8 Reasons Why We are (Still) Homeschooling


Cliché as it may sound, time flies so fast. We are now in our 8th year of homeschooling and we are happy to share that we are and will still be homeschooling this coming school year. Our three kids are homeschooled since birth and this year our second child, Toddler Z, will officially be entering our “Kinder 1” homeschool level. Kuya V is an incoming Grade 3 student while Toddler Bunso is in our Tot homeschool. I reckon it is a great opportunity for me to review and share with you our reasons for homeschooling

What Homeschooling is for us

Our family believes that homeschooling is not just about academics. We are firm believers that children and adults learn in different ways, which includes not only academics but values and life skills. For us, homeschooling is a lifestyle – it starts when we open our eyes in the morning and ends when we go to sleep at night. Hence when people ask me how long have we been homeschooling, I always tell them that our kids are homeschooled since birth. 

For other families though, homeschooling for them starts at the official entry of a child in formal education (which is at age 5). We respect that. 






Our Reasons for Homeschooling

1. Sleep 

Our first child is a restless soul. He’s like the bunny from a battery commercial who can go on and on throughout the day and would prefer to play and run than sleep. When he lies down, his mind will be wandering about and would talk even when the lights are out. This was one of our concerns when we were still discerning if we are to enroll him in a private school five years ago. And we are glad that we chose homeschooling because we can work around the schedule of his sleep.

Our kids can sleep in if they slept late last night and still be able to learn the next day without feeling tired or sleepy. And mommy can get more sleep, too! I don’t have to wake up very early in the morning to prepare their baon or bring them to school.


2. Instill family values

When we started (more of learned about homeschooling) our main goal to homeschool was for me and my husband to instill our family values to our child. We wanted our son to have a character that is pleasing to God and by choosing to homeschool, we can be hands-on in molding his character.



Our kids are not perfect, they fight, they argue, they procrastinate. But deep inside they are loving children who respect others and continue to discover ways to be better people. When we pray at night and i hear their prayers, it serves as affirmation for me and my husband that we are doing a good job as the main teachers of our children.


3. Close-knit Family

My husband and I agree that family comes first (after God). 

We want to spend time and create a lot of memories with our kids. I am privileged to witness their milestones, their struggles, and their A-ha moments. Even if my husband works away the whole day, he is always up-to-date in our kids’ lives. We enjoy making memories as a family because they will not be forever under our wings.

V, Z, and Bunso

We would like our children to grow in love, kindness, and be close with their siblings and us their parents. We want them to be able to share with us their joys, fears, and dreams. As parents we want to be always be there for them and be the first people they come to when they have problems. Our kids may fight with each other a lot but seeing them cuddle up, make little tents and share food with each other promises a brighter future ahead. We know that they will always be best friends and there for each other no matter what.  


4. Personalized Learning

Customized learning for me is the number one reason and pro in homeschooling your child. The learning of the child is personalized and not standardized.

Before I became a stay-at-home mom, I used to design training programs in my work. Before we could come up with modules for the employees, we had to understand and assess the needs of the learner. What is it that the learner lacks in skill and knowledge, where do we want this learner to be, and what do we need to do to close those gaps? If we are so rigid in creating training programs at work, why can’t we do the same thing to children? Shouldn’t we be focusing on each child and help them to be in a level where they should be?

Curriculum should be adjusted according to the child and not the child adjusting to the curriculum. – Petite Momma

With homeschooling, we can customize the learning experience of our kids by focusing on their strengths and working on their weaknesses. We can be advanced in one subject and work slowly on some areas. We can try so many ways to teach a topic in which they can learn more effectively. We are not tied to teach with just one, but we can explore several methods of approaches that would work best on our child and our family.

Life skills like giving orders at a restaurant is an important skill we want our kids to learn

The kids are not tied to a sit for several hours, taking notes, keeping mum, doing assignments – all those forced learning we were subjected to growing up. With homeschool, they are free to explore their interests. Our kids can read more books about a topic they are interested in and not be bothered that we are “behind.” We can stop doing worksheets and watch National Geographic if we feel it.
And because we can customize our child’s learning, we are teaching them to love learning. Not just be forced to learn but find the joy in learning new things. They learn not only about academics, but in time they realize that they are capable beings with potentials that need to be tapped and developed. Homeschooled kids learn to be responsible of their learning.


