The WHY...

Well, if you didn't hear the big news...we are now a homeschooling family! Since my post regarding the decision only stated the decision and NOT the rationale, I thought you might want some insight into why we concluded home schooling would be the best fit for our family.

At least this year!

Disclaimer: I am NOT  saying we have made the right decision for all humanity.  This is the decision we have come to for OUR family - and these are our reasons why.  Home schooling is not for everyone - it wasn't for me last year!  These reasons hopefully will spark talks or thoughts - but they are not a judgement on someone who has chosen differently.

Whew.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to figure out a light-hearted, back-handed-funny way to outline our reasons. So this is gonna be a bit of a departure.. . bear with me!
There were numerous little reasons - but two primary issues that swayed us to the side of home schooling.

1. The pervasiveness of Post-modern thought.
Basically, the postmodern world view claims reality is not fixed or determined. There are no absolutes - there is no sure truth, because all things are relative to each individual's viewpoint or life experience. 

As a Christian family seeking to follow the Truth of the Bible - postmodernism is completely opposed to how we view the world. 

Being exposed to different things and other world views is definitely a good thing. 

However, we determined that 6 years old was a little young to have the majority of your time spent in a setting oppositely aligned with our stated family goals.

2. 40 hours a week is a lot of time
I know modern American culture thinks nothing of our young children going off to their "job" of school for 40 hours a week....plus homework. But it was just too much for us! We would miss her terribly. Being an active duty military family also played a role in the "time" issue - sometimes My Love is gone during breaks in school and home when school is in session. We want to capitalize on our time together, so the flexibility afforded by homeschooling is a huge benefit.

Some other reasons were logistical - 


3. Where to fit the extra-curricular stuff
It is very important to us that the beans have a solid foundation in music. So, where do we fit piano/music lessons in the schedule? And what about dance or sports? When do we get to have time together as a family? The tailored schedule of home schooling became both highly attractive, and made some of our other goals more feasible.

You put all those things together and we did not think we would be able to maintain the stability and consistency we would like with a traditional school setting. Home schooling should allow us the flexibility to move, travel with My Love, and participate in extra-curriculars that would have been impossible otherwise.

I say "should" because we haven't done it yet! 

I'll let you know how/if it actually worked. 

I guess that pretty much sums it up! Not funny. Not heart-wrenching. Just basic. 


And that's a wrap.


(Soon I'll write a post on the "how" and the "where" because those are the next questions I get!)  :)


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