Our Reasons for Homeschooling

There are so many reasons a family chooses to homeschool. It could be for religious reasons, your child was bullied or not challenged enough. Maybe for medical reasons or the family travels a lot. It could be one singular reason or a mixture of multiple reasons.

Whatever the reason or reasons, all of them are valid.

 My girls were blessed to be at an amazing preschool when they were 3 and 4 years old. The school was designed for students with various special needs. All their needs were met academically and therapeutically. After two great years there it was time for kindergarten. We attended our elementary school's Kindergarten Round-Up, filled out all the paperwork, and completed the dreaded IEP.

That's when anxiety set in.

I realized there were several reasons why going the public school route wasn't going to work for our family. I did not feel comfortable sending my special needs daughter, who was still falling a lot, into a big school with big kids. I didn't like the fact that so much of my legal and paternal rights to my child's education and well-being were being handed off to people who didn't know her and who were also accountable to a few hundred other kids.

As for my typically developing child, I had a feeling that she would be the nail that would have to be hammered down to fit in. She is strong, fierce, and opinionated but gentle and compassionate. I didn't want her to lose that.

I didn't want someone else raising my children and I didn't want to miss out on all that time with them. I love my children!

Now, some people may say that I'm overreacting, I'm being a helicopter parent or I'm sheltering my children. To that, I say they're my kids and the law is on my side.

The longer we keep on this homeschooling journey, the more secure I am in my decision to homeschool. I have shared so many amazing memories with my children and have been learning right alongside them.

I think it's an absolute privilege to see my children learn and grow year after year without missing hardly a thing. Those moments when it finally clicked and she read her first book or how her face lit up when she learned some amazing fact about her favorite animal; those moments belong to us, me and my children.

Thank God that we all have the ability to choose how our children are educated in this country. Whether it be public, private, or homeschool, we choose what's best for our children. One form of education is not less-than another, it's just different.

Whatever your reasons, they are all valid.