77 Fun, Serious, Obscure, and Obvious Reasons to Homeschool
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. — Deuteronomy 6:6-7
I have a workshop titled “Give Me One Good Reason to Homeschool.” In that presentation, I start with a fun and light-hearted top-ten list to break the ice. Then I transition to a more serious set of reasons. I typically change the fun and entertaining list at the beginning depending on what is trending or what I think will connect with the local audience. Part of the problem is that my “fun” list is simply too long. So I am forced to narrow it down to ten, and get on with the more “important” side of the message. Of course, some of the light-hearted reasons at the beginning are actually fairly solid, convincing, and thought-provoking in their own right. So the dilemma is this: which reasons should I include in the list?
Then it hit me. I decided to write this article and simply list them all. If you need one good reason to homeschool, then surely you can find it here. I won’t take the time to explain each one since I think you are smart enough to figure that out on your own. So let’s get right to it. Here is my list of 77 fun, serious, obscure, and obvious reasons why homeschooling is awesome.
- Your kids never miss the bus
- Praying and reading the Bible are allowed
- You don’t have to make up snow days
- You don’t need a note for the teacher after a doctor’s visit
- You can do something else with that $12,000 per year per kid that private schools charge
- Recess can last two hours on a nice, sunny day
- Playing with LEGOs can count as learning
- Your kids don’t have to read until they are actually ready
- No one will think twice if the principal and teacher kiss and hug in front of the students
- It’s a walk of faith
- Ephesians 6 & Deuteronomy 6
- You can teach all subjects from a Christian/biblical worldview
- Your kids can miss out on the liberal agenda
- The physical safety of your kids
- Your kids can explore creation outside
- Instilling a life-long love of learning
- The opportunity to provide customized and individualized instruction
- The positive social setting and context of family
- Being able to give moral and religious instruction
- Your kid’s performance is not a function of your own education level
- Your child’s performance is not a function of your family’s income
- The cost is only 10% (or less) of the public and private systems
- You can be assured of your child’s safety in the bathroom
- Kids can spend extra time in areas of their interest and skill
- You are in charge of the schedule and can flex it to work for your family
- You are their parent
- Your kid won’t be labeled
- Your kid won’t be harassed or bullied
- No one loves your child more than you do
- Parents are in charge of the calendar
- You get to drive the school bus
- There is a short commute time to the classroom
- The cafeteria is always open
- You get to take advantage of discounts and avoid crowds by vacationing in the off seasons
- Your kids can be in multiple grades at the same time
- Your kids get to drink milk from a glass instead of a paper carton
- Unlimited hugs from the teacher
- Your kids can attend classes with “A Bad Hair Day”
- Your kids get to cuddle under a blanket on a cold winter day
- Your kids always get a role in the school play
- You can avoid the long drop-off and pick-up lines
- The student-teacher ratio is 3 to 1 or less
- Your kids are the school janitor
- The whole family gets to take P.E.
- Making meals counts as home economics (a course most schools don’t teach basic life skills like this anymore)
- Your kids don’t have to carry their heavy books around all day in a backpack
- Family emergencies are automatically written into the lesson plan
- No one has to raise their hands (which is not very useful in the workplace)
- Your kids won’t cry on the first day of school
- You won’t cry when returning to an empty home
- Your boys can take a pocket knife to school
- You can actually get it all done by 1:00 pm (when the kids are young)
- Enjoying the holidays from Thanksgiving to Christmas can count as school
- Everything can stop for a few months to enjoy, bond, and help with the new baby
- Your home actually gets to be lived in (I feel for all those lonely homes during the day)
- You can do your reading assignment on the porch, in the fort, or up in a tree
- Every one of your students is the valedictorian of their class
- Cleaning out the refrigerator doubles as a science experiment
- Cooking and baking can count as learning
- Because Common Core is a joke
- Your kids can’t fool the mom into thinking they understand the material
- You can have more meaningful family time
- Kids learn at their own pace
- You determine the scope and sequence
- Students can learn subjects not normally available in other school settings (ex: Chinese language and culture, foreign missions, movie making, etc.)
- The teachers and students will actually look forward to school reunions
- It saves tax-payers millions and billions of dollars
- Pajamas can be the official school uniform (at least for a few winter days)
- The pet dog is allowed to be in the room while the kids do their school work
- Your students aren’t exposed to negative social environments (aka the jungle code of the hallways)
- Your students can practice freedom of religion (the 1st amendment)
- Math class can take place while shopping at the grocery store
- Vacations can become whole family educational outings
- Brothers and sisters actually get to know and like each other
- If caught talking to yourself, you can say you are having a parent-teacher meeting
- The teacher never goes on strike (at least I hope not)
And a personal favorite reason to homeschool:
- You get to experience God filling in gaps so big a school bus could drive right through it
Walking by faith and enjoying the homeschooling adventure of a lifetime!
© 2017 Davis Carman
If you enjoyed this article by Davis Carman, enjoy reading his devotional entitled Grace, Grace, Marvelous Grace.
Davis is the president of Apologia Educational Ministries, the #1 publisher of Creation-based science and Bible curriculum. He is the author of four illustrated children’s books designed to help kids learn a biblical worldview. He believes that if there was ever a time to homeschool, it is now!
Davis’s four books include: Good Morning, God, based on Deuteronomy 6, A Light for My Path, an ABC book based on Psalm 119, In the Beginning, based on the Creation account in Genesis, and Psalms to Know Early.