10 Reasons I'm Glad "Back to School" Means Homeschooling

Where has the summer gone? It’s hard to believe that vacation time is coming to an end and it’s time for “back to school”! Even if you school year ‘round, there’s just something special about starting fresh in the fall…new supplies, new curricula, getting back on a regular schedule…I just love the fresh start that the fall brings to our homeschool! While most kids, homeschooled or not, are preparing for the new school year, I can’t help but be so happy that, for us, “back to school” means homeschooling. With many of the daily challenges and frustrations homeschooling brings, it’s easy to lose sight of the myriad blessings this educational choice offers. So here are 10 of my favorite reasons starting up in the fall means educating at home:

1. When everyone else is setting their alarms for 5 a.m. in order to be up, showered, dressed, breakfasted, and on the bus by 6:30 a.m., we are leisurely rolling out of bed around 7:30, after a bit of relaxing snuggle time. Even better – we never take off our pajamas!
2. Instead of starting a new grade in every subject, we get to go at our own pace. “Back to school” may mean moving ahead of grade in Reading and Writing, with a new year’s curriculum, while finishing up last year’s unfinished work in Math or History. There’s no pressure, and we get to go at the pace that benefits each child – with plenty of time to stop and hang out in areas that are challenging or particularly interesting, and no wasted time languishing on easy or boring areas.
3. There’s no stressing about tests! Mastery is determined by daily work completion rather than grades on specific tests, and while most of the world is focused on memorizing facts to recall for tests, we get to do hands-on projects and explore subjects of interest in depth.
4. Our “socialization” avoids same-age peer bullying, drugs, peer pressure, sexual misconduct, and disrespect in exchange for interaction with the elderly, mentoring by adults, family values, character modeling, and exposure to people from a variety of ages, races, and backgrounds.
5. Because our educational time gets completed each day long before public and private schools dismiss, our kids can participate in extra-curricular activities and still have plenty of time in the evening to spend with family, play, read, or just relax.
6. Our classroom is so flexible! Instead of sitting at a desk all day, we get to write at the kitchen table, lie down and read on the bed, do puzzles on the floor, pull out a blanket underneath a tree, participate in a program on the computer, discuss our History lesson in the hammock, watch a video on the couch, and even do work while standing, walking around, running, or even swinging!
7. If we feel like taking a fall vacation, in order to get better rates/deals or just to enjoy the beautiful weather, we can! While everyone else is occupied with a regular school schedule, we can take off whenever we want to take advantage of a fall vacation. Camping trip to the mountains, anyone?

• We don’t know what homework means. All of our work is technically home-work, so when the work is done for the day, it’s done. When most kids are completing homework at home after their schoolwork, we’re playing soccer or going to horse riding lessons or enjoying some time with Daddy after he gets back from work.
• My kids get the education that my husband and I believe is important – in our opinion, real education. Instead of politically-correct Social Studies, we learn History. Instead of generic citizenship, we learn character. Instead of being religion-free, we learn about the Bible and about faith. Instead of fact recall and memorization, we focus on critical thinking. Instead of a sole focus on academic subjects, we also learn life skills such as money management and computer repair. We get to shape our children’s education to that which we believe will most prepare them for life, rather than rely on what the government (or someone else) thinks our children need to know.
• I get to drink in every moment of time with my kids, instead of missing out on 8 or more hours a day with them. The time passes so quickly, and they will so soon be out on their own – homeschooling allows me to intimately enjoy every aspect of who they are and participate in who they become.  Hopefully, when my time with them is over, homeschooling will have allowed me to feel like I was able to make the most of the time I was given with them.