Let me preface this by saying I am not against homeschooling. There are numerous ways to homeschool and do it well. I have several close friends and family members who have chosen to homeschool their kids and they are rocking it. It’s the perfect choice for their families and their kids are thriving in it. I support them 110% in their choices (as they do mine) but it’s not right for our family, so we’ve chosen public schooling.
Here are a few reasons why after careful consideration, we chose public school instead of homeschool.
- I was homeschooled – I know that most adults who were homeschooled end up homeschooling their own children, but this is not the case for us. Now that I’m an adult I see that there are huge gaps in my own education that were not covered by my homeschooling. I don’t want to leave my kids with similar gaps where I’m limited to what my husband and I know. Note, this is not a problem with homeschooling itself, but in the specific way that I was homeschooled.
- Personality – The personality of myself and my kids both come into play. I’m not a very structured person and I know firsthand how important structure is to a good education. This is certainly something I could try to force myself through if I thought keeping my kids home was the best choice for them, but I think their personalities are an important piece of the education puzzle too. They are both very social children and being around other kids excites them. They have good incentive to attend school, and do well there simply because they have friends doing it.
- Risk – I’m not completely confident I could do this and do it well. My son is absolutely brilliant, and I don’t think I could challenge him enough at home. While I recognize that public schooling has it’s own share of challenges and shortcomings for gifted kids, I prefer giving him the chance to excel there than to struggling to keep him learning and engaged at home. The education of both of my children is too important to me to risk it on a “maybe I can do this”.
- I don’t want to – I simply don’t want to do it. I didn’t have the best experience with it personally, and I’m not confident that I could do it well myself. I know that it wouldn’t be something that I love to do and would require a lot of sacrifice on my end. While I would be willing to make those sacrifices for my kids if I truly felt it would be that much better for them in the end, the truth is I don’t think it would be. I won’t force myself to do something I don’t think I can do well, if I don’t see it having an overwhelmingly positive impact on my kids.
- School district – We live in a neighborhood within an excellent school district. The kids around here are all pushed very hard to succeed and excel in school. I love that they will be in an environment with lots of other kids who are also trying their best and learning as much as they can. There are good GT (gifted and talented) programs that my husband was in and I suspect our son will be placed in as well.
In short, I believe a variety of methods can provide great education for kids. I don’t think that a child’s education should be taken lightly or decided by default, be it for homeschooling, public schooling or private. There are so many factors to consider and it’s an important choice for each family to make on their own.
Are you homeschooling, public schooling or private? How did you make your choices?
If your child is going off to school (public or private) check out our tips to help the transition go easily.
Mrs. Hey says
I could’ve written this post myself! I too was homeschooled, and while I think it’s a great choice, it’s just not for me and my family. My education has so many gaps (my mother hates math so it got left out a lot) I feel like I would be holding my children back if I homeschooled them. Thank you for writing this post it makes me feel better about sending my daughter to pre-school this fall (eek!)
Tiffany says
I want to start off by saying that I totally respect everyone’s decisions when it comes to educating their children. I’ll tell you that homeschooling never seemed like an option to me. While I’m intelligent I did not go to college nor did I do wonderfully in high school. I always felt like there would be no way I could provide a good education for my kids on my own. I want to stress that you don’t have to be a college graduate or the like to homeschool your kids. I want people who are on the fence about it to know that it’s totally doable and to give it a shot if you’re interested.
Now, what I will tell you is that we were kind of forced into homeschooling with my oldest. Toward the end of 1st grade she started having terrible anxiety which only worsened when she went into 2nd grade. She was also incredibly bored with school. She loves learning but wasn’t challenged. Her anxiety became so bad that, with the encouragement of a friend who homeschools and her desire to try it, we gave it a shot. We figured we try it for a year and if it really wasn’t working we look at other options. Well, we’ve never turned back. While I’ve struggled with my feelings of inadequacy around it we have made it work. We’ve been homeschooling for 4 1/2 years now and love it. Homeschooling is so different from how it was even 15 years ago. The internet has opened so many doors for educating from home. I’m not very strong in math and have struggled to help her understand it, especially since it’s her toughest subject. I learned early on that we just needed to find the right “curriculum” for her, which we have, Teaching Textbooks. We also have a wonderful homeschool community here. My daughter is able to take classes in science, art, history, etc. When she’s 15 she can start taking classes at the local community college while being enrolled with a charter school. When complete she will have a high school diploma as well as an associates degree and will be able to transfer to any college in our state as a Sophomore or Jr. We have a soon to be 5 year old and have a year to decide if we’ll try public school or if we’ll stick with homeschooling him as well.
Katie says
Thanks for this. I have been pressuring myself to homeschool because it is the popular thing to do in my church, but the truth is I have struggled with depression and fatigue for the entire five years that my daughter has been home wih me. I am retain oy capable of homeschooling and even think she may excel in that format but I just can’t imagine being home another 14 years. I got a lot out of public school including an excellent education, but the most important thing was the escape from a dysfunctional home life and depressed parents. I think exposure to different personalities is as important as strong academic instruction, if not more so. I wish my health were better so I could provide the supportive, organized and positive environment my kids deserve, but at least I know that they will be getting those things somewhere.
Samantha says
Thanks so much for this! My eldest is just getting ready for preschool, and it’s been a big topic. There a lot of other SAHM that I know that homeschool, and I really don’t feel it is for us, although I always feel like I get a little look from the home schooling parents when I say that.
I have many of the same issues, although I was a public school graduate myself (and did just fine :) ), that you do. Especially the ‘I don’t want to’ which for me is probably the key one. If I’m not excited about it I’m not going to do a good job, and honestly there are other things I would rather be doing than working up lesson plans for my kids (I choose not to get a teaching certificate in college for a reason). I could do it sure, but I just don’t want to. So thanks for sharing that, it makes me feel much better!
Aleesha says
I have so many WONDERFUL friends who homeschool, and I admire them for their dedication. But I am more like you I think. Structure is my enemy. Serioulsy I hate it. I prefer to never plan, never use a calendar (and frequently not accomplish anything other than just cuddling my kids and living life). I didn’t do my homework when I was in school MYSELF, so I have no doubt that I would procrastinate and find excuses not to do “school”. Its not because homeschool is bad, or even not right for my kids. It’s because I know myself well enough to know my limits. Would I love to have my kids home with me each day? YES! I love them. They drive me crazy, but I adore them. However I know in our particular situation they will thrive in (and are thriving in)public school. Its not because I’m too lazy, its because I am smart enough to know my limits. And I LOVE that my homeschool mommy friends just support me in that and don’t judge me. There is true beauty in just loving people and not trying to change every choice they make. I also do not feel qualified to teach my gifted child. My other children, maybe…but I have no doubt I would be holding my gifted 10 year old back from reaching his potential. We have a horrible (HORRIBLE) school district here where I live, so I was blessed enough to find a charter school in my area and get all 3 children in the school in the same year. Its truly a blessing!
Sarah says
One thing I love about you, Paula, is that you make decisions thoughtfully and intentionally and then are able to express them without alienating people who have made different decisions :) It’s amazing how many different education options for our kids and the most important thing is to make an informed decision for your family – what works best for one family won’t always be the best for the next family. And within public, private, and home education there are even more options! What a blessing to have so many ways to meet our education needs :)