We live in a society where public schooling is the norm. The cultural standard suggests — no matter what — that our babies will become toddlers, then we’ll enroll them in a local preschool, and then we’ll send them to the public school down the street where they’ll become who they’re supposed to be with the guidance and direction of the educational professionals.
And if you want to buck the system a bit, you might decide to bypass the public school and opt for a private school a little further down the road. But what if the norm and even the buck-the-system option aren’t the best fit for your family?
What if you, gasp, choose to reject the status quo and educate your kids at home? Well, you’ll probably get mixed reactions when you share your decision and, unfortunately, you’ll probably have plenty of people saying you’re crazy for homeschooling.
Here’s the thing: regardless of what anyone says, you’ll never regret homeschooling.
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Despite the natural doubts that may pop up and the hard days that happen from time to time, there are lots of reasons you’ll never regret homeschooling, even when everyone else thinks you’re crazy for doing so. In fact, I’ve got 101 of those reasons to share with you today.
Why You’ll Never Regret Homeschooling
1. They’re your kids.
2. No one knows them better than you.
3. No one loves them more.
4. No one looks back and says they spent too much time with their kids.
5. “There can be no greater vocation in life than the family responsibility of sharing life with the growing child.”- Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, For the Children’s Sake
6. Homeschooling allows you to give your family the very best of yourself.
7. You’ll never regret homeschooling because it allows you to use your best gifts and abilities to serve your family.
8. You can do life together.
9. Through homeschooling, you give your kids the gift of your time and influence. No one else can do that for them.
10. “Life is full of choices, and I find myself impatient with people who cry ‘lack of time.’ We make time for what we think is important, and in doing so we teach our children about what things really matter in life.” – Gladys Hunt, Honey for a Child’s Heart
11. You can use homeschooling to show your kids how God is using everyday life and opportunities to mold them and prepare them for their callings.
12. You can model and train your kids to see that there’s much to be learned through everyday life.
13. “Life itself is too important to crowd out with busywork.” – Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, When Children Love to Learn
14. You’ll never regret homeschooling because it creates a natural opportunity to carry out the calling on parents in Deuteronomy 6.
15. You can be the primary influence in your kids’ lives.
16. You can better control how much exposure your children have to negative influences.
17. Time moves faster and faster. Homeschooling allows you to make the most of each moment you have as a family.
18. “Parents unconsciously teach their children what is valuable by the way they spend their own time.” – Gladys Hunt, Honey for a Child’s Heart
19. Your kids will appreciate your sacrifice. It may not be immediate, but the appreciation will come.
20. Homeschooling is a privilege. It’s not something you have to do, it’s something you get to do.
21. “It is more than anything else the home influences brought to bear upon the child that determine the character and career of the future man or woman.” – Charlotte Mason, Home Education
22. You’ll be humbled and grateful to be called to this hard and holy work.
23. The cliche is usually true: the best things in life don’t come easily.
24. “One day we will stand before the Creator. Were we willing to give, serve, and sacrifice ‘for the children’s sake’?” – Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, For the Children’s Sake
25. Your kids can watch you live your faith throughout day-to-day life.
26. You have the freedom to work Bible study and/or family devotions into your homeschool day.
27. Despite the challenges that come along, it’s an amazing thing to be the one to help your kids “get it” (whatever “it” may be at the moment).
28. If you see it through to the end, you’ve helped your kids achieve one of their most significant milestones.
29. You never have to rely on other people to learn your kids’ strengths and triumphs. You experience them firsthand.
30. Homeschooling allows your kids to have time to pursue their unique interests.
31. They have time to develop their abilities and talents.
32. Homeschooling provides an avenue to encourage and equip kids to pursue their dreams.
33. “Children who are homeschooled tend to be more confident in their abilities and have higher self-esteem.” – Misty, Joy in the Journey
34. You give your kids the gift of an unhurried childhood through homeschooling.
35. They don’t need to spend their afternoons drowning in homework.
36. “Childhood is so brief and yet so open and formative that we must not neglect our responsibility to furnish it with what we know is good.” – Gladys Hunt, Honey for a Child’s Heart
37. Your kids can be kids. They can embrace imaginative play when they’re older than five and not be teased.
38. “Children respond to life by living. They need time to grow.” – Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, For the Children’s Sake
39. Learning through play becomes a regular thing.
40. Education and school aren’t the same thing.
41. You’ll learn that your view of education changes completely, but in a good way.
42. “Too often children discover that they learn merely to pass a test, get a grade, and then no one cares.” – Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, When Children Love to Learn
43. You’ll never regret homeschooling because it creates an atmosphere that encourages lifelong learning.
44. You can create an educational experience that’s customized to your child’s personality, strengths, and needs.
45. “Individuality is embraced, not filtered out. Assembly lines are for cars, not kids.” – Shelly, There’s No Place Like Home
