Newsweek came out today with a great article about homeschooling.
I heard talk of this article last week and have kept my fingers crossed that it would be favorable. Fortunately it shines a nice light on homeschooling, looking at different urban families and their approach to educating at home.
We choose to homeschool for a variety of reasons: We wanted to have control over our children’s’ education. We wanted family time. We wanted our children to be able to pursue their interests. We wanted to avoid the car pool lane at pick-up time.
One of the things that was not a (main) reason why we opted to homeschool this year was religion.
We are a family of faith. We have a strong belief in God and raise our children with that belief. Faith is an integral part of our lives.
However, it was not the force behind our decision to homeschool.
Surprised?
God is and will be a part of our lives, regardless of the educational decisions we make for our children.
The reasons this Newsweek article spoke to me was that it showed all the reasons one might homeschool. There were no pictures of moms in denim jumpers (have yet to meet a homeschool mom in a jumper, by the way). There were no discussions of separation of church and state. Rather the article highlights other reasons families homeschool. Spotlighting such reasons takes away the stigma (Read: The Denim Jumper Image) of homeschooling due to religion and shows that this method of educating is chosen based on a variety of factors.
Although, I did have to laugh when the article mentioned homeschooling to be “newly fashionable.” Who knew?
