But You Live Right Next to a School!

After our first child was born, I came across homeschoolers of all stripes in real life as well as on the internet (including my sister-in-law), and it piqued my interest. I had attended public school, and while it wasn’t traumatizing, I also wasn’t eager to share the experience with my own children. While I have a great respect for teachers, the education offered by our local school system was not one I was impressed by, and so as my daughter approached school age, I assumed we would homeschool.

My husband was never thrilled with the idea, however, and after we made the decision to convert to Catholicism a few years ago, he was very insistent that we enroll our eldest daughter into the nearest Catholic school. She attended 2 years of pre-school as well as Kindergarten at this school and while we were mostly satisfied, it was a huge financial burden. We realized early on into kindergarten that there was just no way we could afford to keep sending her.

We were then faced with the decision between the public school that was virtually in our backyard, and homeschooling, which was, well, in our kitchen, more or less! My husband was still resistant to the idea, but some prayerful discernment coupled with finding a great local Catholic homeschool group brought him around, and he agreed we should give it a shot.

I was a bit surprised that the overall response to our decision was positive. Our friends and family agree I’m bright enough to teach my children (I’m not sure how much of a compliment that is when the only one that’s officially schooling is only in 1st grade!). However, “why homeschool?” is still a question I get asked frequently, particularly since I live right next to an elementary school (people always look very confused, I can see the wheels turning and they usually point out our proximity to the school, as if I was somehow unaware of it).

It is, I’ve decided, a difficult question for me to answer simply. There are many facets of the decision. I want my children to able to speak of God and Jesus Christ openly, and I want them to have the beauty of our Catholic faith woven into their daily lives. I want them to want to learn and to love learning. I want them to have experiences, not just sit and read about experiences. I want them to have a full and well-rounded education that’s tailored to their own needs and strengths and occurs at their own pace. I want them to have safe, positive interactions not only with their peers, but people of all ages and types. I want them to be strong and confident in who they are and their place in the world as children of God. These things certainly aren’t impossible to achieve in public or private school, but they are more difficult.

I think a better question is “why not homeschool?”

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Katie lives amidst the cornfields of Indiana with her husband, 3 daughters, and 2 ornery cats. You can visit her at Just Another Catholic Mom, where she blogs about her faith, family, and attempts at homesteading.

Photo by ChristineTM

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