Our Why

     The decision to home educate in the first place is different for each person. The reasons are many times very personal. They range from religious reasons, issues with the education system in general, a desire for more than what's available, or a need for more direct involvement due to learning or physical disabilities. Most often, the reasons are a mixture of those listed and others that are even more individualistic. I want to share a little about our own decision to home educate our children.

I was a child of the '80s. Born as the middle of three girls, my parents chose to begin my home education at the beginning of 3rd grade. It was a huge leap at the time. There was concern about leaving the house during school hours and unwarranted involvement from authorities. I remember the concern to have transcripts written out and proof accounted for even though we lived in a state with very little regulation for homeschooling. We followed the Bob Jones University curriculum all the way through my High School graduation. I loved the closeness it gave me with my immediate family. I loved the time it gave me to pursue volunteer opportunities with my church and other organizations. It wasn't perfect- nothing ever is, but it left me wanting a similar experience for my own children.

Rod was also a child of the '80s. He was the second of nine children. His parents both had degrees in education and chose to home educate all of their children from the start (except for a year or two in school for their firstborn). Their method of schooling was very much an unschooling approach. Rod spent a lot of time building forts outside, helping with gardens and animals, working on their house, and utilizing technology that was available in ways that wasn't yet mainstream. His ability to adapt and learn any skill has served him well into adulthood.








We met at church when I was in 2nd grade and he was in 5th grade. We spent a significant amount of time in the same church and homeschool community. It was a rare opportunity to really know each other having not just been in the same communities, but also having worked together on multiple volunteer projects through our growing up years. I knew he was the kind of person I wanted to marry, especially after seeing how he treated children in all of those volunteer opportunities. We've both been passionate about the care of children ever since. That passion has only grown as we became parents. It has increased our desire to protect and advance the rights of children in our society.

During my Senior year of school, Rod gained permission to "court" me (yes, we did that) in the Fall semester of that year. By late Spring, he had flown to Germany to propose to me in a castle while I was on my Senior trip. We were married in the Fall of 2002 and have been building a life together ever since. Part of that life building has entailed the birth and raising of four children.

Our ideology on parenting has changed dramatically over the last fourteen years, but there was never a question in our minds that we would home educate our children. Our reasons for choosing home education are partly from having seen the benefits for ourselves growing up, but also due to a dissatisfaction with the current state of the education system. The bare fact that it is a system. We want our children to have a love of learning. We don't want them spending years of their lives learning facts that they either find uninteresting or there's no way to know if they will actually use those facts in their adult life. Our goal is to use this time of childhood to give them a chance to cultivate a love of learning, grow in their independence, pursue their interests and passions, give them a stable and secure family base, and hopefully set them up to enter adulthood with confidence. 

     We have been educating ourselves on education and learning styles for the last 17 years. All of that research cemented even more our desire to set up education for our children that meets their specific and individual learning needs and styles. This TED Talk from Sir Ken Robinson especially convinced me- who as a school-style homeschooler was wary of the unschooling idea- that educating our children creatively would be worth it. 

     This is our why for home educating our children. We want them to have say in their educational choices. We want them to be in the habit of thinking and deciding for themselves even now. So many parents see their children as a "mini me" or somehow a reflection or legacy of themselves. What a heavy burden for a child. Our children's education reflects their passions, interests, and personalities. There's not a one-size-fits-all education- homeschool or otherwise. We are confident that learning happens all the time whether it's planned or not. We are all learning every moment of every day. Our decision to home educate with a strong bend toward unschooling supports and enhances that fact.