Write Down Your Reasons

Two weeks into our school year, the local school called to offer my daughter a place in kindergarten. I panicked. I loved homeschooling, but we lived two blocks away from a top-rated school and were expecting a baby in November. My husband thought we should apply. Now Lily had a spot—if we wanted it.

I spent the afternoon on the phone with a homeschool friend, going over all the reasons why Lily shouldn’t go to kindergarten. When I got off the phone, I wrote down my list. It was very specific to that situation, but I still look back at it.

Whether this is your first year or you’re a veteran, I recommend writing down your reasons for homeschooling. Even if you’ve spent years thinking about it (as I did), it’s helpful to have your reasons in black-and-white.

You may encounter opposition to homeschooling from your family members, friends, or even strangers at the grocery store. Writing down your list helps you have a ready answer when the bank teller asks why you don’t send your kids to school, or the neighbor goes on and on about the virtues of the local educational institutions.

If your child is in junior high or high school, discuss the list with them. They may also be facing questions from friends or neighbors about why they’re “playing hooky.” When my brothers and I were approaching high school, we were pressured by our homeschool board to enroll in the local high school, like every other homeschooler before us. We didn’t want to! The choice to switch school boards and continue homeschooling until the end of Grade 12 became a family decision.

Your own child may also be questioning why they are homeschooling, when their friends go to school. There’s a middle school at the end of our block, and my oldest (going into Grade 5) often suggests she could walk to school. (I joke that, of course, she should walk to the dining room rather than running or hopping, but she doesn’t find that funny.) While I’m not going to explain all my reasons to her, I can mention a few that might resonate with her.

In the end, the biggest reason we didn’t put Lily into kindergarten, when she was offered a space, was that she’d started Grade 1 at home. I had jumped into our school year a week early, because we had the books and were excited. I quickly realized Lily was ready to tackle not kindergarten, but the materials her sister had done the year before in Grade 1. Putting her in kindergarten would have been holding her back.

A few of our reasons for homeschooling include saving money (rather than paying for private school and uniforms), fostering family togetherness, allowing our daughters to work at their own pace, teaching our faith without opposition, and helping them develop good friendships (rather than being bullied or pressured by peers). What are your reasons? Write them down!

The Koala Mom cultivates family togetherness for modern moms. Blogger Bonnie Way is a stay-at-home mom with five children under ten. She shares stories of daily motherhood, homeschooling, family travel, and family entertainment to encourage moms to keep their kids as close as koalas. She has a B.A. in English (2006) and a B.A. in Writing (2014) as well as over a dozen years of blogging experience.