Even though we are in the very early stages of homeschooling (M is almost 4, J is almost 18 months), I think it is a useful personal exercise to do some writing about why I am choosing this pathway. I’m sure my reasons and feelings will change as we go along, and I am sure Arp has a different set of reasons that partially overlap mine. But anyway, right now, at this moment of time, here are some of the reasons that I have for choosing to homeschool my children:

I want to be there for all the moments of learning, to see the light bulbs go on. I want to learn alongside my children. I don’t want to be sitting at the kitchen table when they come home, and hear about one little tidbit of what they learned that day. I want to hear and see it all (or most of it).

I want to spend time with my children. Lots of time. Yes, I get exhausted as much as any mother does. I, too, sometimes need time to myself, time to do my own things. But I don’t want to leave my children with strangers 5 days per week for at least a 6-hour time block. I want to spend most of my time with them.

I don’t want other people raising my children. I believe that is what happens when you send them to school. Children who attend school spend a huge chunk of time with non-family members. Naturally, children take the people they spend so much time with very seriously. When you send your children to school, your child’s teachers and peers begin to influence your child more than you do. I think it is very important that my children spend the majority of their time with family.

I want to protect my children from the negative aspects of peer culture. I don’t want them to worry that their clothing isn’t fashionable enough, or that their pimply face means that they are ugly. I don’t want them to worry that the kids whispering in the hallway might be talking about them, or not talking about them. I want my children to do good things and have real emotions without the fear of labels (like nerd or goody-goody, or worse). I want them to learn in a situation where they won’t fear failure, or being called “stupid�. I don’t want my children to feel bad because they haven’t watched an episode of some TV show, or because they don’t know all the words to a popular song. I want my children to grow up believing that sex is more about love than whether or not their friend has gotten to 3^rd base by the second date. In summary, I want my children to be themselves without the worry of what their peers are thinking and saying about it. Children need the freedom to fully become themselves before they should worry about fitting into the outside world.

I want my children to guide their own learning, and love doing it, for the rest of their lives. I want them to hear about a topic and jump at the chance to learn more. I want them to get excited when they open up a gift and find a book inside. I never want to see them sitting at a desk feeling bored for hours at a time (How many times did I feel that way when I went to school?!).

I want my children to learn at their own rate, whatever that may be. I don’t want them to fear being put in the “dummy� reading group just because they read at a slower rate than others, or because they don’t read at the age some bureaucrat says they should. I want them to learn what they want to learn in their own time.

I want to get out of bed when I feel like it, or when my kids wake me up. I don’t want to have to rush them out of the house onto a schoolbus on a cold winter morning. I want to drink my coffee with my kids, not after they leave.

I want my children to love books and language as much as I do. I want to avoid seeing them forced to read a book that they feel is boring. I want to help them to find exciting books for all the subjects they are interested in.

I want to foster in my children a respect and understanding of nature. I want them to understand that they are an important part of the natural world, and that all the parts are connected to each other. I want to teach them that they have a responsibility for caring for our world, and for all the people and creatures in it.

I want my children to be feminists. I don’t want them to be forced to think and act what a peer group deems is appropriate for their gender. I don’t want gender to be an issue for them at all, really. I will teach them to embrace our common humanity. I want each of my children to define for themselves what it means for them to be a woman or man. Whatever their definition, I will support them.

Well, there it is! It’s a start! There are probably a million reasons to homeschool, and this seems to be as much a list of reasons as a manifesto. I know – I’m sooooooooooo idealistic. Am I hoping for too much? I don’t think so. I don’t expect they will be geniuses or anything. But I hope that by the end of all this my children will be well adjusted people and I will have lots of good memories of my years helping them learn. I’m sure I’ll end up adding much more to this list as time goes along. But this is a blog entry, and I’ve already been writing it for a week. So for now, I’ll end it.