Why homeschooling works for me....

Somedays I think I'm crazy to homeschool. I mean, I can hardly get out of bed in the morning, why am I choosing extra work. But on the other hand--I can hardly get out of bed in the morning, so how would I get my 6 y.o. to school on time? I love that I now homeschool in the afternoon b/c it fits my physical needs better. My daughter does do all her independent work in the morning, but I don't check on any of it until the afternoon, so it works great.

Then there's my second reason--my second daughter--who is about to turn 3. You see, she wouldn't be in school anyway. And I've found that it's no more restful to me to be home alone with just the younger daughter. My older daughter can get things down for her, can clean up toys, and can pour cereal and milk for both of them. And my older daughter follow complex directions that my 2 year old can't, so she saves me a lot of getting up. She even goes to listen to the answering machine or bring me the phone. And being the oldest, she loves being responsible and having important jobs. If I ask a lot of her, I pay her for her work. And I tell her to go get _____ cents and we get to practice math!

And 3rd, I don't have energy to be the involved parent I would want to be in school, such as helping with parties or field trips. And it seems it is easier to teach her myself then have to pack lunch, get her to school, bring her home, help with homework, reading, and spelling, sign papers, take her to birthday parties of people I don't know, buy certain things for project or teacher gifts or whatever, and sell things for fundraising. Especially b/c sitting and reading a story vs. getting out to drive to school are a big difference in energy for me.

Now, those reason are all about me and my illness. But those are NOT the main reasons I homeschool. To be honest, it simply started out as me praying about what schooling options. But the longer I do it, the more reasons I have b/c I see the great results in areas I didn't expect.

1. I am choosing superior education methods that are possible with one-on-one. I use literature base curriculum for history, science, civics, Bible, geography, etc. Then, I add in Math-U-See and great phonics and handwriting programs (3 R's). I've also been able to pinpoint a weakness in auditory processing and work on that with her. I have a degree in Elementary Ed., but through homeschooling, I've learned much better ways to teach.

2. I can add in foreign language and lots of other enrichment. Truth is I don't usually feel like doing the extras (physically), but I try to make a lot of resources available for my daughter to learn from during play. For example, she has 2 videos that teach Ballet and she has a guitar and recorder that she's been practicing on lately. I've made it a real priority to have lots of educational toys and limited TV/computer time. I find her using her free time to write a book that she made out of construction paper or to read Magic School Bus or Usborne history books or play Operation (which I bought for to help her fine motor skills). Occasionally, I'll do a drawing lesson with her or chess lesson.

3. My dd (darling daughter) is free to go visit her grandparents. One set lives on a ranch, so I love that she can get out of the city. The other set love to take her places, like to ride an old steam train or to visit a wildlife park. She's able to go an visit them--not confined to the weekend-- and take a bit of school with her and catch up on the rest later.

4. Sibling relationships. My girls LOVE to play together, even though they are almost 4 years a part. But I don't think they would have really learned that if the oldest had gone to school 2 years ago! They are both highly emotional, so they do conflict, but they are learning to get along in a way that I don't see in others. And my dd2 is learning right along with her sister. She listens in on stories I read and talks about the characters. She likes to go check the weather with her big sister and listens along to the German CD.

5. Parent relationship. I love that my dd's and I get to spend unhurried time together just talking. My dd6 is really picking up on values right now and so we talk alot about important things. I love it.

--Friend relationships--I've realized that if she gets to go to at least 2-3 things with friends a week, her needs are met. So, church, small group, and getting together with a friend/or going to with a friend to a kids prayer group really feel that need at this age, though it may change in the future.

So, call me crazy, but we are sticking with homeschool. Even when I do less than I like to do with my daughter (like right now we aren't doing science other than magic school bus), I know she is getting more than she would in public school. Homeschooling fits our family. It's best for my daughters and best for me right now. And God's giving me grace to do it.

And now it's your turn....What's your story?