Why Do Families Choose To Homeschool?

If you got a group of homeschoolers together and asked them one question how many different answers do you think you would get?

If you said, “a different answer for each family,” you’d be pretty accurate. I’m sure that this has been your experience, and according to a survey I ran, this is pretty common. In this survey, I asked homeschoolers a wide variety of questions about their homeschool.

But there was one very important question. I expected to receive a few typical answers. And I expected that most of the answers would be short and generic.

What I didn’t expect was the long, very specific answers. The ones where these homeschoolers were so open in answering me, I was blown away by that. The question I asked was a very personal one. One that cuts to the center of our lifestyle.

The question, of course, was why do you homeschool?

A Few Common Answers

I’ll be honest, the answers I expected to receive included religious education and common core. In fact, for us, common core was a huge part of our transition. I was so frustrated with my kids being forced into a box, grouped along with all the other kids their own age, and stuck learning in an artificial way.

This wasn’t to say the school was at fault. Honestly, my children were lucky in their public school experience to have teachers and educators who were caring and did the best they could to teach within the restraints of the bureaucracy that has become public education. They did their best to make boring topics exciting, and get kids prepared for mandatory testing that they knew no one enjoyed. These educators were stuck, the middleman, between angry and frustrated parents and a large governmental change.

Yet, as much as they tried, our family truly felt that public school was no longer the best option and we made that transition from public to homeschool. It’s one I am so glad we made. Over the years, common core still remains a big reason for us, but no longer is it our only reason. I don’t think there is enough space in this post to accurately articulate exactly why we homeschool.

However, there is space to talk about the reasons for homeschooling. Reasons that I received from homeschoolers just like you.

Flexibility

Quite a few of the families who responded cited flexibility as their main reason for homeschooling. Whether it’s due to being a military family, a traveling family, or simply wanting to allow their child to learn at their own pace, many of the families are looking for the flexibility that homeschooling offers.

And this is a great thing. We have loved the flexibility homeschooling has allowed us. We have been able to review topics over and over until they were fully understood. Skip topics that were already known. And even skip a whole grade level in a few subjects.

But it’s not just academic flexibility. The ability to work around schedules means we can enjoy a mid-week day off when hubby is home. Take a random day off simply because the sun is shining. Or push through and work on snow days when the public school is off, knowing we won’t be making up a snow day in June.

This flexibility has allowed one responding family to customize their child’s education to accommodate his ADHD. It allowed another family to seamlessly educate while one parent is in the military and the family works through multiple moves. And homeschooling has allowed one parent to simply customize their child’s education to meet the needs of their child.

Family Time

Imagine this: you have a home and a wonderful family that you love. Maybe you even have a beloved pet or two. Your family enjoys two vehicles, a week-long summer vacation, and the kids enjoy sports, band, and camp activities. In order for this lifestyle to work, every day your family wakes up and prepares to separate. Parents go in one direction and the children in another. For 10-12 hours a day this family is separated, and if they are lucky they are all home by dinner to enjoy an hour or two together before the children head to bed and the parents attempt to work for another couple of hours from home.

And they do this five days a week. 50 weeks a year.

Sadly, this is the reality of many families. In fact, for our home, this was once the reality and we were not loving it. The reality, though, is that many families do this every day, year after year. Families that we so desperately want and try to provide for we barely even know because in order to afford the lifestyle we think we need we have to send Mom and Dad to work and the kids to school and daycare.

So it was no shock to see that a lot of these family simply homeschool so they can have more family time. So they can raise their children with their own values and see their children for more than a couple of hours a day.

And I get this. I see this – this benefit of added family time in my own home. My children are closer to their siblings than before. My youngest cannot even fathom not having her older siblings around because for her whole life they have been here – and to her, they are her world.

The bonds and memories these children are creating by being home are irreplaceable. And the ability to raise and correct my children, guide them in the manner we see fit, and opportunity to help them navigate childhood is amazing.

A Faith-Based Education

Honestly, this one didn’t surprise me too much. Many of the families who responded cited the ability to provide family values and pass along faith as part of their child’s education as one of the key factors. Many of the homeschoolers I know, both here in my neighborhood and across social media, educate from a Biblical perspective. And many of the curriculum options available to homeschoolers are faith-based.

That’s not to say you are automatically religious because you homeschool. And it’s not completely impossible to find school materials that are without a Biblical backing. But the reality is that many homeschoolers and many of the curriculum options available are centered around Biblical beliefs and teachings.

Deeply Personal Reasons

Each family has their own set of reasons when it comes to homeschooling. And I’m not going to say that your reasons are wrong or that mine are right. The reasons for homeschooling are as different as the children being homeschooled. In fact, my own reasons have changed over the years and vary slightly between each of my children. And I am willing to be yours have changed as well.

What hasn’t changed is my dedication to providing them the best possible education. One that allows us to learn at a pace that works for them. One that allows us to succeed as a family. One that allows us to teach them about math facts, history, science, and religion all in one space.

Mostly though, it’s not about teaching them what I want them to learn. It’s about allowing my children to learn what they want to learn while also thinking about what they will need to go along with it. It’s about teaching them how to learn, how to know more about what interests them.

For us, homeschooling is about the whole person not just the facts – the names and dates and places and formulas. It’s cultivating hearts, teaching responsibility, and raising compassionate individuals. Individuals who will one day be spouses, parents, employees, and citizens.

If you would like to participate in the survey, it’s still open for answers! Just click here and let me know all about your homeschool.

Why does your family homeschool? Has your reasoning changed over the years? Scroll down and let me know in the comments!