9 Reasons Why I Can't Wait to Homeschool My Kids

I was homeschooled through 10th grade, and I loved every year. I know not everyone who was homeschooled can say that, and I know it may not be for everyone, but I treasure my childhood, and I am passionate about homeschooling and passing that blessing along to my children. When my mother started homeschooling it was even less common than it is today, and it was somewhat untested. Today, my generation of homeschool kids have grown up, and we can now tell our story with perspective.

If you are considering homeschooling, here are some reasons why I can't wait to homeschool my kids, from the perspective of a grown-up homeschool kid:

1. Carefree Childhood - When I was "in elementary school" other kids would ask me if I was bored every day because I didn't get to see all my friends at school. I thought they were crazy, because we regularly had play dates with other homeschooling families. We would finish all our school work in the morning and then spend the afternoons playing with our friends for hours and hours, outside, at the park, with our dolls, etc. while other children sat in school. Sometimes we would even do school work together and then play, but I am convinced I had a more active social life at the age of 8 than most 8-year-olds.
2. No Peer Pressure - I didn't wear a pair of jeans until I was 13. I wore dresses and skirts every day because I felt like it, I played imaginary friend pretend games until a much older age than you might think, and I never worried what people thought of me (at least not until high school). Looking back, I can tell you that I probably looked ridiculous by the world's standards, but I didn't know that. I was happy. How many people do you know who can look back at their middle school years and say they were wonderfully happy, stress-free years? I'm not saying that every homeschooler has that, but I did, and I know I wouldn't have if I had gone to school. And when I did get to high school and I experienced peer pressure situations for the first time, they were very easy to resist, because I had such a solid foundation and so many year of not having to worry about those things to fall back on.
3. Time Management and Self-Motivation - When you know that you will be free and done for the day when you get your school work done, you are motivated to get it done as soon as possible. I learned how to manage my own time, work without being told what to do, and motivate myself to get things done. After all, I wanted to play outside, and if I finished my work by noon or 1pm, I had half the day left to play pretend in the backyard with my sister or friends.
4. Family Vacations were Field Trips - When we traveled as a family, I always felt like we were on a field trip. We would go to historical places, museums, see natural wonders, and we would always learn something. Mom would always make us stop and read the little educational signs, and while I may have felt that this was boring at times, I love that I traveled all over the country with my family and saw so much history, nature, and beauty along the way. (Also, we could take a 3 week vacation in September, because we weren't in school. And we could go to Cedar Point after the schools started up so that we didn't have to wait in lines to ride the roller coasters!)
5. Handpicked Curriculum - If a math program wasn't working for me, my mom would try a different one. When does that happen in schools? And I still remember sitting at the kitchen counter with my aunt reading a very silly book called Algebra the Easy Way that made learning algebra almost fun. Okay, it was fun, I just couldn't admit it then.
6. Time with Family and Shared Experiences - This one is easy for me to take for granted, and I obviously can't imagine what it would have been like to have less time with my parents and siblings, but I know this was significant. I spent so much of my childhood playing with my sister and brother, time I would have spent with kids who I probably wouldn't know anymore if I had gone to school.
   We read a lot during the homeschooling years. The number of books my mom read to my sister, brother and I are probably too many to count. And my sister and I read a lot of books together. And we spent so much time living, learning, and playing together that the lines between those three things are very, very blurry. Now, looking back, I have all those memories and shared experiences with my family, and that's wonderful!
7. Being Sheltered is Wonderful - Looking back, I can honestly say that I am so grateful for how sheltered I was as a child. Anyone who knew me back then will probably agree that it would be hard to be more sheltered than I was. I didn't know some common swear words until I was 16, and don't even ask me how I thought you got pregnant before I was 12! But you know what? All those things I was sheltered from were things I didn't have to deal with as a kid, and I think that it makes me a more sure, secure, mature adult today. I didn't deal with any of the knowledge of how messed up the world was as a child. I got to wait and deal with all that knowledge when I was older and had a strong faith foundation and years of experiences to fall back on. And I am incredibly grateful for that! I know how hard it must have been to shelter us as much as we were sheltered, and I appreciate the effort my parents put into it so much today.
8. Christ-Centered Curriculum - We were able to use Christian curriculum while homeschooling, but more importantly, our parents had the opportunity to personally teach us about Christ. I remember devotions in the morning, sometimes a quick reading from Little Visits with God, sometimes more elaborate with praise songs or hymns included. I remember memorizing bible passages and parts of the catechism with my mother. I still know all the ten commandments and their meanings, and since our church did not emphasize memorization for confirmation classes, I consider that quite a gift! I do mentally refer to Bible passages and catechism explanations that I memorized as a child when faith-related questions come into my head. I love that we were able to do devotions together as a family (even if I was bored at the time, I look back upon the memory fondly). I love that the timeline of history we had on our living room wall had both biblical events and other historical events mapped out together so we could see their interactions in history. I love that we could talk about each subject together in light of our Christian faith.
9. I Know My Parents Cared - Looking back, I don't know if my parents ever told me how much family mattered. I am almost sure they did, but I don't remember it. What I do remember is that my mom was always there for us. Literally there, not just figuratively, emotionally, or at the end of the day. There all day, every day, even when she was tired of us. She gave us 20 years of her life raising us, and when I talk to her about it today she says that she never regretted it. And my dad, every day when he came home from work at dinner or in the kitchen I remember him asking me what I learned, or how I did on a project or a test. I remember him asking me, "Did you ace it?" and I remember that he was always proud of me and telling me how smart I was. Looking back, the most significant thing I take away from homeschooling is that I never, ever have to wonder how much my parents cared about me. I can see it in the sacrifices they made and the decisions they made. I came away from those years with an outstanding education, but more importantly, I came away from those years having been shown what it means to love your family and put their interests first. I can't wait to give that back to my own kids.

This list could go on indefinitely. I am sure I could come up with pleasant memories of my homeschool years for hours. I could probably do a single blog post on each one of those nine points I mentioned. I might come back and do that at some point. But for now I will just say that I could not be more excited start on this journey with my little girl and future kids.

I would love to hear from you! 

If you were homeschooled, I would love to hear your memories of the things your parents did that impacted you the most. Leave me a comment! If you weren't homeschooled and you are considering homeschooling your children, I am not an expert yet from the parent perspective, but I would love to answer any questions you may have for a former homeschool kid about any aspect of homeschooling.