Why we chose homeschool

For those of you who would like to know why we chose homeschool, here is one of the many reasons we made this choice:

The bible says to "train your children in the ways they should go, and when they are old, they will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6 I know this to be true from experience, so we wanted our children to have a Christian education. We sent them to Christian school, and everything was good...or so we thought. When I started working to pay for their school, I noticed the stress on the whole family. The kids were getting up at 6:30 am, we had to leave for school/work by 7:30. The whole process of getting them ready was extremely stressfull. They were tired and so was I. They would have a full day at school, go to after school care and come home at 4:30-5pm. At home we would struggle through trying to clean house, do homework, make dinner, karate, baths, and bedtime by 8pm. As you can see, there was not much down time for anyone, much less spending quality time with the kids. To me, it was not worth it.

The big eye opener was when one of my students parents told me I was their childs second mom. I felt like his second mom. I had this child for 7 hours a day, and I nurtured and taught this child ever school day. It was a huge complement to me that they liked me so much they referred to me as second mom. But what about my kids? I realized they also had second moms. This did not sit well with me. I am supposed to be raising my kids, but instead I am raising other peoples children. Because I am working, I hardly have time for my own children, and they are picking up behaviors I cannot change because I am not around enough to influence them. I tried to change these behaviors, but how could I? They were with other people for 8 of thier 13.5 hours awake, and most of the time I was with them we were rushing. I realized I was FAILING at my job. My real job...raising my children. I want my children to be successful in life. It may sound like I'm over-protective or a control freak, but I don't care. They are my kids, and they are important to me. I am responsible for how they turn out. My time with them is too short to work it all away. I am excited to start this adventure with them.