Reasons you shouldn’t homeschool

5 reasons you shouldn't homeschool

You should never homeschool if you:

  1. Value hermitism. A lot of homeschool families participate either in a cooperative where they teach a couple classes and their children take a couple classes or in a community, like us, where we all gather to learn together once or twice a week and are doing similar things at home when we’re not together. Plus, if you homeschool, your child will have more time to be social and take extra-curriculars which will require you getting out of your house.
  2. Hate field trips. Our kids get lots time “off” to explore all kinds of things all in the name of education. Our family is actually in a field trip co-op. That means we go exploring with a large group of families with kids from all age groups and can take advantage of “for schools only” programs. We even have pulled off things like field days and science fairs. We tagged along on one of Patrick’s business trips to Houston for almost a week this winter and didn’t have to worry about the kids missing school; it actually counted as school. Homeschoolers are kind of famous for making learning come alive using field trips, so if you’re not into that, you may not want to become one of us.
  3. Want your child to have a homogeneous learning group. The majority of homeschool families consist of a parent-educator and multiple kids of multiple ages, so we have to use tricks from the old-fashioned, one-room schoolhouse. They are learning how to be taught by their peers and to teach (or entertain) their younger peers. They have figured out how to socially interact in a diverse group—finding games and activities that can include friends from the littlest to the too-coolest. If you want your child to hang with just his age-group peers, don’t touch homeschooling with a ten-foot pole.
  4. Want to protect them from the growing up too fast. Because our kids are with us almost all the time, they are experiencing the everyday tasks of meetings, grocery shopping, banking, cleaning, and going to the post office. They know our standard grocery list and where to find it. They understand budgeting and coupons. They can carry on a conversation with our bank teller and mail packages for me. They can entertain themselves quietly during my work meetings. At home, they can clean (just because they can doesn’t mean they like it or would want me advertising it) and, more importantly, cook. I’m actually pretty certain our 12 and 10 year-old could move out tomorrow and do just fine.
  5. Enjoy the morning rush. Right now it’s almost 8am and pretty quiet. I’m blogging. Mia is painting in the living room. PJ had a sleepover last night so his friends have him up earlier than usual, but he typically stays up to 1am and sleeps until 11am. It’s the way his body is wired, and he does his best work after dinner. Ty is reading a book while snuggling in my bed. The kids will wander out and get breakfast as they’re hungry. We’ll gather around 10am to watch Student News together. Fridays are a catch up day, so I’ll spend most of the day working and planning, and the kids will have free time. When we do have community days, we leave at 8:45am, so we get a bit of morning rush there. Otherwise, we have pretty lazy starts, so if you decide to homeschool just know that the morning rush may start to fade into the recesses of your memory.

DISCLAIMER: While I love that our family discovered homeschooling, I am not out to be a soldier in the Mommy Wars. I actually have 3 kids who are not currently homeschooled. Also, I have plenty of days where I yell and scream and wonder why I’m doing this to myself when our country offers free education that I don’t have to provide. #justbeingreal

Posted in Education and Homeschooling.

One Comment

  1. Your disclaimer especially resonates with me, friend 🙂 The whole post is great, but by Thursday, I’m mostly feeling the disclaimer. Thanks for being real.

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