It amazes me how certain statements about choices we make have the power to polarize a conversation almost immediately, especially when it comes to parenting. Choices like childbirth, cloth diapers, breastfeeding, vaccinations, and how natural our diets are generate a lot of opinions both online and in real life.
And choices like homeschooling. Raise the topic and you are immediately inviting an opinion. Often (thankfully), I get a positive response, and occasionally a negative one. But for those friends who have wondered about my stance on homeschooling, let me clarify a few things.
When I say that homeschooling is the best choice for us...
What I do mean is that...
Homeschooling is the best choice - for our family, for our daughter, at this time. If you think it might be the best choice for you, too, I hope you will check it out!!
And choices like homeschooling. Raise the topic and you are immediately inviting an opinion. Often (thankfully), I get a positive response, and occasionally a negative one. But for those friends who have wondered about my stance on homeschooling, let me clarify a few things.
When I say that homeschooling is the best choice for us...
- I don't mean that public schools are bad (I know many that are excellent!).
- I don't mean that everyone else should homeschool.
- I don't mean that I care more about my children's education than my friend who doesn't homeschool.
- I don't mean that I look down on parents who don't homeschool.
- I don't mean that my kids are better/smarter/more talented than anyone else's.
What I do mean is that...
- Homeschooling is the best choice for our family. It matches our family's values, desires, goals, and needs. We love the flexibility and the choices it gives us. We love the time it gives us with our kids and with each other. I love teaching my kids. It works for us.
- Homeschooling is the best choice for us at this time. This year it is working. I hope it will next year and every year after that, but I have homeschooling friends who taken it year by year, and even semester by semester. That is okay. Circumstances change, often in ways we can't control, and it is not a betrayal of your values (or the homeschooling community) if you can't homeschool in the future. (Seriously, it can feel that way.)
- Homeschooling is the best choice for our daughter. She is thriving in the homeschool environment we have been able to give her. She is naturally curious and loves teaching herself new things. She makes homeschooling easy. I am already realizing that teaching her brother will be an entirely different experience, and I have friends who have found that homeschooling is best for one child and not another. I hope to homeschool all of my children, but right now I am focused on my daughter who is the only one "in school". And right now, for her, it is working.
- Homeschooling could be the best choice for you. If the idea of homeschooling has ever caught your attention, I want to encourage you to check it out, because it may not be as complicated as you think it is.
Homeschooling is the best choice - for our family, for our daughter, at this time. If you think it might be the best choice for you, too, I hope you will check it out!!
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