Why we'll homeschool another year

A good friend and my job-share partner recently wrote her own post about homeschooling another year. Her writing (and the reaction to it by some) got me thinking about all the reasons we'll homeschool another year. It also made me wonder how often families with kids in traditional school have to answer why their kids will go to school one more year. I can't imagine that most families ever get asked "When will you start homeschooling finally?" in the same voice and tone homeschoolers are asked "When will they go to real school finally?" Alas, when people ask, I think about it and when I think about it, I write about it.

Personal Success
We will homeschool another year because it works! The kid is thriving in a homeschool setting where he can use a college level biology textbook for science, use a history book all about science for history, dabble in music production and spoken word, take acting classes and filmmaking, complete a high school geometry class in three quarters and read more than 40 books in a semester. Academically, he is shining. Socially, he has so much free time to spend with friends both on and offline and taking classes in person, that he can't even imagine giving up that freedom.

Family Success
Homeschooling has given us so much time as a family! We don't fight about homework. I don't drive to Michael's for craft supplies at 7:45pm after a long day of work, hoping I can get there before the store closes. Weekends and breaks are for adventures, road trips, sleep-overs and friends. We can accomplish the academic work we need in around 5 hours a day, 5 days a week, giving us back our life from homework, group projects and stress. We have time to dabble in our individual hobbies, learn new things as a family and cement our relationships. Kids grow up so quickly. We have the time to appreciate that.

Personal Failure
Yes, this is a reason to continue homeschooling. The kid is an intense perfectionist who has had to learn to work hard in the face of a challenge and try a little harder, do it again or a different way. Homeschooling allows this personal challenge to happen in a private place, to take risks in a safe environment and for him to learn to push himself and take risks without the fear of public humiliation or embarrassment. With each year, he is more comfortable in his own skin, owning his strengths and weaknesses and learning to overcome both.

Reducing Middle School Drama
Middle school is a time most adults wouldn't go back and relive for a million dollars. In our setting, the kid gets doses of middle school drama in little chunks, a few hours a day. He learns to navigate the stress of friends finding out a secret and not keeping it. He makes friends of all ages and learns to live in a real-world with many different people of all ages, races, religions and colors. But at no point is his personal safety or his emotional safety in danger. It is risk taking and risk making, without long-term consequences. With middle school suicides on the rise, I'm grateful to be able to guide him through these emotional roller coasters in a small environment.

It works
Homeschooling works. If I've learned nothing else parenting, when it works, don't change it. As soon as it stops working, start scrambling for backup options. Right now, it works for every angle, so we'll keep on this path.


Why will you homeschool another year? Share your story!