46. Homeschooling allows you to encourage interest in many subjects.
47. You can help your kids see that purpose is found in all educational and creative disciplines.
48. Homeschooling allows you to provide a rich educational feast for your kids.
49. Homeschooling allows you the opportunity to help your kids see God’s hand working throughout history.
50. It’s good for your kids to see you learning and growing.
51. You’ll learn more than you can possibly imagine.
52. “Nobody really knows how smart or talented he is until he finds the incentive to use himself to the fullest. God has given us more than we know what to do with.” – Sydney J. Harris
53. “I’ve discovered that my kids are rather insightful little beings. There is much I can learn from their unique perspectives on the world.” – Kris, Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers
54. “We are not over the child as the source of all knowledge, but beside the child, also learning.” – Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, When Children Love to Learn
55. You may even learn that you enjoy subjects that you hated when you were younger.
56. You can choose the curriculum that best suits your family’s needs and beliefs.
57. Homeschooling allows you to control your what fills your days. You call the shots.
58. “You want your child to know how to function in the real world (& school’s not the real world).” – June, This Simple Balance
59. You’ll never regret homeschooling because there are no limits to what your kids can learn.
60. You have full control over how much emphasis you place on the programs and topics that often get dropped or overlooked in other educational environments.
61. “Homeschooled kids tend to think more independently.” – Marianne, Abundant Life Blog
62. Your kids can process what they’re learning at a pace that works for them.
63. They can learn material in digestible portions rather than taking in too much or too little on a topic and moving on to keep up with everyone else.
64. “There is something about homeschooling that helps children own their education.” – Vida, Mercer Homeschooling
65. You understand that the learning will come, even when you feel too overwhelmed to make it happen.
66. “When you’re the teacher you know exactly what they’re learning.” – Krista, Far From Normal
67. Your kids will have the opportunity to build solid family relationships.
68. They also learn to navigate and maintain important relationships when those relationships aren’t as easy to maintain.
69. True socialization doesn’t come from spending eight hours a day with 25 kids of the same age.
70. Your kids naturally learn to interact with people of all ages and backgrounds.
71. “They can relax and be themselves – there’s no need to conform to the masses, homeschooling offers the perfect (safe) environment to be who they are.” – Colleen, Raising Lifelong Learners
72. Your kids will have less exposure to bullies.
73. “Overcrowding children’s schedules deprives them of time to make their own choices for play, being alone quietly or mixing with friends, helping with chores, reading books they enjoy, or pursuing hobbies. This is a serious lifelong loss.” – Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, When Children Love to Learn
74. You can adjust your natural daily rhythm to meet the season you’re in.
75. You’ll never regret homeschooling because there’s freedom to chase rabbit trails and enjoy learning for what it’s meant to be.
76. “Classroom atmospheres that reduce learning to only facts to memorize produce boredom and the need to employ tangible incentives such as candy, stickers, and grades.” – Bobby Scott, When Children Love to Learn
77. There’s less pressure to get everything done by a certain day or month.
78. Since the learning never really stops, there’s no pressure to finish everything you’ve got planned in nine months or less.
79. You have the time needed to appreciate the learning journey.
80. “Your child gets all the individual attention he/she needs.” – Crystal, Sharing Life’s Moments
81. Your kids can always get the help they need and don’t get left behind. – my 6 year-old daughter
82. When education doesn’t revolve around a calendar, there’s no need to separate it from the natural family rhythm
83.You’ll never regret homeschooling because you have ample opportunity to teach life skills each day.
84. “Kids can learn more from teaching what they know. When we’ve read together and done learning activities together, the older kids get the opportunity to help younger kids learn, and this helps them to understand what they’re learning even better.” – Leah, As We Walk Along the Road
85. No one else decides when your school day starts.
86. You have the freedom to learn at night or on weekends if desired.
87. “We can use our time more efficiently.” – my 12 year-old son
88. You can be done by noon if you wish.
89. If you prefer, you can travel and enjoy vacations in the off-season months.
90. Homeschooling keeps you moving forward when you need it most. It helps you to stay focused when you’d otherwise be tempted to turn to video games and television just to have something to do.
91. You appreciate your home more when you actually spend time there.
92. Eventually you see that it really is okay to spend a full day in your pajamas.
93. Homeschooling allows you to control that list of school supplies.
94. “If their body needs sleep, they don’t have to deny it and run the risk of getting sick — nor of being cranky or emotional…” – Ann, Annie and Everything
95. You don’t have the pressure to deplete your family budget buying school clothes or paying fees.
96. If you can avoid grocery shopping on weekends, you absolutely should.
97. Through homeschooling, you learn all the things your Kindle Fire tablet is capable of doing for you.
98. The homeschool community will never judge you for having a third cup of coffee. Never.
99. You don’t have to spend half of your life in the pickup line. We’ve passed those lines coming back from mid-day trips to the beach and they’re brutal.
100. “We can read our history lesson while snuggling on the couch in our pajamas, laying on our backs with our feet on the couch, sitting on a blanket under the tree, or in the car on a trip.” – Crystal, Triumphant Learning
101. While it’s not always easy, there are many gifts of homeschool.
What have I missed here? Do you have any reasons that you’ll never regret homeschooling to add to this list?
