Homeschooling for Health: A Crucial Decision
Homeschooling in America has grown exponentially in the past few years - one factor is the pandemic, but studies show that there are many other factors that contribute to its consistent pattern of increase.
School safety, bullying, quality of environment, and political influences are all top reasons that families have decided to homeschool in the past 4 years.
An interesting article by the Washington Post did a poll across thousands of school districts across the country to find out why. They reported that some districts in the US, specifically the nation’s capital - Washington D.C. saw 108% increase since 2018.
One district in the Bronx, NY saw a 358% increase.
In 390 school districts, there was 1 homeschooled child for every 10 public school children.
Estimates 1.9-2.7 million homeschooled kids in the US for the 2022-2023 school year.
The average American student will spend over 15,000 hours in school by the time they graduate high school. On average they spend 6-7 hours each day under the instruction of a teacher. As they get older, the amount of time on average increases as extracurricular activities are added.
For some families, especially families that have children with health concerns, homeschooling seems like the best decision for their child.
I began my homeschooling career in 2006 when I was a mom of 4 kids, the next 3 were yet to come! My oldest was starting first grade. I had been working in a busy law firm and taking 3 kids to daycare when I found out I was pregnant with #4. Daycare was expensive - financially and emotionally. My second son was having discipline issues. Our circumstances seemed to be leading us to make a change. Since I had always been involved in volunteering in a classroom or children’s ministry, making the change to home school at that point seemed like a natural progression. I couldn’t imagine sending my kids off to school all day. We decided to take the plunge and begin homeschooling before our oldest would transition into 1st grade. It was a calling I was so grateful I was able to follow!
Our oldest son loved school! We were able to begin homeschooling him when he started 1st grade in 2008.
At that time I didn't know about GAPS . That part of our journey would come later after our 5th child was born. At that time we wanted to homeschool our kids so they would LOVE learning, and not to please a teacher or just get good grades. We also wanted to have freedom with our family schedule and more quality time so we could have more influence on their foundation for life. We also wanted to be the primary person to correct them when they made mistakes or needed guidance.
Boys sometimes struggle most when they are always told to “sit still” all day in a classroom. Our second son seemed to have this struggle! When he attended a formal classroom he regularly had behavior complaints from his teachers. They didn’t always know how to get him to go along with the rest of the class and do what everyone else was doing. He was more impulsive and very active. Homeschooling was so good for him so he could be free to play, run, roll, climb, and explore in his younger years.
Through the years our educational purpose has evolved and we have rolled with life. Each year we reevaluate what we are doing and the health of our kids. We have had funerals, weddings, car accidents, a year with multiple surgeries, and 3 years that an uncle came and lived with us. We were doing the best we could with the circumstances that we have before us.
We have educated in a variety of ways! We have graduated one as a home school graduate and one as a public school graduate. We have dual enrolled, sent one daughter to a specialized school for special needs, enrolled in home school coop classes, private classes, participated in public school band, community plays, sports teams, city leagues, etc.
In January of 2020 we graduated our oldest with a home school transcript. He had been dual enrolled at our local school so he could participate in sports through high school. Since he had enough credits, he chose to graduate a few months ahead of his “class” and he began taking some online college classes while working and living at home.
Then just 1 1/2 years later we graduated our second son from the local public school. He was only 17 and was one of the youngest students in his graduating class. We had chosen to enroll him full time after his sophomore year. We worked with the school to have them accept our home school credits up to that point and have all of his home school classes transferred to the public school transcript.
Our youngest 2 are currently home schooling. We are thankful to have a nice spot in our home that we are able to store all of our books and manipulatives we use for learning. We call this spot our “school room”.
Olivia was our #5 baby and her health issues were the beginning of our GAPS journey. She was born with a lot of medical complexities and has had many years of doctor’s visits and surgeries. Home schooling has allowed us the flexibility to attend all of her appointments as well as the opportunity for her siblings to be a part of that journey. Our kids have learned so much about caring for someone when sick or recovering, as well as some of the practical skills like planning a trip, navigating, packing food, as well as having patience and compassion. There are so many practical things to learn that cannot be taught in a book!
We have transitioned some of our kids from homeschooling and enrolled in 3 different school districts over the years. We have built relationships with administration in order to pioneer a homeschool student’s involvement in our local schools.
Through our involvement in school systems, I have really appreciated that there are some really amazing educators in the system. I have learned so much from their examples and I am thankful that we have great people in the system that can help the kids that are there.
Unfortunately school systems are overloaded with mental health, discipline issues, and health problems. School teachers and staff are not always trained or prepared to deal with these special cases.
And even if an educator is the very best at what they do, they can never know your child’s needs as deeply as YOU do.
Homeschooling has given us freedom to allow our kids to learn at their pace, recognizing their individual learning style. It has allowed us to spend more time in nature and learning about the outside world. We have spent hours and sometimes the majority of our day in the sun and fresh air. Some of our favorite memories of homeschooling are the days we went on a field trip. Homeschooling has allowed our kids to eat homemade meals eating food that we know is more nutrient dense than the average school lunch. All of our kids have spent HOURS in the kitchen learning to cook for themselves as well as all the other home skills that go along with meal times. Homeschooling has also allowed for so much more family time with extended family. We’ve taken extra days to visit grandparents and aunts and uncles.
Homeschooling reflects a more holistic way of living and learning and compliments the GAPS lifestyle naturally!
Homeschooling is a CRUCIAL decision to make if you have a GAPS child. I think it is the BEST decision you could make. If your family is considering homeschooling, I believe that any family can do it. And I would love to support you as you navigate the planning process.
That is why I am developing an online course for families that are choosing to homeschool, especially for health reasons.
This course will be available Summer 2024 and will be a wonderful preparation course before the beginning of the next school year.
Topics that will be included in this course will include:
Learning Styles
Homeschooling Styles
Choosing Curriculum
Family Rhythms
How to teach with multiple ages
Other considerations like Dual Enrollment, Online Classes, and Homeschool Cooperatives
If you would like to receive updates for course details, please use the form below to be added to the email list. I look forward to hearing from you!
