Friday, March 29, 2013

Why I Homeschool: Part 3

Because it's all about family.

And family doesn't just mean blood; it means the people who love you.
I homeschool my kids because I want the majority of their day to be spent with family, the people who love them, the people who they love.
I want Sena and Gus to sit together with their oma learning about ancient civilizations, and I want my dad to read them kid's versions of The Iliad and The Odyssey. I want their father to help them make lemon powered batteries, and I want to take them on nature walks. We love these kids, and these kids love us, and that's who I want them to spend the day with.
It melts my heart watching these two work together, elbow to elbow, 
identifying houseplants or learning about famous artists or doing their math. 


9 comments:

  1. Love this series, Rachel. Up until about 2 years ago, I thought homeschooling children would bore them to death. I imagined them sitting at a kitchen table for hours upon hours having their parents lecture them about things they "needed" to be taught at that particular age. I didn't understand it. I thought being surrounded by other children in a school setting would be the best choice.

    Your methods, as well as some other bloggers' methods I have read about have really opened my eyes. This seems like the best way to teach a child. Of course, it has to fit the family's lifestyle and all because it's a huge commitment, but overall, I think it's great.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Sabrina. I really like thinking about this- it's been good for me to work on putting it in words. people ask all the time, and sometimes it's hard to come up with an answer on the spot.
      I'm curious, is homeschooling a thing in Germany, or Europe for that matter?

      Delete
    2. Home-schooling is quite rare here in Central Europe.
      And you have quite a lot to do with authorities if
      you home-school your children.

      Do your kids have to pass some kind of tests at the end of
      each academic year at their local school?

      That is how it goes if you home-school in my country.

      Delete
    3. There isn't any mandatory testing in my state, but it varies state to state, so there might be some that do require testing. In Maryland, my state, you meet with the board of education twice a year to show evidence of learning. They allow a good deal of freedom in learning goals and objectives, which i appreciate.
      I don't feel like homeschooling is very popular in most of Europe, though I could be wrong.

      Delete
  2. Hmm...I'm not really sure about all of Europe, I might have to look into that. Homeschooling is not that big in Bamberg! I'm not sure why, honestly! I'll have to ask someone and get back to you :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I was home-schooled until high school and I LOVED it. I wouldn't trade being home-schooled for anything.
    I don't know if I'll ever have kids, but if I do I intend to home-school them, too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was sort of the opposite- I started getting homeschooled in 7th grade. From the looks of your blog, you're a high school English teacher too? I love "meeting" other people who have gotten to experience the differences between home and Punic schools.

      Delete
  4. Oh man I look forward to reading these posts on this rainy sunday afternoon. I'm so curious about both homeschooling and unschooling. It's so interesting and foreign to the way I was brought up.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks Milla. I feel like I don't quite have the courage to do full out unschooling, but I feel like when it's done well, it is so beautiful.

    ReplyDelete