Why I Homeschool

Since starting to homeschool, I've noticed that I LOVE to hear why other people homeschool. It is almost an obsession, to the point where I don't feel like I really know a fellow homeschooler until I've heard their "why I homeschool" story. I don't have a story so much as a journey. I'm sure I'll share more of that later. For right now, I'll tell you why I started homeschooling. The first reason, and perhaps still the best reason: I wanted my children to have exceptionally close relationships with each other. Very close sibling relationships are not always the norm now that people live in cities where other friendships can dominate the growing up years. I wanted my children to be the exception in that they are tight. Tighter than my brother's football team tight. Tighter than my brother's football pants tight.

So far it has worked like a charm. See exhibit A (the picture below).


When I was growing up, we moved around a lot. By the time I left for college the longest I'd lived anywhere was almost three years. There were nine children in my family and we were tight. Very tight. I have long believed that this is because of three reasons. 1) We lived on a farm when I was younger and developed relationships there because we lacked other playmate options. 2) We moved around so much that we were always the "new kids." When you are the new kid you don't have a best friend yet, so you play with your siblings. That gave us a six month period every other year at least to renew our sibling relationships. 3) My parents liked us and liked doing things with us, so there was a whole lot of wholesome recreational activity around our house. Besides that, there were so many of us that there was always something going on. It might have also helped that my dad is a white Bill Cosby mixed with Weird Al and my mother a goddess in the kitchen. Good jokes, good food, good friends--my house was amazing.

Now that we are all grown, we are still tight. Family website tight. Call at least one of my sisters daily tight. Catch up on each other's blogs tight. Write YA fantasy together tight. Reunions, get-togethers, in each other's business tight. I love it. I want that for my children.

But my hubby and I aren't going to pick up and move every two years like my father. We don't live on a farm. I attempt to make my children feel as loved and liked as my mother did me, but I'm a lot like my father (why fates???) so I don't think I do quite as good a job at that as she did.

Enter homeschooling. I really did decide to homeschool so my children would be forced to build the kind of relationship that I was able to build with my siblings. I'm not saying that other people who lived in one place their whole lives and attended school can't have tight relationships with their sibs. I'm just saying I wanted to make it a priority and homeschool seemed like the right solution.

That is one reason. There are others. So many others. I'll tell you more later.

PS--Becky B., my buddy who is about to embark on a homeschool adventure of her own, has labeled my blog useful, but lacking a certain consistency of posting. I promise to post more often. Really.