Why I Decided to Homeschool

When I was in elementary school, my mother, my sister, and I went to Georgia to visit my aunt and my cousins for Easter and Spring break. We already had one week off for Spring break, and we took another week off for Easter. I knew that my cousins did not go to a "real" school. They stayed at home and my aunt taught them. I thought that they were the luckiest kids in the world. My mother had to reassure me that even though they got to stay home for school, they still had to get up early in the morning like normal kids who went to school. I found out much later that doing that was something that my aunt and uncle chose to do as homeschoolers. Not all homeschooled kids woke up early to start school.

When I married my husband, I eventually wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. My husband and I talked about homeschooling. When I got pregnant, I started my home school research. I knew that my daughter was smart early on. Yes, every parent thinks that his or her child is smart. However, my daughter could count to one hundred at age three. She could recognize certain words, and I could not believe how much this little girl could remember. But there was just one little thing. My daughter was, and still is very energetic. One of her is like having three children in the house.

I knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was going to be difficult for her to keep still when it came time to go to school and sit in a seat for hours at a time. And I already made up in my mind that I was not going to have her tested for something that I knew she did not have. There are teachers, who do not know how to redirect or handle energetic children, and want them tested for disorders. That was not going to happen.

When my daughter turned five, I knew that we would have to register her for kindergarten. I was very uneasy with the thought of my child starting school. I know that all parents have to go through sending their children off to school for the first time. But that was not the part I was uneasy with. I was thrilled that I would not have to pay daycare fees any more. But as I looked at the things my daughter already knew versus what she was going to be learning, I was convinced that she was going to get bored very quickly. So my husband and I looked into a private school nearby. They would be teaching my daughter the very curriculum that I had taught just years earlier. I was thrilled, although they were also going to teach my child to write in cursive. As smart as my daughter was, she still needed help in the writing area. In fact, when they tested her, they said that she would have to pick a hand for writing.

Needless to say, when it was time to start school, I opted my child out of kindergarten. I had already prayed about it, and I was ready to homeschool. While we waited for the curriculum to arrive, we worked on workbooks that I bought for her from Wal-Mart. I printed off worksheets so she could work on the formation of her letters and numbers. I tried to get her to pick a hand to write with, thinking that it would be much easier for her. It turned out to be much more of a struggle. So as she worked on her letters and numbers, I watched her perfect them using both hands. I watched my daughter color with a crayon in each hand. And I thought it was wonderful.

When the curriculum arrived in October, yes we were technically behind in our work. But my daughter whizzed right through. There were days when I was ready to stop our lessons for the day, and she wanted to keep going. That would have never been acceptable in the public or private school systems. She would have had to stay on whatever chapter, or lesson the teacher was teaching at that time, and could only move on when the teacher thought that it was time. Luckily, I have been able to tailor the curriculum to her interests. She happens to love animals, math, and science. The Animal Planet is just one of my teaching tools. It has to be, because at age three she said, Mommy I want to be an animal doctor.

We have actually been able to take days off at a time, because she is ahead of the lesson plan. And I like deciding on a whim to take the day off and take her to the park, or to visit daddy at work and take him to lunch. We have fun making bread, and cookies, and whatever we have a taste for. And even though it is not structured learning on those days, she is still learning.

Every day, I watch the news. And ever day there is something going on at a school that makes me very grateful that I can be home with my child and homeschool her. She meets new people every day. She is well mannered, smart, and knows exactly what she wants and when she wants it. She is looking forward to starting the new school year right here at home.

Homeschooling is not for everyone. And by no means do I reject public or private schools. I do however know that it is the better choice for my daughter and myself.