"Why" Do You Homeschool?

Last week there was an article entitled, “My Top “10” Tips For A Successful Homeschool”. My favorite part was the insightful comments left by our facebook and twitter fans. I LOVED seeing how different and eclectic each of us are. It brought home the important truth that there are no wrong or right ways to homeschool your children. Every family has to find their own standards and values and walk in them.

We learned that we have incredible families who homeschool from a secular perspective and at the same time amazing families who teach from a religious viewpoint. Isn’t it interesting how we can all use the same curriculum even though we are so vastly different? Well, that leads me to today’s topic! How do “YOU” homeschool?

Some of us have been doing this so long that we’ve found a pretty good groove, (though I hope to always be teachable and open to new idea’s as my children and seasons change) others are still figuring it out. Here’s the deal though, we can’t really figure out what works for us until we know “WHY” we homeschool!

Why do “you” homeschool? What drew your heart in the first place? For some it was dissatisfaction with the school situation they were in. For others it was a quest for higher academics or personalized learning. Many began homeschooling for religious reasons. The answers vary and every single one of them is valid!

Once you understand “why” you homeschool you can begin your quest for “how” to make it successful in your home. How do you choose curriculum that lines up with your goals, belief’s and seasons of life? That question can only be answered by taking note of who you and your children are, then writing down those observations. Here are some questions I have had to ask myself that might be helpful to you:

1- Are you a recorder or a planner? Do you like to write lesson plans ahead of time or record once you’ve completed a task?

2- Where are your children academically? Are they gifted? Do they learn typically or differently?

3- What type of learners do you have? Do they work well independently or do thrive in more discussion/relational type situations? What is their learning style?

4- Are your children plugged into academic or extra curricular activities outside the home? How does that impact your week? (practice, homework, etc)

5- Why Do YOU Homeschool? Is it religion, higher academics, dissatisfaction with the public schools, health, learning differences?

Once you know your reasons then it’s important to put those in order from highest to lowest priority. This information is vital in making a curriculum work for you long term.

According to our comments from the “Top 10” thread last week, one mom loves using Time4Learning for Math and Language arts, but used something totally different for history and science because she wanted to teach from a different worldview. We saw lots of secular homeschoolers who use and love ALL components of Time4Learning. In another article entitled, “Should Christians Ever Use A Secular Curriculum” there were christian moms who strongly believed in evolution and loved using the very science portion that our mom with a different world iew couldn’t use to meet her families goals.

Here’s the point, we truly are “Better Together”. The beauty of homeschooling is the FREEDOM we have to personalize our children’s educational experiences to line up with our goals for "our" homes! So here's today's big Question....., Why has Time4Learning worked for "you", in "your" home, for "your" learners?