Why did I choose to homeschool?

I really never thought about homeschooling.  The plan was for Josh to go to public school until John was of school age then send them to Trinity - a private school in Morgantown. 

Ronnie casually mentioned homeschooling a couple of times and we would talk about it, nothing serious, just casual conversation.  We had taught Jr. Hi. Sunday School and our class had a good mix of public, private and homeschooled kids (including our very own blog hopper Audrey).  I liked the homeschooled kids, I liked their families - but I planned on going back to work full time once the kids were school age.

After Josiah's birth, I started working one day a week for home health and just as needed for my cath lab job.  I never realized how much I missed being the one to get to experience all the firsts - first words, first tooth, first steps.   I'm not beating myself up about that, there was no way when Josh & John were babies that I could have stayed home.  We had too much debt at that time and I had to work to help Ronnie get it paid off.  When Josiah came along, we were debt free except for our mortgages.  Being home, I realized that there were more important things than having the newest IPhone or whatever shiny trinket it was that had caught my eye.  Being home, that was what really mattered to me.

The how of my homeschooling journey was actually a God thing.  Homeschooling in my mind was along the lines of being a missionary in Africa - an awesome and worthwhile thing to do, but not necessarily for me.  Ronnie mentioned homeschooling again when Josh was ready for preK, but I still wasn't sure.  I told Ronnie I would pray about, which is sometimes my way of just avoiding the subject.  This time, I really did pray about it. 

I ended up choosing to homeschool Josh for preK.  The boys at the time were currently in daycare two days a week and he was already able to write most of his letters so I figured how hard could it be?  I loved it!  I loved everything about it.  I love the time spent together - not just parent and child, but seeing siblings become best friends.  I love seeing them grasp concepts as I'm teaching them - seeing the information click.  Honestly, it's one of the best feeling in the world.  I love that instead of being in school all day, they can finish their school work and go outside and play like kids are supposed to.  I love that it fits our family.  We don't have to worry about our seniority at work for our vacations, we can take a trip during the public school year without making ourselves crazy lining up everyone's schedule.  Homeschooling fits our family.

Am I saying that I would never send my kids to public school?  No.  No one knows what the future holds.  But I also can see us homeschooling through high school. 

What I do know that at this point in time is that we're still loving it and they're still learning.

And for now, that's all I need to know.





Don't forget to hop on over and see what my other homeschooling mommas have to say:

Clockwise, from top left:

Lorrie @ Life and Lessons Learned, Selena at Campbell Clan, Kathleen @ Positive Adoption, Audrey @ Everything Beautiful, Charli @ WV Urban Hippies, Tracey @ Building My House, and Maria @ The Joyfully Frugal Home.