Why I Homeschool

Many people wonder why I chose to homeschool. I'll tell you why. :) Some think it's because my boys have forms of autism, but I made the decision to homeschool long before I had kids.

My sister was the first person I knew that decided to homeschool. Her daughter was in Jr. High and was starting to get in with the wrong crowd. She pulled her out and began teaching her at home. I spent some time with her during the first summer that she started home teaching, and I was impressed. I knew right away that I wanted to teach my kids, and wished I had known about homeschooling when I was in school.

One of my main reasons for wanting to teach my kids is to have more time to teach them about God. The only 'religion' taught in schools, or should I say forced, is evolution. That's not what I wanted for my children. I knew from when I was in school that the teachers and fellow students have a much bigger influence on children than parents, and didn't want to gamble on the fact that the few hours a day I would see my kids would be enough to instill Christ in them. Yes, it does work for many, but I didn't want to take the chance and find out it didn't work for mine. My kids' souls are too important.

Another important reason (I have many reasons, but I'm trying not to write a book!) is their education. When you have children with special needs, you hear story after story detailing how neglectful public schools can be. There are some that really have the child's interests at heart, but they are few and far between. It isn't just kids with needs that suffer, either. It seems more and more that public schools are more about money rather than giving kids a well balanced education. Test scores are the focus, not retention or actual knowledge. I wanted my kids to be able to focus on the material and not the friends. That has only been confirmed since I started driving a school bus. I also wanted them to learn to REALLY socialize with people. Real life involves getting along with people of all ages and in various situations, not just kids their own age in a classroom environment.

The third most important reason I homeschool is to really enforce the idea of family. I want my kids to learn to appreciate EACH OTHER more than peers. I want them to learn to be responsible for each other, because they will have to take care of each other when Rick and I are gone. I want to enjoy them while they are children, before they go off into the world on their own. I love watching them learn new things, and knowing that I helped them. I love the quality time we have together. I love giving them the opportunity to explore their interests, letting them have a say in what and how they learn... just like real life.

My First Blog

Well, here it is. I finally decided to start blogging. I love Facebook, but it's hard to keep track of things I post. I am a mom to Tim, age 9. He just started 4th grade, and has high functioning autism. Josh is 6, just started 2nd grade and has Asperger's. Kaylee is my little two-year-old spitfire. I chose to homeschool my children before I even became a mom, but that's for another blog post. I drive a school bus as our main source of income, since my husband is unable to work.
We live somewhere in San Bernardino County with our "Zoo". We are all animal lovers, and each one we have is a family member to us. Proof that there's no such thing as a family too large. Our plans are to eventually move and start our own homestead. I wish we could do this tomorrow! We make as much as we can from scratch, including our laundry detergent. Ridding our house of toxins and using as much aw we can that is natural, has been our game plan since learning that our oldest had autism.
We do our best to put our Lord, Jesus Christ, center of our lives. Although we do fail him miserably on a daily basis, we keep striving to be more Christ-like and to raise our children to put Jesus first. We don't claim to be perfect, by no means. If you spent a day with us, you would see that for yourselves! We enjoy life, and spend every free minute with our children. They are only young once, and being older parents, we count each moment as precious... even when they are driving us crazy.
I will try to blog at least once a week, so please, stay tuned. If you have a question for me, send them my way and if it isn't too personal, I may write a blog about the topic. To my family and friends, in real life and online only, I don't know what I would do without you. Having your support makes life so much more enjoyable.