You remember that time when I said I would write a 3 part series on why we homeschool? When I posted the first two parts and then 2 months later sat down and realized I never wrote the 3rd part… oops! Life is busy and crazy, and you have my apologies…

So after reading the last two posts you know a little more about my son and our specific situation. Now a little bit about me… I am not one of those women who felt called to homeschool the second she found out she was expecting. In fact, even now at age 31 I’m still not sure what I am “called” to do (please say I’m not alone there). I grew up wanting to be a teacher, but by the time college rolled around, the bureaucracy surrounding teaching wasn’t appealing to me.  I loved the idea of Catholic school. I had always wanted to attend one growing up, and wanted  to be able to provide that opportunity for my children. So our plan was catholic school. Then we realized JP was a little different. We met with our local Catholic school, and I’m not going to say they weren’t welcoming. They were willing to meet with us, but at the same time the school didn’t cater to special needs very well. He would have been one of the only students in his grade who had learning differences, and I didn’t like how that would present itself. So we met with the our local public school we were zoned with for an IEP meeting. It was after that meeting that the idea of homeschooling became more concrete. At age 3 I was not ready to start sending my son to school 5 days a week. I love my children and I love spending time with them. Maybe I could figure out how to teach them? I love working with kids and had experience teaching in daycares and Sunday school settings. So we decided to give it a try.

The preschool homeschooling was so much fun! Lots of hands on exploring, sensory bins and fun books. Last year (K) was a little bumpy. Finding our groove took a while, and more often than not there were tears involved on someone’s part. It probably didn’t help that I gave birth in August and had some postpartum issues. This year started rough, but after a couple of months we have found our sweet spot!

So why do we homeschool? We homeschool because the Lord has enabled me to do so. We homeschool so I can raise them in the Word. We homeschool because I love my children, and I love that I get to spend time with them. We homeschool because it enables me to cater their education to their specific needs, not to the need of the average 6-year-old in the United States. We homeschool so I can help them learn how to navigate their feelings and social relationships. We homeschool so I can have  limitless teachable moments. I could go on, but those are the essentials.

So does this mean we will homeschool forever. No clue. As I said earlier, I’m not entirely sure the path the Lord has chosen for me, but I’m enjoying it during this season.  Each year we will reassess everyone’s needs and make sure we are still on the path we feel called to. Until then we homeschool.

– Valerie

Click here for Part 1 and Part 2.