Homeschooling? For Real?

I mentioned in a previous post that we had made the decision to home school the boys this year. Just in case you're wondering why in the cornbread world we would decide to do that, here are our reasons. Not necessarily in order of importance, just the way they popped into and out of my head.

1. I don't feel like the whole school schedule (7:55 to 3:30) is conducive to a Pentecostal lifestyle. As most of you know, there always seems to be something going on (revivals, Easter plays, conferences, Bible quizzing). My kids were rarely getting to bed on time and I felt like I was sending sleep deprived zombies to school for 7 hrs a day. I really, really, think it's important for kids to get adequate sleep. There's tons of info about it online to back me up.

2. My kids' teachers were getting the best of them everyday. I get to wake up the sleep deprived zombies and rush them out the door every morning. By the time we get to school, they are finally awake, no longer whining and ready to go. When I pick them up, there are tired, sweaty, hungry and mentally wiped out. I've missed them throughout the day and would like to talk about their school day, find out what they learned and spend some time with them. They just want to veg out.

3. My boys really, really don't like school. I know that kids don't usually like school, but seriously, my boys hate it. The traditional classroom is not designed for wormy, squirmy boys - at all. I highly recommend the book Bringing Up Boys by Dr. James Dobson. He discusses how schools are geared more toward girls than boys.

4. Bible Quizzing was going out the window this year if I did not home school. It is extremely difficult to squeeze Bible Quizzing, a school schedule and church activities into our life. See reason #2. The boys do not want to spend anymore time studying on school days.

5. I can choose a curriculum and schedule that suits my boys' learning styles and interests.

6. The boys will have time for music lessons. Karter wants to play the trumpet and Kenson would like to learn to play the drums.

7. I enjoy being with my kids.

8. Private school tuition was a strain on our finances. Our church school is very reasonably priced, but it still was not easy for us with only one income.

9. They can learn more in less time each day. It takes less time to teach one child than a group. We can actually get our core lessons completed each day in about 3 hours. I will be adding in some electives as our school year progresses.

10. Shawn and I have spent a lot of time in prayer and we feel like God has led us in this direction.

These are just some of the reasons, I could go on, but I'll stop here. This is not something that we have just decided on a whim. I've been tossing the idea around for over a year now. Shawn and I have spent a lot of time discussing and praying about the right decision. We hope we are doing what's best for our kids. Our church's private school is good, but would home schooling be better?

We're going find out.