After writing my last blog post I pasted it to my Facebook page and had a few comments from people who are teachers, who are parents of public school children, or who thought that maybe our children are missing out on things because of our decision to homeschool. Some of these comments were made in good fun (and I totally appreciate a laugh) and some of them were more serious. Let me first say this, I love passionate people! I love it when people believe in something so much that they share their passion and their ideas or beliefs with others so that we can all learn and grow.

This social media thing is really a blessing if you let it be. I can post my ideas and views of the world and you can comment and share yours and together we can change. It’s really all about sharing. We must remember this though; there is no such thing as one size fits all. When I posted I wasn’t in any way suggesting that homeschooling is for everyone. It’s not. When I share my information with you I’m not telling you that you have to try it and I’m certainly not telling you that you will like it. One thing I have found to be true of homeschoolers is that we are sharers. We are passionate about the path that we have chose but yet I haven’t met one homeschooler that was pushy. I never talked to one person while doing my research that I felt was telling me that homeschooling is the only option or even the right option. Each and every family is different and you need to do what’s right for you.

What I did challenge my Facebook readers to do was to have a reason why. Have a reason why you are doing what you are doing. If you don’t have a solid reason then find one. We started Zack in kindergarten at the public school because that was what you do when kids turn 5. Right? We didn’t explore our options or even act like we had any. We continued to do the same with Lexi and then with Logan. The school district sends you paperwork in the mail to enroll your child and you fill it out and send it back. Soon you get a letter inviting you to Kindergarten Round-Up and all is well in the world. Or is it? We didn’t have a why for sending our children to public school, we did it because that’s what everyone else does. It was what we were supposed to do. It wasn’t until after we started getting frustrated with our situation that we thought about what we wanted for our children and asked ourselves if we had a reason why they were where they were. If you know the hubby and I you know that we don’t just do what everyone else does. That’s not our style. We need reasons!

Friends sharing their experiences caused us to finally seek out our options and find a situation that would fit us. Lots of prayer and listening to what God had planned for our family was essential. We were being called to bring our children home and through the fear we decided to take the leap. We are forever grateful to those that shared with us. Now we are sharing our experiences. Not to bring anyone over to our way of doing things and not to make anyone feel like our way is inferior to yours or vice versa, but just to share. Maybe our reasons why are your reasons why not! I can totally appreciate that 🙂

This social media thing allows us to share. We share pictures and thoughts, events and passions. Sharing helps us to see the world from different views. When I read your comments I can think about them with an open mind and consider your way of thinking, not to change my mind (although sometimes that happens) but so next time I know my audience a little better, I know how others view the topic, I can be more clear or show more empathy and sometimes I gain more passion. I like when we share. It changes me. I strive to be better today than I was yesterday and sometimes I achieve that when we share.

P.S. Will my kids miss out on things because they are homeschooled? Absolutely. Will other children miss out on things because they aren’t? You bet. When you sit down to write your reasons why you are doing what you are doing, in any area of life, also consider the pros and cons. When your list of pros outweighs your cons you know you are headed in the right direction.

Not having to worry about what time we get to bed is definitely on our pros list 😉