Why Homeschool?

By now you’ve probably done a bit of research on homeschooling, as well as other education options. The statistics are admittedly pretty dramatic, but we think experiences with real people are even more impactful.

Homeschooled students often have the advantage of learning to socialize with people of all ages. There’s nothing as rare and precious today as a young student carrying a conversation with an adult: asking questions, confident in the subject matter, and treating the other person with sincere interest and respect. Usually, the more time they’re around familiar people, as well as with strangers of all ages under your guidance, the more they’re comfortable starting and maintaining conversations. Advances in homeschool co-ops, tutoring, and extracurricular activities are creating spaces for socialization on which you can still retain oversight. Homeschooled children are introduced to more practical life experiences and have the flexibility to meet friends who are in different education systems.

Homeschoolers, compared to their public schooled peers, have higher ACT scores, GPAs, and graduation rates. (Cogan, M. F. (2010). Exploring academic outcomes of homeschooled students. Journal of College Admission, 208, 18-25. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ893891.pdf)

Homeschooling allows you to form an indelible bond with your children, because their education is united with their family life. Learning should be a growth experience, so who better to grow with than their family? Many moms and dads only spend about 2 hours of quality time per day with their child who goes to school, and that drops to mere minutes in high school. As a homeschooling parent, your relationship with your child will be based on quality time, presence, and availability.

Homeschooling can be very flexible with your family routine. If you want to start a little later in the day so that you can make some doctor appointments, etc. you can do that.

Homeschooling is also the only way to have certainty of what your children are exposed to. They are, in fact, children. Children shouldn’t have to take care of themselves. Children aren’t fully equipped to take care of themselves. Placing them in a situation where they rely on strangers and your well-intended forewarnings might prove useless when occasions arise that they either don’t know how to handle, cannot handle, or should not have to handle. For example, if you desire to pass on your faith to your children, there’s no better way than for them to witness you living it throughout all the seasons of your life. The deepest answer to their questions is the first response. Let that response be yours.

Children crave and flourish on routine and stability. If home provides a stable routine for them, that will be the best place for them to learn well.

Institutional schools operate on the basis of treating everyone the same, teaching each child the same material, producing a homogenous output. There can be little to no individualization, which means there is a bar set that no student can rise above, or at least has no reason to rise above. When education is based at home, you have complete control over the specific curriculum. You can pick and choose the subjects (as long as they meet your state's requirements) and design your own field trips. We cannot emphasize enough the beauty and fluidity of individualizing school to your child. Students of all ages get so much more enjoyment out of studies that are tailored to their own specific interests and learning style.

Children can better understand that authority comes from God through an established order (i.e. parents and other rightful authority figures). Schools claim a lot of authority for themselves (especially because they’re expected to carry the legal liability for all their students’ welfare), commonly usurping parents’ rights.

There are now more resources available for homeschooling than ever before, so it's even easier to get started and get your questions answered!

If you like the idea of homeschooling and other non-institutionalized education options, the next step is to determine whether it's a viable option for you and your family. Take our self-assessment questionnaire below to understand what we consider strengths and weaknesses for someone starting out. Continue reading as we describe the application of the questionnaire; remember these are basic benchmarks, not a pre-determination of either failure or success.