Every time I met parents who were homeschooling or adults who were homeschooled or spoke with kids who were doing it - I had this great positive feeling. A right feeling.
“How are you going to find the time to do that?”
That’s the most popular response I’ve gotten when I tell my friends and family that I decided to homeschool.
Now, all of them are at home now and they are schooling. But, I made the decision to form a private school within my home and I have two students! Logan and Chloe. Our other two are with their respective schools doing distance learning and planning to return to campus once the schools open up again.
“So then why? Why did I choose to go this route with these two?”
Well, there are many reasons.
For one, homeschooling was something I’d thought about for years. Every time I met parents who were homeschooling or adults who were homeschooled or spoke with kids who were doing it - I had this great positive feeling. A right feeling.
But, it wasn’t totally up to me because I wasn’t the only parent. And truthfully, I was certain I probably couldn’t manage it. After all, I had a business to run and I sincerely questioned my level of patience for such a task.
But then things happened in the world and within in our family world and suddenly this became an opportunity that was screaming at me to explore. And so I did.
After hours of research and joining online groups for support and of course, vetting it out with my kids, it was a unanimous decision. We were going to homeschool. Well, we were at least going to give it a valiant effort and that’s what we’re doing.
I could tell you a long list of reasons, but instead, I’m going to tell you what it ultimately came down to.
I was reminded recently about a Seth Godin Ted Talk, where he asks the question, “What is school for?”
And here’s my answer, school is to discover talents and gifts. It’s also to prepare children to be thriving adults and handle real life. It’s to teach them that failing is okay and mistakes are the best lessons learned.
I then realized that there were alternatives to their education that I could do that would provide more of what I believed would be valuable to becoming the best version of themselves.
I wanted to provide more tailored forms of socialization where they weren’t prematurely introduced to influences that would negatively affect their self-esteem and their values.
I was also impressed by the many studies of improved emotional and psychological development of children that were homeschooled.
I like the flexibility. I like being able to cater to their learning styles and more importantly, I like being able to create a curriculum that continues to unveil and serve their specific talents.
Those were some of the reasons we decided to take the plunge. And at this point, all I can say is that we will see where the journey takes us.
Like everything in life, we expect peaks and valleys and we will embrace them all.