5 Reasons To Home School Your Children

1. Kids Should Love Learning.
For me, school was synonymous with suffering. It was sit down, shut up, pay attention, take notes, do assignments, regurgitate, get report cards – an endless cycle of compulsion, forced learning. You had to learn until it hurt. You couldn’t be human. You couldn’t have an off day. You couldn’t say “No, thank you.” You couldn’t say, “I would rather…”

In time, kids learn to hate learning. They cry over homework, they wait to the last minute and then cram for tests, or they cheat. Anything to lessen the “learning” load. I was one of them.

With my kids it is the opposite. I’m like, “Hey, stop reading that book and go play outside for awhile.” My kids do math worksheets for fun to see how many they can solve. And I’m not even sure if it is healthy, but they read alllllll the time.

2. Kids Need to Believe That They Have Potential.

Have you heard of a gal named Barbara Corcoran? Before becoming famous as an investor on ABC’s Shark Tank, she made millions in New York selling real estate. I believe she sold her company for 66 million. Although proving to be a business “genius,” the multi-millionaire confesses, “I feel like my whole life I’ve been insecure about looking not smart.”

Here is a woman who has achieved financial success that most Americans could never dream of, yet she still harbors a deep-seated insecurity about being stupid. So, where did this idea that she was stupid come from? School, of course. Barbara was a straight D student. Somehow all the success in the real world can’t shake that terrible lesson taught in school. She is now 66, and still talking about how stupid she feels.

She isn’t alone. All children are bursting with potential, only to have their wings psychologically clipped in school. And for millions of adults, the doubts and insecurities linger long after school is just an ugly old scar.

3. School is Social Suicide.
I cannot tell you how often non-homeschooling parenting ask how I “socialize” my children outside of school. I’m always like, “Ummm, well I talk to them and allow them to talk to others, which is already more than I can say for school. I mean, I don’t know what schools these people attended, but I went to 10 unique schools, in 6 different states, both public and private, and they all had this in common: Socializing was strictly forbidden.

The second you walked in class you had to zip the lips and PAY ATTENTION! because you know, “You’re not here to socialize.” For goodness sake, you couldn’t even quietly pass a note. Kids literally only have a few minutes at recess and lunch, or in between classes to talk. Maybe that’s why conversation devolves into slang and 4-letter words.

But I’m not complaining. I mean, don’t you remember how school kids socialize ? Seriously, school is social suicide!

4. Bullying is a Big Issue.
School bullies are such a big deal that even our president has spoken out about it. There is a national campaign being waged as we speak to raise awareness and tolerance in schools, but I’m not holding my breath.

School is a bully-making machine. Schools take vulnerable, immature children away from their parents prematurely, pack them into a building with little supervision, lock the doors, and then wonder why they can’t solve their bullying epidemic.

I know that the utopian ideal is that all kids can learn to get along; that by forcing kids to socialize with kids they normally wouldn’t, school will breed tolerance and understanding. That would be ideal if it were possible. But it isn’t. You take a violent street thug and lock him in with a small nerdy kid, and bad things happen.

The funny thing is, we know better, don’t we? There are parts of town that we stay away from, especially after dark. There are people we don’t associate with. And as adults, we have the ability and right to protect ourselves.

School children know better too. They know what will happen to them in the locker room, on the bus, under the bleachers, and behind the school. The difference is that school forces them into those dangerous situations. And to boot, kids aren’t allowed to defend themselves. Schools have adopted a zero tolerance policy for all violence, and that usually includes the victim fighting for his life.

I’m glad schools are taking the bully crisis seriously, unfortunately the bullies don’t take the school seriously.

5. You Like Your Kids.
Don’t we all? Sometimes I don’t know. Every school year I see youtube videos of parents celebrating their children’s return to school. I know it’s a joke… but is it really?

I’m sure that there are some parents who prefer a distant relationship with their kids, but for the rest of us, togetherness is a huge advantage of homeschooling. Five years old is just to early to “let go.” I don’t know how parents do it. And it’s never easy. A lot of moms secretly cry.

Yes, you will see them in the morning and evening, but is that really enough?

Kids used to work side by side with their parents until marriage, when they built a house just down the road. I get that the world has changed, but has our need for our children changed? And is their need for us any less?

The longer children stay in school the further they will drift. The bonds you shared the first five years will begin to dissolve, slowly at first, but by middle school and high school, you will find that your children have bonds and loyalties to a new community.

In high school, between school, sports, homework and friends, you will be lucky to share thirty minutes a day with your kid. It isn’t enough. Then they will graduate, and parents will be lucky to see them once a year.

Life is about relationships , not test scores. Even if school could provide a better education, (which it can’t) the relationships are a million times more important. What parents wouldn’t trade the “My Child is an Honor Student” bumper sticker for a few more hours a week with their kids? And what grown child, looking back, would trade their time with mom and dad for a higher SAT score? Forget about school; Your kids need you more.