Homeschool is becoming more popular these days which means you have so many resources at your fingertips. That also means co-ops are popping up all over! More parents to band together and share ideas, make relationships, help the kids build friendships, and so much more. If you’re thinking about homeschool, know you’re far from alone!

The decision to homeschool was easy for us. I was a stay at home mom so I had all the freedom in the day. And the kids were already learning so much at home so why change it? There isn’t an age where we stop learning because an institution hasn’t intervened. And luckily we made the decision to homeschool before our oldest even needed to go to school so I had enough time to learn everything I needed to know before starting.

So what do we love about homeschooling?

Freedom

We have the freedom to choose when, how, what, and where we learn. Seriously! The world is our classroom, we never stop learning. Do your kids ask millions of questions like all the time? Harness that desire to learn.

No large class sizes

Of course not right? Its just us and the kids. And that’s how we like it. We like not having the kids stuffed in a room with 20-30 kids, learning whatever the teacher is supposed to force them to learn that day. Sitting quietly for long periods of time, with specific time blocks for eating and play and having to ask to go to the bathroom. No thanks!

Questions are encouraged

Unless I’m busy with my own work, questions are not discouraged. No waiting until the end of lecture, possibly forgetting what you needed to ask. And we can spend all day on a question if we need to.

Play & Imagination

It’s time we normalize kids being kids. Not kids acting as adults, being faulted for wanting to be a kid. Play time is all the time. Imagination is encouraged. Kids are kids, they need to move and explore!

Older kids teach the younger ones

And of course this isn’t forced. It just comes naturally. Older siblings may want to spread their knowledge by teaching younger siblings a thing or two or seven.. Anytime the kids are working as a team is a win in my book!

Emotions

If something upsetting happens they don’t have to sit through the day bottling it up, letting those emotions ferment until they get home just to blow up and not remember why. We can process emotions when they happen. Encouraging openess and trust.

Self-reliance

Learning at home they gain the courage to learn what they want when they want. They don’t rely on me or another adult for the next lesson or task. They’re not forced to participate in group projects where inevitably one person handles the whole load and the rest either follow along or don’t work at all.

Home Life

Life is their Home-Ec class. At home they witness mom and dad doing housework (and when needed, a professional doing some work on the home). They don’t just learn about home and life care, they live it. Every day. And when age appropriate they help with what they can. Learning to cook, clean, sew, build, garden, etc. The list is endless.

Family Time

Family is everything. It’s important to spend time with each other, learn about each other, grow with each other. Friends come and go but family is forever. We aren’t limited to a few hours in the evening and a few months of the year to see each other.

Socialization

The argument of socialization is quite comical. Theres nothing positive about school socialization. Kids are forced to sit still and be quiet for most of the day. They’re forced to be with kids their age, do we as adults only hang out with other adults the same age as us? And there’s always pressure to be like everyone else. People who are different have to stand up for themselves. There is bullying all around and what school actually does something about bullying besides false hope anti-bully posters? Homeschooling you can find parents with kids similar to yours, similar interests, or really whatever you feel your kids could benefit being around. And you can easily pull your kids out of a situation of bullying. You and your kids have 100% freedom of who they interact with.

It’s not a test

Depending on your state laws, homeschool isn’t about learning to recite. They learn what they want. As adults when have we learned something because some person told to? And how much easier is it to learn something you really want to learn about? It goes the same for children. Do you remember every single thing a teacher crammed into your brain to pass a test so they could fill their quota of passing students?

And last but not least…

Almost EVERYTHING counts towards learning.