Many people believe that we home school because we don't believe that we live in a "good" school system. Other people believe it is for religious reasons. What a lot of people don't understand is that there are many, many advantages that we have as homeschoolers. I sat down and made a list off the top of my head of 20 advantages we have over families who have children in the public school system.
1. We teach a creation based curriculum.
2. We are allowed to pray and study the Bible.
3. We are walking in obedience to God. ( You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk about them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down , and when you rise up. Deuteronomy 6:7)
4. We have control over our children's education and everything they are learning.
5. We can individualize our children's education (no assembly line theory, children all learn differently and should be allowed to learn differently)
6. Delight directed learning. We can allow our children to learn through things that they are interested in.
7. Real life learning. We can teach through real, living books, and real life, hands on experiences.
8. Self directed learning. We can teach our kids to go and discover on their own, not just spit out what is told to them.
9. We have the opportunity to get to know our children.
10. We have more time to do things all as a family learning together side by side.
11. We don't have to worry about WHO is teaching our children every day and what kind of personal values they may have.
12. No peer pressure, bullying, or ridicule at home.
13. No school violence. (okay, the children do fight occassionally but I don't have to worry about guns, knives, or bombs.)
14. No drug pressure at home.(unless it is a prescription)
15. We have control over who our children spend time with.
16. Our children are able to associate and relate to people of all ages not just members of their own peer group.
17. I do not have to rush my children out the door every morning.
18. We have freedom to decide our own schedules. (how many hours of school a day, week, when to take vacations, sick days, etc.)
19. We are able to provide better food choices.
20.While eating healthier food choices our children have the opportunity to eat not just to get ushered through the line to find out it is time to go to recess before they even eat one bite.
These are some of the many reasons I am glad I home school. This was a short list I jotted off in just a few minutes. I thank God (and my husband) for every day that I am able to spend at home teaching my children.
6 comments:
It is so true...we have more control on how we raise our children - what they are putting into their minds and bodies. I couldn't agree more. If you want to have a bible study with your children, you can! You could otherwise too, but sending kids to school takes up a lot of their time and they are exhausted when they get home.
I am going to look around your site to see if you have any more postings on how you do home schooling because I am looking for ideas.
Because you might be interested and I love sharing with other parents out there about tools that work for them...since I have not home schooled, but just helped pre-school age - I have a book recommendatio. A book for pre-readers called "This Bible Talks!" by Pamela Fischer. Just thought I would pass it along.
I will be reading!! Thanks again.
If you are interested in finding this book - here you go....
"This Bible Talks!" by Pamela Fischer. Narrated by Michael David McGuire.
Website: http://www.thisbibletalks.com
Some parents are not cutout to home school their children Please don't take this wrong but it seems like your putting down those who don't. It may be best for some children to stay in the public schools.
I certaintly am not putting down those parents who choose to put their children in public schools and I am sorry that is the impression you got. Art and I both went to public schools and have many friends who send their children to public school. The inspiration for this blog came when someone asked my husband if we were worried about all of the advantages our kids were missing out on by not going to public school, and I began to jot down advantages we had because we don't go to school. I think there is a lot of misconceptions about homeschooling and one of my main purposes for writing this blog is to support and encourage homeschooling and I believe that this post does both of those things. I am no more "cut out" to homeschool than any other parent but "I can do all things through Christ who strenghthens me." Philippians 4:13. Homeschooling is the best choice I have ever made and I want to be able to encourage others in their decision and on their homeschooling journey.
Take a moment to view this link. http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/bookstore/dumbdnblum1.htm
It's not about putting down parents that choose public schools or homeschooling. It's about what's best for the children. If public school is where you feel your child should be educated then it should be the parents responsibilty to be involved in what goes in public schools. The lack of involvment and the "kids are cattle" attitude that many parent take with their childrens education is what should be "put down".
Now and then when we enjoy a moment or experience that we would not have had the children been in school I'll say, "That's reason number . . . that we homeschool." I think we're at about 1000 and counting.
~Erin
I was homeschooled and one of the advantages I really gained was the ability to participate in the creation of my curriculum. When I was passionate about something (i.e. getting a local skate park) my parents incorperated it in my education encouraging me to do the research, organizing, and thinking necessary to get the job done. As a result I wrote a grant and petitioned my city council for a skate park that I helped design etc. before I was 16 years old. By the time it was over I had a job offer from the city manager as well as a skate park. I did the writing, math, and networking while my peers were in classes that aspired only to teach them how they might eventually be able to do such things.
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