Why We Homeschool: Our Story

There are dozens of reasons why families choose to homeschool. Here’s our story.

My husband and I have a range of schooling backgrounds, which includes private school, homeschool, and public school. I enjoyed several years as a middle school social studies teacher in the public schools before becoming a mom.

I really missed my job when I left! I had every intention of teaching again someday.

When my oldest was approaching kindergarten age (and he had three little brothers behind him), I was really hoping to find a small Christian school for him to attend. As the start of the school year came closer, reality hit me and I knew the choice was between homeschool and public school. We knew several families at church that homeschooled, and their teenagers were polite and able to converse with adults. They were a great encouragement to us.

I also knew there were things that I wanted to be able to teach him and that if he was in school all day, my brood of four boys just wouldn’t be the same. So, with a newborn and two toddlers in tow, we started to homeschool kindergarten. In reality, it only took an hour or two a day, so we still had plenty of time to play and live life.

Now (in 2022), we’ve graduated our oldest two, and except for a two year stint in a local Christian school, we have homeschooled the whole way through. The other kids are in 12th, 9th, and 4th this year.

Contents hide

1 Homeschooling gives Flexibility

2 Tutoring Model & Customization

3 Listen to episode 183 – Homeschooling is the Ultimate IEP

4 Homeschooling Encourages Family Bonding

5 Education is Discipleship

5.1 Parents, take heart, you’re doing a great job!

5.2 Check out these other homeschool topics:

Homeschooling has benefited our family in three big ways. Here are some of the main reasons to homeschool.

Homeschooling gives Flexibility

My husband is a full-time pastor, which means that he doesn’t just work Monday through Friday 8-5. His schedule can be sporadic. Weekends for our family are busy, so he takes Tuesday as his day off. If my kids were in school, they wouldn’t see dad as much. We can adjust our schedule to do family activities on the off-season.

Do you want to be able to take family trips on the “off season” without worrying about your kids missing school? Do your kids want extra time to pursue passions, hobbies, interests, extracurricular activities, apprenticeships, and more? These are some of the reasons to homeschool for increased flexibility.

Okay, here’s a really lazy-sounding reason. Do you and your kids love to work when you’re most fresh? Maybe for your family that means sleeping in and “doing school” from 10-2. Maybe you just can’t do mornings! That’s the beauty of a flexible schedule that works for your family, and it’s one reason to homeschool for many families – your kids get enough sleep!

Tutoring Model & Customization

One of my sons was slower in gaining confidence and ability in reading because he has dyslexia. He really needed the one-on-one instruction that homeschool gives. Traditional schools just can’t meet those needs.

I remember having 25 or more students in my middle school classrooms and working extremely hard to keep them all engaged. I could have a great lesson planned, but some kids really needed that individual instruction that is impossible in that setting.

My children have benefited from the tutoring structure of homeschool. We don’t have to belabor skills that they can learn quickly. But, we also have the freedom to slow down on the topics that need more work.

For kids with a disability and for every kid in your home, having that one-on-one instruction time is one of the key reasons to homeschool. It really does make all the difference for many kids who would be lost in a classroom setting.

Listen to episode 183 – Homeschooling is the Ultimate IEP

On episode 183 of the Homeschool with Moxie Podcast (coming soon!) we discuss Dr. Jay Wile’s blog post titled “Another Reason Why Homeschooling is Best for Most Students.”

Why is Dr. Wile so bold to make this statement? It’s because you can tailor or customize the education to your unique kids.

There is no such thing as an effective “one size fits all” education, even though that’s what the vast majority of schools offer.
Dr. Jay Wile

Dr. Kathy Koch discussed how to customize your homeschooling based on which of the 8 Great Smarts your child possesses on episode 133. That is – you can create an individualized education program to support your child in his weaknesses and allow him to flourish in his strengths.

So what is an IEP? It’s an official plan written up by a team of teachers and school personnel that provides for specialized instruction for students who have a disability. Well, isn’t that exactly what homeschooling is? No matter if your student has a disability or not, homeschooling allows the ultimate individualized education plan!

Homeschooling Encourages Family Bonding

When our youngest son had just turned one, we knew our family was called to adopt. We didn’t know who it would be, or when it would happen, but we knew we had room in our family for at least one more.

It would take six years, but when we finally adopted our daughter internationally as a toddler, it was such a blessing for all her brothers to be homeschooling so we could bond as a family. If they had been off at school all day, this special bonding would have been harder to accomplish.

Do we ever drive each other crazy? Of course! But the positives outweigh the negatives.

I believe that parents are uniquely qualified to teach their kids. I have a teaching degree, but I know that it is not necessary to do a great job with homeschooling. In fact, by parenting and teaching my own kids, I know much more about how kids learn than when I was a new 22-year-old teacher fresh out of college, but without kids of my own!

Education is Discipleship

Finally, every parent wants to pass down their values and worldview to their kids. As a Christian mom, I want to homeschool from a Christian worldview and use Gospel-centered resources with my kids. This is a huge reason we chose homeschooling over sending our kids to the local public schools, in addition to the other reasons above.