As a homeschooling dad, I am now more sure than ever that we have done the right thing! I know many parents who are stressed about handling their child’s education. But let me share why we know homeschooling is right for us.
Feeling Confident About the Curriculum
Now that we have gone through two levels of our curriculum and just started the third level, we are not anxious about the homeschooling curriculum anymore.
In the beginning, we were still determining if we were doing enough or studying the right things. But we started early, and our son has settled right into us teaching him and he enjoys the lessons. We’ve even switched math curriculums during the year and that also has gone well.
My wife teaches in local schools and music studios, and I teach part-time as well to stay current. We are confident our son is learning effectively and that our plans are aligned with trusted curriculums. We are sure homeschooling is a good fit for our family because we are relatively stress-free about the curriculum.
Witnessing Our Child Mature in Knowledge
As a father who does most of the lessons and checks out library books, I know exactly what our son is learning. Before he was homeschooled, we would get a glimpse of what he might be learning. But now when he makes up stories or tells us about a fascinating story he’s read, we know exactly where it came from.
It’s hard to explain to someone who doesn’t homeschool, but it’s gratifying to know that the imaginary stories or funny things your child says come from his creativity from what he learns and reads about. When my son lets me know about Martians and life on Mars, I know it’s because he’s just read a book about it. And when he quizzes me about facts he’s learning about the longest rivers of the world or the history of the ancient world, I love it.
In the past, we’d hear him talking about things but weren’t sure where those facts came from. Sometimes kids get facts all mixed up, but now we know the content of his education so we can discern the “creative” facts he’s sharing and correct him if needed. We are so happy to see him mature in his knowledge, and we are thrilled when he shares with our friends and family as well.
Observing Our Child with Traditionally Schooled Kids
We also know we made the right choice when we observe our son playing with other kids from traditional schools. When we are at the park or with others from church or family, it’s apparent that he is mature, stable-minded, and not as wild. I realize it might just be my bias and positive outlook, but I don’t think so.
Before we were homeschooling, we didn’t have much insight into his daily school habits or how he interacted with his classmates. My wife and I spend a good amount of time developing his behavior and good manners because in the past he certainly was not behaving as we would like him to. Now that we can observe, adjust, and guide our son more helpfully, we can see a clear improvement.
Knowing Homeschooling Fits Our Lifestyle
My wife and I operate our leather business from home, designing, producing, and selling everything ourselves, so the flexibility to arrange homeschooling around the family schedule is important. The demands of our business require us to produce things as orders come. This weekend, for example, we have an event, and we need extra time to prepare for it. So we adjusted the lessons and schedule to match this.
But we will also make up for it since we will go to the event together and our son will learn about the creative side of business firsthand and see the hard work that goes into it. Our family finds it so satisfying to be able to blend this into our routine.
Our son also plays extracurricular football. Training with his local team requires not only daily practice during afterschool hours, but also practice on the weekends. So just these two things could make our lives difficult if we didn’t have the freedom of homeschooling!
We are so happy homeschooling lets our son learn not only academics, but life skills like positive social interactions, hands-on business, flexibility, and managing his time. These are valuable lessons we know will be helpful to him when he grows up.
— Robert