328: 5 Reasons Why I Homeschool My Kids
Welcome to the Joyful Mom Podcast!
I have homeschooled our kids from the very beginning. I remember in the beginning I was still unsure of what to do. I was going to send them to a charter school when my oldest was kindergarten age but it was a lottery system and he didn’t get in right away, and then after I already made the decision to homeschool him, he did get in to the charter school but I decided to pass on it, and just go with homeschooling. I’m really thankful I did, because that was the same year that Aria died, like she died in May and then he would have gone to school in September, and actually now that I’m thinking about it- I’m not sure that’s right…anyways Aria died before he went to school, and then having him home I really liked instead of going to school. I just think it’s so valuable for kids to be able to play and process- and he got the freedom to play and play and play so he could process all the things that were happening and that happened.
Anyways, I wanted to share my experience of why I homeschool. I’ve now had a few experiences where I have sent my kids to school, and it has reinforced for me that I am a homeschool mom through and through. When we moved into a townhouse for a year with no year and we had 5 kids, I didn’t want to live a winter in MN with 5 kids inside all day, so we sent our kids to kindergarten and 2nd grade. I did not love it. But the interesting thing for me, is that it helped show me why I homeschool, and what I love about homeschooling.
And then this past year, my kids are enrolled in an online program through a public school- it’s supposed to be like flexible homeschooling, and for some people who are used to the school system and how things work there, it's probably a really great option. For me, it’s not been great at all, and I cannot wait to be done with it. We are finishing the year out, but I’m going back to homeschooling the way I do next year!
Again, like my home birth podcast episode, this episode is not to say one way is better than the other. I can have my opinion and experiences, and at the same time, I have many friends who love that they can send their kids to school and it works for their family. So that’s not what this is all about- it’s just more about why I homeschool, and if you’ve been considering homeschooling this may be helpful.
I also want to note, I have an incredible amount of people in my life who homeschool. 5 out of 6 in my family homeschool, and a few in my husband's family, along with many friends and a homeschool group I’m part of of ladies from my church. So homeschooling is very normal nowadays where I live, I have no idea what it’s like anywhere else, but I did have one time where I was out and about with a kid and someone asked about them being in school, and we never get asked that question. I remember when I was little if you skipped school and went to the grocery store everyone would be asking why are you not in school? Now it’s more normal to be homeschooled so if you see a kid out and about it doesn’t always mean they are skipping school.
Okay, I’m going to share 5 reasons why I love homeschooling and why I am a homeschool mom at heart.
I want my kids home. I love having my kids home. We have a big family, a lot of chaos, but I absolutely love having my kids home. I couldn't imagine sending my kids away every single day where they are gone for hours and hours a day. Now in September when all the kids are going to school, it can sound nice for a moment to have a quieter house and just have my babies at home with me, but the reality is, I don’t want that. And for me, just having my babies at home is actually not easier for me.
When all my kids are home, there are playmates, there are people to help out, there are people who play with the babies. When I’m home with the babies by myself I have to clean everything, my babies follow me around wanting me to sit down and hold them. Every time I turn around they are right behind me, climbing on cupboards..but if my kids are home and it’s supper and my babies are doing that, I can say, hey go play with them in the playroom, and then I can get my stuff done.
It’s so much easier for me to have my kids home. And I just love the connection. The conversations we can have throughout the day. The time we get. There have been moments where I’ve just marveled on a random Tuesday morning, and I’m chilling in the living room with all our kids, that we just get to be here together. We don’t have to race out the door, there’s no stressful schedules, we just get to be together, start our day when we want, do school our way, and it’s the best. I love it. Now- I don’t love it every day, but do we always love everything every day. No. I love that my kids don’t have to get up and race out the door every day. We have more time with them. I remember when they went to school for that year, how little time Justin got with the kids. They would come home from school, and I didn’t want to give them any jobs to do, because they were stuck inside all day at school and I wanted them to go play outside, and then they saw Justin for like an hour or less before they needed to go to bed so they could get up in the morning. I didn’t like that. I can’t say currently he sees the kids a ton more in our life situation, but when he does come home early, they are there.
