The Top Ten Reasons We Homeschool

Why do we homeschool! I found a list that resonated with me and I share it here as well as my own personal stories. 

Here is the list of senators to continue calling

Sasha Renèe Pèrez 916 651-4026

Christopher Cabaldon 916 651-4003

Dave Cortese 916 651-4015

Lena Gonzalez 916 651-4033

Eloise Gomez Reyes 916 651-4029

Anna Cabellero 916 651-4014

Tim Grayson 916 651-4009

Mike McGuire 916 651-4002

Transcript

Why Do We Homeschool

         Welcome to Homeschool Horizons! I’m Yvette, your host! Hey everyone, it’s looking like July 16th will be the day that the senate decides whether it will or will not pass AB 84. I was thinking this week about how much the senators need to understand why we need homeschool charters to continue to be funded and supported by the state. But even more than that, they need to understand why we need to homeschool our children. 

         If I was to ask 10 moms why they decided to homeschool, I would get a bunch of different responses. Here are the top ten reasons why parents decide to homeschool, as found on the website,   crosswalk.com. The author of this list is Jessica Parnell and she wrote these back in 2018! They still hold true today! These are the reasons she wrote about listed in order starting with number one and going all the way to number 10. 

1.   You have religious convictions or needs that are not met in the traditional school setting.

2.   You are unhappy with the quality of your child’s current educational system.

3.   You want to strengthen your family bond and increase time spent together.

4.   Your child’s athletic career schedules overtake the amount of time spent in school.

5.   Your child has learning disabilities that are not being properly addressed in a traditional setting.

6.   You are concerned for your child’s safety and welfare

7.   Your child has been a victim of bullying. 

8.   Your child’s career dictates when schooling can take place.

9.   You have a bright, self-motivated child who wishes to be homeschooled to further their potential.

10.Your job has you moving abroad or into an uncertain educational setting. 

     From this list 3 of them resonate strongly with me. For example, 

number 3 says, “You want to strengthen your family bond and increase the amount of time together.” That’s right! My children came to me through adoption. I’ve shared a little bit about that in some of my previous episodes. I have a specific memory that comes to mind about my son who is 10 yrs. old. He came into our family as a 2 ½ year old toddler.  At 2 ½ he only had 2 words in his entire speaking vocabulary. He was angry and took out a lot of his rage and aggression on our oldest son who at the time was 4 ½ years of age. This was extremely difficult on our family. When he turned 3, I decided to enroll him in a preschool class that the local public school called Preppy K. I enrolled him because I thought this would be a good way of giving us some separation so that I could work with my older son without any interruptions and to be honest, also to give myself a break from the tense dynamic that existed in the house between my two sons. So, while he was away at public school, I would homeschool my oldest son. This arrangement worked for a while, until my second son began to speak more words and then actually began to be able to articulate his thoughts and feelings in a way that he had not been able to do when he first arrived in our home. He began asking if he could stay home and learn with me too just like his brother. I decided to tell him that as soon as we would get to adopt him, I would homeschool him just like his brother. I could tell that it was very important to him that he get the same love and attention that his brother was getting. Eventually, adoption day arrived and I actually thought my son had sort of forgotten about wanting to be homeschooled. I didn’t bring it up or push it at all. The morning after we adopted him, I went to wake him up for school and he told me he didn’t want to go to that school. He wanted to stay home with me and do school with me and his brother. He was very resolute about it and it touched my heart in a way that I couldn’t deny. How could I continue to have go away from me when he clearly wanted to attach and bond to us. So, I told him he could stay home and we began our homeschooling journey together that very day. He was so happy and it became a time of true bonding and our relationship began to flourish. The relationship between him and his older brother began to slowly get better as well. 

Number 6 also resonates with me because it says, “You are concerned for your child’s safety and welfare.” Columbine, Sandy Hook, Uvalde, all of the school shootings. Sadly, this applies not just to me, but to all of us now. Number 7 says, “Your child has been a victim of bullying.” My oldest had a bullying incident happen in preschool! All of the kids were asked to do an art project. My son was happily drawing his when two other little boys look at his and began saying that it looked like a monster and then began calling my son a monster to the point where my son began to cry. What really upset me about this, was the fact that no one bothered to call me to tell me what was happening. They waited until I was there to pick him up and came out to talk to me outside of the classroom. When I went in to get my son, he was immobilized with a look plastered across his face that screamed, “Save Me!.” It was awful! If they had called me when it happened, I could’ve picked up my son a lot sooner! Instead, he had to suffer the day until I arrived. I can’t even imagine what more he would’ve had to endure if I had not decided to homeschool him. 

     It’s important for our senators to know why we homeschool. It humanizes us. There are a set of two moms, Denise Aguilar and Tara Thornton that I have been following on Facebook from Freedom Angels. They really have helped me understand the importance of making my voice heard and of letting our senators know our stories. They have told us that there are so many bills that come at the senators, they don’t even know what the bills are about until a few minutes before the actual vote. That’s crazy to me! This is why it is so important to get involved and make phone calls, write your senators, go to Sacramento, tell your stories on social media, and PRAY. Anything you do is helpful in the fight towards defeating this bill. 

     I will attach the numbers of the senators to the top of my podcast transcript again this week. It’s really easy to call. All you do is call the number and when the person answers you say, “Hello, I’m a homeschool mom, grandma, aunt, uncle, etc.” Then you say, “I am asking that the senator please oppose AB 84.” That’s it! The person on the other end of the line will ask you for your name, city, or zip code. But some of them don’t ask you anything. They just thank you for calling and tell you that they will let the senator know. 

     Thank you so much for listening today! I’ll keep you posted next week on updates I receive from the Freedom Angels. Let’s keep fighting the good fight! We can defeat this bill! Have a wonderful week! Talk to you soon!