5. Flexibility

Flexibility is a major thing for us. We do not have a helper at home and I still have two toddlers to look after. The flexibility that homeschooling gives us is a big factor why we are loving this lifestyle. 

We are flexible in our day-to-day, week-to-week, and even month-to-month lessons and activities. If one child gets sick, we don’t have to worry for doctor’s appointments and who gets to pick up the other kid in school. We can easily work around our day if we need to rest from studying to work on some important errands or chores. If one of the toddlers has a bad day with tantrums, we can switch to easy self-directed lessons and activities.

If there are family gatherings, playdates, or if we would like to have a field trip at the library or a museum, we can freely do so. We don’t also have to wait for peak seasons to go on a vacation. We can book a flight anytime of the year and just adjust our academic calendar.

With homeschooling, we don’t have to worry about the kids missing out school days and lessons. We can progress with a subject as slow or as fast as we can.


6. Socialization

One of the myths of homeschooling is that children who are homeschooled lack socialization skills. On the contrary though, my kids and the other homeschooled children I have met are very socialized people. Homeschooled kids are not restricted to only talk and mingle with kids their own age. With homeschooling, children are exposed to people from different age groups and walks of life. 

Parents can also tailor their children’s social interactions based on their own family values.

Meet-up with fellow homeschoolers, special classes on sports and music, and chilling at the playground

Since homeschooled children are not in school seated for X number of hours and are free to create their own social calendars, they use the world as their classroom.


7. I Learn with Them

Teaching should not be a one-way instruction but a facilitation of ideas. As a homeschool mom, I am not there to just dictate and do all the talking. Homeschooling gives us the opportunity to explore subjects with our kids. It’s been decades since I went to grade school and a lot of the lessons my son is supposed to learn for his level were already alien to my memory. With homeschooling, I get to learn and re-learn the subject, discuss with my child the interesting facets of it, and explore how this particular facts and ideas can be applied in real life. 

“When one teaches, two learn” - Robert Heinlein

There are also moments that my son gets to learn additional information about a subject that is not in the textbook and shares that knowledge with me. My toddlers on the other hand proves to me that there are other ways to teach Reading, Math, and Science.

I am learning a lot from my kids! Homeschooling helps everyone in the family to grow.


8. My Kids Get to Follow their Unique Interests

Each child is unique – his personality, things that motivate him, his dreams, and interests. Because we are flexible in schedule, learning is personalized, and we spend more time together as a family, my husband and I can help our kids explore and support their interests.

Field trip to Mind Museum's Pop-up Exhibit at UP Town Center

An example is our son’s fascination with dinosaurs. He is so hyped with anything about dinosaurs hence we worked around with that interest in some of our lessons. For English, I printed worksheets where he needs to create sentences, spell, and develop a story around dinosaurs. That activity alone covered at least five lessons! We also supported his interests on dinosaurs by getting him dinosaur figures, books, watching videos about them, and discussing history. This fascination branched to different interests as well: history, space, geography, religion (yes, believe it or not), volcanology, and nutrition. And recently because he also likes DinoTrux in Netflix, he has taken an interest in geology.
We want our kids to be better versions of themselves whether it’s in the arts, sports, science, or in any other fields. And we can do this by exploring and supporting them in their talents and passions.



Our firstborn loves being homeschooled. Whenever I ask him if we should enroll him to a traditional school, he’s firm to say that he wants his Mama and Papa to be his teachers. Homeschooling is not for everyone. I wouldn’t say that it is easy for I have broken down and was on my knees several times in this journey. But with these reasons, I can say that everything is worth it.






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Got a question about homeschooling? Comment below or message me in my Facebook page or email at petitemomma18@gmail.com

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Comments

  1. Thanks for this momsh. Share ko po to.
    Agree naman po ako lalo na yung sa sleep.
    Try ko sa 3 yrs.old son ko. Di ko kasi sure sa socialization e.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have a separate blog post momma regarding socialization. :)

      Btw, you are already homeschooling now. ;)

      Delete
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