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It’s interesting being a homeschool blogger on the other side of homeschooling. My youngest son was just months away from graduating when I started, and sometimes I wish I could experiment on my boys for blog post material 😉 But being on the other side does give me a unique perspective. And so I can answer a question some cannot: Would you choose homeschooling again? 

My answer is absolutely yes.

So I’ve listed 101 reason why we would choose homeschooling again. Now some of these reasons are not-so-normal and others are downright weird. But they are all based on our personal experience. When it comes down to it, that is enough for me.

And maybe it will help you see why you might want to choose homeschooling too.

(You’ve seen the disclaimers: “Results not typical” or “Individual results will vary”. It is just as true for homeschooling as it is for diet plans. You have to find what works for your family. And after you see some of these reasons you may just be glad about that!)

Reasons Involving Two Active Boys

1. When you are an energetic Kindergartener you can stand at your desk instead of sitting.

2. Riding a scooter to the stop sign and back between subjects helps get the wiggles out.

3. It is OK to roll around on your head while listening to a book. Surprisingly you will remember the story.

4. It is also OK if while listening you draw pictures, doodle, or play with play-dough.

5. There are lots of ways to show what you know instead of simply taking tests. And grandparents are often happy to give pop quizzes.

6. You can find activities beyond organized sports in order to be active. (And, no worries, there are plenty of the organized ones too!)

7. Park days can count as PE—and while the children are running, climbing, sliding, swinging, and digging—you get a little “socialization” time yourself.

Practical Reasons

8. Pajamas are comfortable.

9. Yoga pants and big t-shirts are comfortable, too. (For me, not the boys. I wouldn’t have been able to un-see that.)

10. At lunch, the cafeteria lady can can go ahead and throw something in the crockpot so supper will be ready on time.

11. When you find something growing in your refrigerator you can blame it on science.

12. When the lights go out you can grab candles and tell your kids it’s time to learn about Colonial times.

13. If there are people on the school building roof making a lot of noise, you can go to a local coffee shop to do school.  (Hail damage, y’all—we have to replace our roofs in the south sometimes and it is LOUD.)

14. Mom can pretend that going to Sonic is the same as hanging out at the teacher’s lounge.

15. Same with the bathroom. And the door locks there.

16. The coffee pot is always just around the corner for the teacher. (But so is the refrigerator, so be careful. 😬)

17. Teacher Workdays don’t have to be scheduled in advance.

18. You learn to determine severity of illnesses based on whether children are too sick to play video games or simply can’t seem to read any books or do math. (Pro tip: The first one indicates they may actually need to see a doctor.)

19. You get to keep the books and enjoy them for years instead of only having them for the school year.

20. You can choose if weather conditions warrant a school closure. (Although once I told my son our hallways were not icy, therefore we could get to school. Just so you know, there’s a LEGO for that).

Which brings us to…

Seasonal Reasons

21. School days in the winter should be done in front of a fire.

22. Reading aloud in the winter requires snuggling on the couch.

23. Individual reading in the winter requires the couch or chair and a warm blanket (You see the theme, right?)

24. On a snowy day, your son might decide he loves to read, finally.

25. The spring is the best time to get out and do nature walks, field trips, or any other outdoor activity.

26. And the summer in Texas is the best time to cover PE. In the pool of course.

27. Vacationing in the fall is AWESOME. Beautiful leaves turning colors, smaller crowds, off-season rates at many places, and smaller crowds. Did I say smaller crowds???

Educational Reasons (Because I had to. It is a post about homeschooling.)

28. When your child doesn’t like a subject, you know that doesn’t mean he never will.

29. You have options—whether it be what they take or how they study it.

30. You can adapt resources because YOU ARE THE TEACHER! So do what you think is best.

31. Going on vacation to places like Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, Plymouth, and Boston is your personal “Study Abroadish Program”.

32. You can help your non-math guy survive that thing call numbers by supplying him with M&Ms.

33. Sneaking learning in when and where they least expect it makes you a Ninja Homeschooling Mom. How cool is that?

34. You can use time in the car to listen to audiobooks. Which both increases literacy and keeps them from asking “Are we there yet?” or saying “He’s on my side!” or “He’s touching me!”.

35. You can play a board game (or card or dice) and count it toward school. And guess what? We all learn better when we enjoy the process.

36. Textbooks are not a requirement even in high school.

37. You may get to take a class taught by a published author where you write your own short-story. (If not that you will have opportunities you never dreamed of!)

38. After you study Astronomy, you can take a trip to NASA in Houston. Can we say field trip?

39. Mom can get up one morning and decide it is the perfect day to go to the zoo. No permission slips required.

40. Your kids learn how to learn, not just what to learn.

41. Individualizing each child’s education is actually fun as you learn about who they are and watch them grow and change.

42. There is time to delve deeply into subjects.

43. Even in high school we chose how we would do the subjects.

44. Being able to try new things.

A Few Fun Reasons

45. Dogs like to read too. And do math.

46. You can go to the ice cream parlor when you learn about cones in math class and call it a field trip. And, well, ice cream.