I don’t like other people telling me what to do. This one is more of my rebellious nature. I don’t like someone else telling me when I have to be somewhere, what I have to do, how I have to show up etc. When my kids went to school, I didn’t like that they had to be on the bus at a certain time each day, and that they come home so late. I want to take vacation when we want to take vacation, not when school is out, or around the school schedule. Do you know how emptier the beaches in Florida are in February than at Christmas break or spring break? They are way nicer! I will never plan a trip to Florida around that time. When we lived in Florida on our bus, we were going to the beach every day, and then one day I went to the beach and I was like what in the world?!? Why is it crazy here? And then I realized oh- it’s christmas break! That’s why! Then I just waited a bit to go back. Because I like it when it’s not so busy. So, being able to create my own schedule, my own way of doing things, we don’t get up early in the morning. I Don’t have a start time for my kids. Mornings are slow around our house. They are not rushed and chaotic and I love it.
When we homeschool we can learn more about our kids interests and desires, and for me homeschooling is all about the love of learning. Of course I want my kids to know the basics and they will, but then we have time to fuel their interests and do crafts or hobbies that they are interested in. Learning how to learn is one of the most useful skills I think anyone can have. If you know how to learn then you can do anything. Maybe some of you are thinking well we learn how to learn, but I do think that traditional school can squash, doesn’t mean it always does, but it can squash the love of learning for learning's sake rather than focusing on a test score, or a grade. I don’t really care about grades at all. I just want to see my kids learning. And I remember having a conversation with someone about something they wanted to learn to do, but they were completely stuck in the overwhelm of they don’t know how to do it. But when you learn how to learn, you know that that is a completely normal part of learning and the process, it doesn’t mean you can’t learn, it just means you need to get started. So- I tend to lean more towards learning some of the basics but then unschooling with everything else. I’ve noticed for the first time doing this online school thing this past year, my kids have been complaining about school saying they hate school. And they have never said anything of the sort when we are homeschooling, because it doesn’t feel like school- it’s interesting, it’s fun, and we learn as we do life.
I have a different approach to learning like I said, and I like that i can be flexible when I’m at home. I do not think kids need to know how to read at 5 or 6, and I don’t push my kids to. If they aren’t ready, we just wait a bit. One of my kids completely taught themselves, and one is still learning. And school would say they are way behind and they need to get caught up. But I don’t agree. In fact, the kindergarten teacher was sending me emails about my kindergartener not knowing how to read yet- and frankly I don’t care. I don't think he needs to know how yet. When we are home, we don’t have many kids we are trying to move at once, we can just go with the level that each kid is at rather than telling them they are behind and they aren’t doing good enough.
Another piece of this life is learning. Taking care of a house is learning. Learning how to clean, to cook, to take care of kids and babies. Having time to play is learning, making up games is learning. Baking is learning. Climbing trees is learning. Having siblings and learning how to get along with each other and take care of things when there’s disagreements and fights is learning. I don’t see learning as just a book and paper and pen. I see it as living your life, learning skills this is how we learn. I like that I get to be in charge of what my kids are learning, and if I feel like we are missing an area I can get curriculum or books to supplement that area, or we can travel, or we can go to the library and get books about it. It’s really about the lifestyle and how we live our life. It’s not so much about schooling, but about living.I love the freedom and flexibility our days have. Some days we plan things that we do, and other days, we can out of the blue jump in the car and go play pickleball or go to the park. Not so much in the winter, but when there’s beautiful days outside, we can just pick up and go. No having to wait for kids, no having to get them on and off buses, we just go. One of my biggest values is freedom, if you can’t tell from this episode, and having the freedom to spend our days as we wish. I often feel so lucky that I get to choose how I want to spend every day. Obviously this is within the bounds of my kids, but I get to decide if today we just chill, or we bake, or we read, or we go somewhere. And having that freedom is something I love.
So there’s a few reasons why I homeschool. It’s just a part of me and how I like our family to operate. I’m mostly in charge of the homeschool deals and process, though Justin will do things with the kids as part of life. For example when we drive somewhere he will often do math problems with kids, or ask them questions, or whatever he does just in his interactions with them.
I’m curious, do you homeschool? Are you interested in homeschooling? Do you send your kids to school? Send me a DM on Instagram and let me know if this episode was interesting or helpful for you in any way!
If you want to learn more about how you can clear anxiety more automatically by rewiring how the mind is working and processing things, go to my website www.meganhillukka.com where you can click on a link to register for my free training, where I will show you what you need in order to do this.
