Now that you have thought about taking the leap into Homeschooling the new decision may be scaring you or you may be excited. For my family, I was both excited and scared. If you would like to know the truth even though we have been Homeschooling since October of last year I still fill this way.
So, I would like to make a suggestion make a list of question you have and make it an ongoing list where you can add to the questions as your family comes upon them. I would suggest using a Spiral Notebook and using one page per question so you have room to write down the answers and any concerns you might have.
Then the next step I would say is to look into the laws concerning Homeschooling in your State which you can find online. Or through the Administration Board in your area. Or contact the local library as they may have books covering the laws of homeschooling in your State. Also, you can Google the answer or search on Facebook for Homeschooling groups in your area.
Below I have listed reasons people chose to Homeschool:
Ensuring educational excellence
For most parents, this means you may not be sure your child is getting the best education possible in a public or private school. Or they aren’t learning things they need to be learning. Charlie, has a learning disability and staying focused in a classroom is hard and he isn’t able to keep up with the other children and this is why homeschooling was the best fit for our family.
Meeting your child’s special needs
For Charlie that is offering him Audio for reading time as he does better with it. Along with going back to 3rd Grade Math and relearning areas he struggled with. By doing both of these I was able to find things that interest Charlie and would keep his interest while teaching him the subjects he needs to learn.
Retaining Religious Conviction
For us my family is Christians and I don’t think the Lord should have been taken out of schools. Although I know people who don’t feel this way. For me to be able for Charlie to do Bible Study Lessons and to Pray over his meals it was easier to remove him and homeschool him. Along with this, we can incorporate the Pledge of Allegiance in our studies which I believe all children should learn and say each and every day.
Accommodating Family Lifestyle
When I first began Homeschooling David worked nights and was off on Thursday which didn’t allow Charlie and David much time together and we couldn’t do things together as a family. Now David is working Days and he goes in at 3 am and gets off at 3 pm. If Charlie was attending the public school he wouldn’t get home until 4 pm and then we would need to begin homework and dinner.
Once we are done it is close to 6 pm and Charlie wants to go outside and play and he is allowed to until 7:30 but by the time he comes in David is getting ready for bed and they weren’t spending time together. Which I didn’t think was good for either of them. Or I would have a Blog event and Charlie would miss school that day or he wouldn’t get to go with us to the event. Or I would have to decline the work as it was geared towards Homeschooling.
We made the decision that it was the best choice for our family to Homeschool Charlie as we can work around both David and my schedule. We are free to studies the things that interest us and to go on Field Trips when we would like to places we want to go to. Not places the school thinks we should go visit.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
