Today at Joyful Journey 123, I’m going to share a little bit about why we homeschool. I’ll begin with some info about the start of our homeschool adventure. If you’d prefer to jump straight to the dot points, scroll down for our top five reasons.
Before I became a Christian in my early twenties, I had never met a homeschooler, or homeschool family in my entire life. Never. Not one. My first experience with homeschooling families was at my local church in Melbourne, Australia. This was shortly after I came to believe in Jesus. These families left such a positive impression on me, that I was already completely sold on the idea of homeschooling long before our children came along.
What was so impressive about them?
They had time to love and serve others. You could feel the warmth and closeness they shared as families doing life together. They had time to just, be. Time to learn life skills in the real world. Time for fascinating field trips. Just the memory of them and their hospitality is so nice. That, in a nutshell, is how I was introduced to homeschooling and quickly came to love the idea of this lifestyle.
As it happened, I also met my South Korean husband in this church, and we were married there. So, he also got to spend time with these lovely families and have a positive experience of what homeschooling can look like.
After our children arrived, we didn’t really discuss homeschooling. We had a more overarching issue to deal with first. A big disagreement over what continent we would live on, and when! Long story short, we decided to begin our homeschool journey in Australia at the end of 2022. Along with everything we loved in the homeschooling lives of families we’d met earlier, these were the reasons we made the big leap into homeschooling when our children were seven and eight years old.
1- We wanted our kids to be bilingual. We’d put in so much effort to help our kids learn their father’s native language. We didn’t want to lose all that. Every multicultural family we’d met had lost this gift as soon as their children entered primary school. We didn’t want that to be us because it is something we really value.
2 – Let’s be real, the Australian public education system is not looking great. According to various news outlets, 1 in 3 children failed the last NAPLAN test, and we have dropped drastically in math and science outcomes in the last 10 years. We value education. We want our children to have a well-rounded educational experience, that will equip them to use their gifts and talents well in the future.
3 – Simply, we want our kids to be … kids. They don’t need a bunch of modern ideology being thrown at them before they are too young to even comprehend any of it.
4 – Freedom! Freedom to travel when we want, at off-peak prices with less crowds. Freedom to learn about what interests our children. Freedom to keep relearning content until our children ‘get it’ without worrying that they are ‘falling behind.’ My heart genuinely breaks for little kids in school who are slower learners. The curriculum continues to race on without them, destroying their confidence and love of learning in the meantime.
5 – The last one is a big one for us. A slower, more connected life. I look around and see a frantic, materialistic world that has little time for rest or connection. Homeschooling allows time for both, and I really cherish the lifestyle we’ve chosen.
How about you? If you homeschool, what were the reasons you chose to do so? If you’re considering homeschooling, what has bought you to that place? I’d love to hear about your journey in the comments.
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Thank you for reading the Joyful Journey 123 blog.
God bless you!
