Homeschool????
What it is and why we do it....

"Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it." ~ Proverbs 22:6

Our homeschool is called Emmanuel's Own Christian School.

What IS homeschooling???
Good question!! Homeschooling is alot of things.  It's different things to different families at different times.  I guess you could say one thing that homeschooling is, is everchanging! :o)  One thing homeschooling is NOT, is bringing the school system home & smearing yourself & your kids with it! LOL!
Let me explain a bit.  I CAN because I did just that!! I tried to bring the "system" home & combine it with all the conditioning I had from my own public school experiences & use them in my home.  Needless to say, I was thoroughly frustrated!! (not to mention my poor child!)
First of all, at home, you don't need a buzzer to tell you when to do what.  Public schools need this due to the large volume of children inside...a buzzer is one way to control the masses, you see?  At home, you can do math for 45 minutes on Tuesday and 20 minutes on Wednesday and an hour & 15 minutes on Friday...if that's what your child needs & you choose to do!!  See?? FLEXIBILITY is the name of the game!! :o)
I think we can all agree that any one child is NOT going to have the exact same needs ALL the time.  Take mathematics again; Junior may pick up on multiplication really quick and only spend an average of 30 minutes each on those lessons.  However, he may not understand fractions so readily and need more time more often for the lessons on that.  IF Junior were in a public school setting, he'd be expected to "get it" at the same rate as everyone else does (Need I even mention the differences in learning styles in a classroom??  I thought not!) or else get left behind, because the buzzer doesn't allow for any extra time to achieve REAL understanding.  Or perhaps it's that Junior has a facination with fractions...he wants to spend more time on them....dig deeper into it...heck! he may keep asking for fraction problems til you've run out of worksheets for this grade level!! (Not in public school, though! They'd  discourage Junior from dwelling on fractions by pushing him onto something else, squelching his eagerness to dig deeper.)  But, at home, you can go on to the next grade level...let Junior learn all he wants to about fractions!! Why not?? He can learn about many other math procedures in the process!!  Or he can learn those later...after his fraction facination dims a bit.
You see, at home, ANYTHING can be turned into a learning experience!!  That's one of the beauties of it, my friend.
Homeschooling only requires a few things at the foundation.  Parents who have a deep love for their children.  Parents who want to be a bigger part of their children's lives.  Parents who wish to truly mold their children's character so that when the children become teens they don't meet the teen on the way out the door one morning and wonder WHO that was!!  Parents willing to TRY in order for their children to have the best of both worlds...a sound education AND valuable time spent with their parents.
Most parents meet MOST of those requirements.  Of those who ever consider homeschooling (not every parent can or will consider it), it's only the ones who let fear or lack of self-confidence hold them off.

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NOTE:

I do NOT support the idea that EVERYONE can or should homeschool. Please don't misunderstand!

You must be committed to doing it; feel led of God to undertake it; & be determined to give it your best effort. I DO realize that all parents are not equipped, either emotionally, spiritually or financially to educate their children at home & I do not condemn these parents. Much better to NOT home educate than to make the children suffer with parents attempting to teach them out of a sense of guilt or other coercement.

My advice is to pray it through. If you feel led, then at least TRY it. If it doesn't work when you've done your very best, then no one can ever say you left any option unexplored in seeking the very best for your child(ren). :o) Perhaps it's just not the season for your family to homeschool. Pray some more & see what God tells you.

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Here are the reasons we homeschool:

#1
First & foremost, we feel led of God to educate our children at home.  The Bible tells us ...
"Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it." ~ Proverbs 22:6
"Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the thing which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them (to) thy sons, and thy sons' sons; ....when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words. that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children." ~ Deuteronomy 4:9-10
"...children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward." ~ Psalm 127:3
So...children are a great blessing from God & we as parents & receipients of such blessings are charged with teaching them all that would please Him.
'Nuff said on that point!! :o)
#2
We are concerned with the things being taught, directly or indirectly, in the public & even Christian schools.
#3
We enjoy the simpler lifestyle that homeshooling affords us.
We don't rush around each morning searching for permission slips & lost homework, matching shoes or that favorite shirt.  We get up, probably later than most public school families (hey, I'm NOT a morning person anyhow!!) and have a calm breakfast together, (most mornings!) do a few household chores then begin our school day.  We have prayer & pledges most mornings; sometimes we don't take time for pledges as the kids are eager to jump into their work!!
We are currently moving ourselves into a "Lifestyle of Learning" a'la Marilyn Howshall's "Wisdom's Way of Learning" and (for older kids) Barb Shelton.  This means a more spirit-led way of learning, where we lean heavily on the Lord to direct our learning. That doesn't mean we toss the curriculum! We just don't *need* it to function. :) If we're just having a bad day all around & I can announce, "Field trip!!"  Ahhh, taking a field trip day when things aren't going well sure makes the next day much more profitable!! :o)

#4
I LIKE my kids!!!
I don't wanna send them away for 8+ hours every weekday!!!!  I miss them terribly when they are gone!!  Besides the attitudes that tend to develop when children spend their days in a room full of other children their own age!!
Socialization?????  Do you know how much homeschoolers hate that question???  Ha, ha, ha!!!  I doubt it!!  The idea that a child MUST be in a roomful of peers to become "socialized" is such a huge misconception!!  What other thing in life do you do where all the other people involved are exactly your age???  It is unthinkable that your employment would be based on your age, isn't it???  "No, sorry.  We're only hiring 23 year-olds today."  HA!!!  Can you imagine the lawsuits???
No, in the workplace you are involved with people of all ages AND expected to get along, too!!!
The most convincing arguement against peer-group socialization for me was seeing all the kids in our homeschool support group together during a mom's meeting.  Imagine, if you can (& if you homeschool, you can!) 15-20 children from age 18 months to 15 years old.  They are sent outside while we moms are discussing some changes for the group.  I went outside to check on them...all there was to play with was an old basketball &  goal outside.  The older boys & girls were playing ball...a couple of the older ones were playing Red Rover with the younger kids & keeping track of the babies.  I heard one of the "sitters" say, "We need some help with the little ones."  All the ball players stopped & proceeded to involve some of the younger ones in a scaled down ballgame.  No arguing.  No "You can't play" or "Why do I have to watch the babies" from the older ones.  No "You're not my boss" from the little ones.  Just perfect harmony!!!
How could ANYONE ask the "S" question?!?!?!?!?!!
Homeschooled kids are THE most socialized kids I know!!!  They are comfortable with persons of any age!!!  What could be more socialized???
I could go on & on about the reasons we homeschool.  I'll spare you! :0)
These are the main, most important ones.
But if you have any questions, please email them to me!!!  If I can't answer you, I'll find someone who can!!  I'd love to answer questions about homeschooling!!

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