Lets Talk Homeschool

            Why do I homeschool?  There are a lot of reasons for why I do what I do.  One reason is that I worked in the public school system for seven years.  Although I had many positive experiences there, the thought of sending my children off to school scares me!  There are so many aspects of the public schools that I wouldn’t want my boys exposed to.  I like the fact that I can make Bible and Christian values a big part of our days.  We can spend the first part of a school day learning about God, who He is and how He relates to us.

            Another major reason we homeschool is that our boys are like night and day!  I can tailor their schooling to fit their needs.  Even though they come from the same parents and have been raised in the same house….they don’t even come close to being alike in many ways.  Here are just a few examples. 

*One child is completely auditory.  The other is visual and kinesthetic.

*One loves team sports.  The other can only function with individual sports.

*One is sensitive.  The other has had to be taught sensitivity.

*One is called “The Artist”, the other “The Architect”.

*One loves workbooks.  One can’t stand to pick up a pencil.

*One loves studying animals.  The other loves studying all things related to physics.

*One loves to whine. The other loves to pout.

So since they are complete opposites I try to tailor some of the schooling to fit their personalities.  For one, his favorite part of the day is when we read aloud or he works on the computer.  So for example, this year I specifically picked a software program for his vocabulary even though it also came in workbook form.  For the other, I try to use workbooks or make lapbooks with him since he is hands-on.  That is not to say that they don’t both do workbooks and listen to me read to them.  I just try to cater some of their schooling to them to bring out their strengths.

There is a verse in Proverbs that says, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” (Proverbs 22:6) Although this verse does apply to a child’s moral upbringing, I think it also could be about his natural “bent” and strengths.  Why would you train or push a child to be an engineer when he has an intense love of nature and animals?  Why would you direct or push a child into the arts when he can’t stand to pick up a pencil or crayon?  Homeschooling gives me the flexibility to work with my child’s natural bent and improve his weaknesses instead of pushing him into something he is not.