47. You can say odd things to your husband like, “Honey, please light the magnesium strip on fire outside next time. It is flaking all over the kitchen.”

48. Dissecting a frog on someone else’s dining room table is considered socially appropriate.

49. You can make a game out of counting jean jumpers at convention (Ok, so this one was about 15  years ago when we started homeschooling. And yes, I really did do this one year).

50. On a related note, you can mock homeschooling stereotypes. It’s an inside joke. You are one of us. But if you aren’t, don’t you dare make fun of homeschoolers!

51. You get up to leave after enjoying your read aloud at McDonalds, and the older man sitting behind you suddenly says, “Wait, you just got to the good part!”

52. Every year you can celebrate the first day of school by eating breakfast out while other students are heading to a school building 😀

53. Having the chance to perform a play at a local theater with other homeschool students for the elementary schools during standardized testing week—sweet.

Social & Relational Reasons

54. You can tell your son that he can’t wear high-water pants because you have already messed up his social standing when you chose to homeschool him. You are just trying to protect him.

55. You can use the same reason when he puts on red shorts and a different color of red shirt and says “But it matches. They are both red.”

56. But then you can do the complete opposite when your son can never find matching socks because you didn’t do the laundry. Simply say, “Go ahead and just get any two. You’re homeschooled, so people expect it.”

57. It is fun to watch your kids glance up at you a bit nervously when someone asks, “So do you like your teacher this year?” Let them squirm. It builds character 😉

58. Parents can line dance at the teen socials. And the kids won’t even be embarrassed.

59. Teens can also go to one of those dances dressed like this and no one bats an eye. (Which probably explains the fact that you dancing isn’t embarrassing. Seriously, it takes confident people to dress like this.)

Homeschool Fairy-Tale Dance

60. When people ask you if you had thought about socialization, you can think snarky thoughts like “I knew I was forgetting about something” or “Yes, I really want socially awkward kids and I thought this was the best way to do it.”

But then of course you just smile instead.

61. Unfortunately bullies can be found at places besides schools. Yes, this is sad, but you won’t have to rely on others to stop it.

62. You have the time to build strong family relationships.

63. There are so many classes available—writing, choir, acting, swing dancing. If not, then you can start your own.

64. Your family can create their own little way to talk to one another based on books they read. You won’t be surprised to hear one child tell the other, “Precision of language, please.” (From The Giver if you didn’t pick that one up 😉)

65. Your mom will have the opportunity to share at least one of her two parenting rules throughout your teen years on a daily basis: “Don’t be stupid” or “Suck it up”—advice that works for almost any situation.

66. You get to see your kids learn and grow each and every day.

67. When Dad asks, “What did you learn in school today?” you children can’t say “nothing” with you standing right there.

68. There will be plenty of time for long talks.

69. Co-ops provide the best of friends. And for us, a closet full of t-shirts that around 12 other kids had each year.

70. You have to learn conflict resolution when you spend that much time with your mom and siblings. The same is true if you go to a co-op because where people gather, you have to learn to work together. (And you have a lot of fun too!)

A Few Reasons From My Oldest Son

71. The night before graduation you can start a new business as a diploma mill by printing all your son’s friends’ diplomas, too.

72. You can choose your own curriculum…which, as every history student knows, can come in handy for aspiring rulers and world conquerers. (Yes, he is my history major.)

Spiritual Reasons

73. Being able to look at the things we were learning through a Christian worldview.

74. Watching my sons do Bible time with their Dad before he would go to work.

75. Talking openly about our faith during school.

76. Having the time for a natural approach to discipleship.

My Personal Reasons

77. Over the years I sacrificed some things I thought I wanted, but in the end found this life was so much better.

78. The peace I have because I don’t regret not spending more time with my children when they were young.

79. I simply could not have done it on my own, so I had to rely on God.

80. All of the skills I learned while homeschooling my children have opened up new opportunities I wouldn’t have imagined.

81. If it weren’t for homeschooling, I wouldn’t be writing today.

82. Because education truly is a life-long journey.

2 Word Reasons

82. Reading aloud.

83. Snuggle learning.

84. Building volcanoes.

85. Creating art.

86. Singing songs.

87. Field trips.

88. College scholarships.

89. Swing dancing.

90. Teen socials.

91. Lego robotics.

Just 9 More Reasons to Go to Get to 100

92. Time for my oldest to delve deeply into the study of history (even reading Shelby Foote’s 3 Volume epic history of the Civil War—almost 3000 pages— in high school one semester.)

93. That time my youngest decided that he liked to read.

94. Then the same son who didn’t want to have anything to do with writing decided he also wanted to write. (And now he is  Communications major in college 😜)

95.  The people we met through our years of homeschooling are life-long friends.

96. Learning what real success is all about.

97. Getting through the difficult days when no one wanted to do school, including the teacher.

98. Watching my sons grow into young men who love Jesus.

99. Being there when they learned to read.

100. And then being there when they walked across the stage at homeschool graduation.

And Last But Not Least

101. Because my sons said they would choose it again, too.

Check out more 101 Reasons with the bloggers from iHomeschool Network!


101 Reasons iHomeschool Network