approve of the standards, they let her go and found someone else to approve them as they were. The same thing happened with the gentleman she was originally working with.
  • English classic literature is greatly diminished (they've taken out classic literature and replaced it with modern literature. Many of which are pornographic in nature, or at the very least, written at a very basic and non challenging level);
  • Math skills delayed by 2 years (many colleges have had to "dumb down" their math by two years because students were coming to college with minimal math knowledge. Common core math only goes through algebra or geometry. 
  • Untested (no field test) curriculum (the curriculum is already in most schools, but the validity and outcomes have never been tested);
  • More testing, high-stakes tests, including biofeedback (yes, it's true. Much of the testing introduced with common core requires kids to be hooked up to sensors during the test that check their heart rate, etc. This info is gathered and sent to the national student database)
      4. Local tax dollars will have to pay the bill: Approximately 13.7 million for the state of Minnesota.   
      5. Brought in by the 2009 Stimulus Package through RTTT funding. Common Core was not reviewed nor voted on by Congress or State Legislatures. (This is a long one to explain. Basically states were given a chance to compete for a financial bonus if they committed to Common Core before it was even written. This took place in 2009 when the market wasn't doing well and states were desperate for money. When the standards were released, most of the states rejected them, but were already contractually bound to implement them. After all was said and done, most of the states never received the money anyways. The states had no idea what they were being bribed into, and are now being forced to implement this crap.) Here's a video you can watch if you would like more details: https://youtu.be/coRNJluF204

   B. In high school, Common Core recommends books which are pornographic in nature. Three that I know of are Dreaming in Cuban (sexually explicit), The Bluest Eye (father rapes his daughter, and is told in graphic detail from the father's point of view), and Black Swan Green (13-year old describes his father's genitals and a detailed sex act).

Please visit commoncoremn.com for more information and to check the facts.


19. Birth control. Schools can administer condoms and birth control without the parents permission. They don't even have to inform you if they've given it to your child. There is a state (can't remember which one) that is implanting IUD's into 11-year old's!!! And this is without the parents consent/knowledge!!! 

20. One on one. Most kids in public school don't get one on one focus with the teacher because the class size is too big. With homeschooling, our children will get the one on one focus they need.

There are so many other reasons why people homeschool. What is one of the reasons you homeschool? 

2 comments:

  1. Some of these I never even thought of. Definitely something to keep in mind.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I know. :) We did a lot of research before putting this post together. Thank you for taking the time to comment.

    ReplyDelete

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