Homeschooling for the wrong reasons...a growing trend...

(Actually wrote this back in 2015, but never published it. And oh my! It's even MORE true today than when i first wrote it.)

I don't know about you, but I've noticed an alarming trend in the reasons why people are choosing to homeschool their kids.

Once upon a time, people chose to homeschool in order to instill in their children a Biblical worldview, to give them a better and more rounded academic education, to preserve the family unit, or because the Lord was calling/leading them to homeschool.

Today?!? You'll still get a lot of those responses, but you'll also get a lot of what I call the "perks" of homeschooling, but I hardly think those can be called reasons for homeschooling.

Here are several I have seen and heard. My kid:

...wants to be able to dress however they want, color their hair whatever color they want, or wear their hair however long/spiky/short they want. 

...can sleep in till noon and go to bed late.

...has no homework.

...won't get into trouble for their behavior anymore.

...can learn whatever they want.

...won't have to deal with bullies.

...can take off from school whenever.

Don't get me wrong, perks are great! However, they are not good enough reasons to sustain you through the tough times or keep you going for the long haul. Homeschooling is very rewarding, but it is also hard work.

It takes patience, planning, dedication, and a whole lot more.

I get so irritated when I hear people say they "just wing it". There is NO winging it! You either take your child's education seriously or you don't.

I'm on several homeschooling pages and I see time and time again where a parent posts..."I've just taken my kid out of public school, now what do I do?." Seriously!?! Don't you think you should have thought about that huge decision just a little before jumping in? Don't get me wrong, I realize, for a small percentage of people, something happens all of sudden and their child must be taken out immediately. I get that, but it is happening more and more and is becoming the norm. I really think some people are seriously misguided into thinking homeschooling is a cake walk.

It also scares me some because we (homeschoolers) are always being watched. They (the people and organizations against homeschooling) are just waiting to jump in and take away this freedom. I'm sure they can see the growing trend of people just 'winging it' too.

We are actually very blessed in the state of Texas regarding homeschooling. We have very few guidelines to follow that dictate how/what we have to teach and I love that freedom :)

Why is homeschooling so offensive to some people?

(I wrote this several years ago, but never got around to publishing it. It's interesting to see how different things are now that we've fast forwarded a few years...some things better and some things worse, but that's for another discussion.)

I certainly don't get offended when people tell me their kids go to public school. I don't wrinkle my nose or roll my eyes or make rude comments to others like, 'You are going to ruin your child', or 'I don't agree with public schooling', or any of the other number of comments that have been made to me throughout the years when people ask me where my kids go to school. 

If someone's educational choice causes such offense, then why don't people get offended when someone chooses to go to a private or charter school or even a different public school than their children? Why don't people get offended when others choose to live in a different town than they do? Or have the favorite color of blue instead of red? Or have a different favorite sports team than theirs? Scratch that...sorry, people do get crazy when it comes to sports...lol!

Is it fear of someone 'doing it differently' that causes them to find offense? Is it ignorance or just not knowing or understanding what homeschooling is all about? Could it be misplaced guilt in some cases to where God has impressed upon that individual to homeschool, but they are running away from that calling? Do some see it as a competition? Homeschool vs public school?

I don't look at it as a versus thing. I look at homeschooling as just one of the many educational choices out there parents have to choose from. On a deeper note, for our family, it's not just a choice, but it is also a calling the Lord placed on our hearts. 

Sadly, it's at church, of all places, that I feel my homeschooling "offends" others the most :( It didn't use to be this way. I don't know why the tides have changed. There are MANY public school educators at our church. Having been a teacher in the public education system, perhaps they feel as if I've "abandoned" them? Do they think I think I'm better than them because I'm choosing not to be in the public school? I certainly hope not! 

I don't parade around the fact that I homeschool. In fact, it's quite the opposite. I'm very private at church about our educational choices. I only discuss homeschooling things with other homeschooling families or others who sincerely have questions and want to know more...which are VERY few when it comes to sincerity :/

Because of this, I see the effects it has on my children. Ignorant comments made by supposed "friends" :(

Join us for Kindergarten Time! Using Abeka, Saxon, and My Father's World

 I'm probably biting off more than I can chew, but what else is new.

I'm going to attempt to coordinate Abeka Kinder Phonics/Reading with My Father's World Kinder and Saxon Kinder.

I'll plan to post my weekly lesson plans along with pictures and highlights of each week in case you are looking to do the same.

The Saxon part will be easy to incorporate into the mix, but coordinating between My Father's World and Abeka is a bit more challenging as they each follow their own plan for introducing letters and sounds and those plans DON'T line up with each other.

Here's to the start of another crazy awesome year! 

Week 3 - All Aboard the Animal Train (MFW)

Starting next week, I think I am going to just blog about each Unit. So much of what we do is repetitive from week to week until the unit changes that I feel like I don't have much to write every week. 

The boys love pretending to be baby bunnies. We hopped all over the house and took turns pretending  to do different rabbit things.

*Update* Even trying to just blog about each unit proved to be too much...LOL!

We finished All Aboard the Animal Train over the summer of 2020 and the boys loved every minute of it!

We also completed Voyage of Discovery over the summer of 2021. The boys learned SO much :)

Up next? Abeka Kinder, Saxon Kinder, and MFW Kinder! 

MAYBE I'll have time to blog about some of this...maybe ;)