The Reasons Why

So, upon hearing that we've decided to homeschool our boys this year, the question I hear most often is "why?".
I will share some of our reasons this morning, and then I'll share some more of our pictures.

We chose homeschool because:

- We wanted more time with our kids.

- We wanted them to have a calm and relaxed schedule. Many days in the past were spent rushing kids to the bus, and then rushing them back inside to do homework, eat dinner, and head out to sports, church, etc.

- We want to know what they are learning each day and have control over the "sticky" areas.

- We wanted freedom from a 7 hour day away for school. School takes us roughly 3 to 3 1/2 hrs a day now, leaving us lots of time to learn away from books---at the park, at the library, in the kitchen, with each other.

- We wanted our boys to grow closer to each other, and after a long, tiring day at school, they had little "good" energy to give each other. It's SO much better now!

- We wanted to be able to give the boys the individual, one on one attention they need, especially with the areas of school that are a bigger challenge for each of them.

- We had to take a break from BSF, because the boys were getting too tired to be out that late. Also, they were struggling to have the desire to finish their bible homework and memorize their verses. This was not settling well with me. Now, we do our Bible class in the day, along with the other classes, and they are learning a lot together, and memorizing lots of verses.
I am hoping to bring them back to BSF next year, now that our days are more relaxed and less busy.

- I really like spending time with my boys, and I feel so fortunate to have them home with me every day.

- The boys really enjoy it! Just ask them, if you don't believe me ;).

- We decided it would be the best fit for our family at this time. We realize that homeschool is not right for every family, and we understand that it may not be the best fit for us down the road either, but for now it works, and we are having a blast!!

Here are the pictures to prove it.

Making a Rainbow in a Jar after school one day (from a library book we checked out).

Brady, reading to his brothers after school.

Working together on a puzzle and mapping out our route to FL.

A typical day in homeschool.

We get outside as often as possible for physical education. Last week we spent 3 days learning about tennis.

Learning how to make Enchilada Pie. They did great!

Riding scooters at the Farmington Art Park at 2:30pm.