Sunday, November 11, 2007

Why I Homeschool

There was much research and thought in the series of choices that lead us to homeschool our kids. But from time to time something happens that tells me why, today, right now, I homeschool our kids. I had one of those moments last week.

Around 2:00 on Tuesday, we went to buy boxes for the move, (Yes, we bought a house. More on this later). The man selling them helped us transfer the 125 empty flattened boxes to our car. Apparently he enjoyed the kids because he gave them each a roll of bright red packing tape, I suppose with the idea that they could use them to help with the box rebuilding. As soon as we got home, both kids flew out of the car and around to the back yard. Jana and I were busy moving boxes from cars to house and didn’t check in on them. 20 minutes later we found them in the back yard creating a giant red spider web with the tape. They spent the next hour happily expanding their creation.

I cannot begin to verbalize why when I came around the corner to check on them I had a deep, gut level “yes, this is why I homeschool my kids”, but I did. Maybe something about the freedom to use their imaginations, maybe something about the joy of seeing them engrossed in creation together as a team, maybe just the sheer delight that they were outside using their bodies and brains in the beauty of a November day. Maybe something else, but whatever generated the feeling, I always cherish the moments of internal validation that homeschooling is the best thing for my kids.


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