5 Reasons to Love Homeschooling

I never thought I’d be one to advocate for homeschooling. As the years drew closer to my girls becoming “school age” I remember starting to say, “I get it! I get why people choose to homeschool.” I also understand why people choose public school and private school! I am the biggest advocate for following God’s leading in each and every season and that looks different for everyone – and that’s okay!

I’m thankful for those who choose different options than we do. It opens our eyes to things we may not understand and it allows us to walk alongside others who are also doing exactly what God has called them to do. It’s a sweet thing!

For us, the advantage to homeschooling has been the lifestyle that it brings. I have a husband who mostly works from home and has been blessed with flexibility in his work. What that means for us is that he’s often able to make it to day time activities if needed, he is able to pop out of his home office to have lunch with us, and if we’re on the road for a family getaway, he is able to work from there! When it came to our oldest being in kindergarten, we didn’t love that her school schedule was basically ours. Fridays rolled around, and some days my husband was done working early, and we would wait for her to get off the school bus in order to start our weekend. We quickly realized that being tied to a school schedule with dedicated hours, set “vacation days” wasn’t really what we wanted for our life in this season. As we’ve continued to homeschool, I’ve come to love a few things and see them as definite advantages when it comes to choosing to educate this way. I thought I would share for those who may be interested or are considering homeschooling!

1. Slow mornings
One thing I love that I can’t say is a reason to choose homeschooling, but is a huge perk, are the slow mornings without the rush. When we were doing the “normal” school thing, it was so hard to get out the door in the mornings. Running here and there trying to pack lunches, do hair (mind you, I have 3 daughters!), and get everyone ready and out the door on time. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve told my husband, “I don’t miss that!” I really enjoy spending time in my Bible in the mornings, letting the girls have some time to play and wake up on their own, and then when we are ready, we can jump into our day and learning.

2. Adequate Sleep
I love that I can let my girls get the sleep that they need! I don’t have to wake them up early to get ready for school and out the door for the school bus or car line. They can sleep as much as their little bodies need. I also love that we can have an occasional late night during the week and it doesn’t stress me out that they are going to be exhausted the next day because of it! Again, another thing I’ve enjoyed that I didn’t really think about, but allowing them to get the sleep they need has given me some peace of mind. (As I type this, it is 7:45 AM and all three are still sleeping soundly).

3. Flexible schedules
This goes along with what I shared above. The flexibility of homeschooling is the biggest highlight! I love that we are able to choose day time activities so that it doesn’t get in the way of our evenings together as a family. Dinner time is a precious time in our home, and I have never want extracurricular activities to get in the way of that time. I love that school typically takes just the mornings so we can spend afternoons with friends, or occasionally choose a different morning activity and it won’t interfere with our schooling. We aren’t tied to a rigid schedule, so we can go into the summer if needed, take Fridays off if we’d like, and take multiple weeks of vacation during the cold winter months.

4. More family time
We love to be together! We love having fun and just spending time together; choosing how we want to spend our 168 hours in a week. My kids are at the age where they are sleeping at least 70 of those hours. Compulsory schooling takes away 35+ hours a week, not including the time it takes to get ready for the day, getting to and from school and homework at the end of the day (at least another 5-10 hours), leaving a measly 7.5 hours a day, which are likely filled with television, after school activities, church, time with friends, and getting ready for bed — just to do it all over again the next day. I struggle with the thought of such minimal time together. Life is too short, and at the end of it we have our relationships with the Lord, our family, and a few others that are close with us. I pray that our time together grows strong bonds and allows us to learn from each other in a unique way.

5. Catered learning
I love that I can cater my girls’ learning to their interests and God-given abilities. No one knows how they are wired more than my husband and I, and it’s a sweet thing to be able to decide how and what we would like them to learn. For example, my oldest has shown an interest in horses, so we spent time doing horseback riding lessons and reading aloud Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. We learned so much and at the end of our reading, we were able to watch the movie together as a family. It brought me so much joy to hear my daughters say, “I remember this part from the book!” Learning happening as a family and in our everyday lives, together. It’s important to us that our kids learn what we value as a family, and homeschooling allows more time to spend on what matters most to us – our relationship with the Lord, our time together as a family, and serving and loving others!

Now, I tend to be an open book, and no doubt there are hard things when it comes to homeschooling, but there are also so many things to be thankful for and appreciate about it. We are just scratching the surface when it comes to living this lifestyle, so there is a lot yet to learn and experience, but so far these are a few things we are loving!

Always open to chatting if you have further questions – never hesitate to reach out!

xo,
Kristen