We have people ask from time to time why we have chosen to homeschool. I have posted a few reasons in the blog post titled "Home-learnin aint too bad" if you'd like to see more. But I thought I'd share for those who may be interested some other reasons we teach at home right now.
Our oldest daughter Kiki was diagnosed with a form of Autism when she was 3. She did very well in school all the way through 9th grade. Actually she would have done great to continue in highschool and graduate. She's very bright and has acheived good things academically. However we chose to homeschool her for the remainder of highschool due to social issues. She is very sweet, and trusting of people. In fact her trust in people makes her naive. She could easily be taken advantage of and we weren't very comfortable with her being placed in situations where she might not be able to defend or stand up for herself. It was a good choice, and one we are glad we made. We still work with her to improve her social skills...she's really just so fun and full of joy that we don't consider it a burden at all. She's an incredible artist (cartoonist) and we're growing a business for her to use her gifts as a career. Stay tuned...I'm going to post more on that.
Our younger two chlidren were 3rd and 6th grade when we decided to homeschool. One of our main reasons is that both Rockstar and I have always been self employed. We worked together for years in real estate and that meant we were gone in the evenings and on weekends more than the average person might be. We soon realized that this severely cut into our family time. Our kids would leave for school in the morning, come home at 3:30...but Rockstar and I would be out the door some nights by 5:00 and wouldn't return home until 8:00 or 9:00. Since we officed out of our home, we knew homeschooling would be a perfect fit for us. We were home during the day and could teach our children, spend lots time with them, eat lunch together...and then in the evening if we needed to be gone for a few hours we hadn't been apart all day. It also allowed us much freedom to go places when we had flexibility in our schedule. That is still one of the main reasons we teach at home. We are still self employed, so if their dad gets a day or two off suddenly, we have the freedom to head out for the day....or just stay home and play a few rounds of cards. It's more about being able to maximize the time we have with each other and make the pieces of the puzzle fit together.
Depsite what some people may think we don't homeschool because we think the public school system is demonic (our kids have attended public school) and that all the teachers are crazy pagans who want to brainwash our children. I happen to be very good friends with some wonderful teachers. I admire them greatly. I thought of being a teacher once myself many years ago, and I wasn't even thinking of converting to Paganism. A very dear childhood friend of mine is the gradeschool Principal in our town....I know there are many good teachers who work very hard and love the children they are educating. Having said that...do I have some issues with public school in general? Yes...sure. Might I have issues with some teachers? Yes..probably. But you know what? I have issues with most every institution in some way, shape, or form. We are all flawed people, living in a flawed world. So...there's going to be issues. Deal with it. I'm just thankful that we can 'deal with it' in a variety of ways. I'm thankful that in this country we have choices and options of how we want to best serve and educate our children. I'm thrilled for the parent who finds a great school, with great teachers and their child thrives. I'm also thrilled for the parent who homeschools their child because it's what works best.
Now that I've clarified my non-demon stance on public schools.. I do need to say that I definitely love the fact that we have more time to instruct our kids in God's Word because they are homeschooled. It's our desire that our children grow up having a realtionship with Jesus. Not some kind of religious duty, not some kind of 'thing' they do...or 'thing' they think they need to be. We want them to know why they believe what they do. We desire for them to have a deep love and compassion for people while speaking and living out their convictions even when there is great disagreement. That's ok...remember our world is filled with opposing views and opinions, and it will always be. We're doing our best with God's help to teach them to be people of prayer, to be humble and looking to God for wisdom and His grace to live their lives. To remember that others also need God's grace and wisdom too. Stand strong, don't sell out, but do it remembering that they need to be gracious, and respectful. You can totally and completely, even vehemently disagree with someone on every level and every issue...but you can still be kind.
If you ever want to discuss homeschooling, types of curriculum, or any other home-learning ideas I'd love to do so with you. You can always email me at jentostenson@hotmail.com Or comment on the "Home-learnin ain't too bad" post ...I think it's great to hear from others and share ideas.
