3 Reasons We Chose to Home Educate Our Children

One of the common questions I receive is why we home educate our children. It’s not a straightforward question. Every family decides what’s best for their children’s education, whether at home or in school.

You might ask, “I thought it was home schooling?” Yes, it is. Leon and I both grew up in the US and were home schooled for part or the entirety of our school years. However, it’s important to make a cultural distinction because words in the US and UK have different meanings.

Home Education simply means a child receives their education at home. In the UK, if you refer to it as “home schooling,” it implies that a school environment happens at home. Home education isn’t better than school education—it just means there is more than one way to achieve the same purpose.

Now that you have that explanation, I’ll continue…

Here are 3 reasons we home educate.

We live abroad and, until recently, worked in the ministry. That required us to travel to the US every few years for longer periods of time. We have more time and availability to travel when we don’t have to stick with the breaks in between terms at school.

When we travel, we make use of the educational opportunities. Amidst our busy schedule while travelling in the US, educational experiences organically happen. In my teacher training, we would have called them “teachable moments,” and it turns out they’re not limited to the classroom! Our children look forward to our trip to the US this summer, including a possible trip to visit Laura Ingalls Wilder’s home!

Home education also allows us to take breaks when we need them. We usually try to take a break every 6 weeks, and sometimes we just take a week off because we’re burnt out. Occasionally our breaks line up with local schools so we can see friends who attend school, otherwise we’d never get to see them. It also allows us to go on holiday when everyone else is in school. Last summer, a break during the school summer holidays meant we could attend a Christian family camp with our church.

It might feel like an enormous responsibility, but I enjoy choosing what our family needs to learn and work on. Of course, I’m a teacher by profession, but looking at book lists and finding out what we’ll read and learn about for the year makes me excited. Looking for the best resources, books, and experiences for our children to use in their education is a privilege I don’t take for granted.

Another example of this is we have the freedom to delay the start of formal education if our children need it. School is mandatory for 5-year-olds in England; however, most children begin the school year they turn 5. Mr. E has a July birthday, which means he would have started school (in September) just after his 4th birthday. There was no way he was ready at that age, and he still had some maturing to do at 6, so we held off a little longer and focussed on informal learning. Our youngest daughter is now 5, and doing similarly with informal learning. She is learning loads and occasionally sits to listen to a story with her 7-year-old brother. She joins in Morning Time, learns her letters when she’s interested, and occasionally does a page of Math or Handwriting. We have the flexibility to not force her to sit and learn her letters and numbers if she’s not ready yet, and that’s what we like.

As a Christian mother, my heart breaks at the things I hear about being taught in schools right now. It sounds like children feel confused more than ever by various agendas taught in school. We have the freedom to infuse everything we learn about with our faith in Jesus Christ and the truth of God’s Word. As our children mature, we’ll use books to help them understand the Bible’s perspective.

These are just three of our reasons, and they change regularly. My reasons here reflect our family’s values, and I respect other choices. Ultimately, your educational choices for your family should reflect your family’s values.