The verdict is in. After a year of homeschooling we have decided to return to the public school option. I wrote recently about how difficult this decision has been and one that we take very seriously. I also shared just some of the beautiful aspects of homeschool which I will inevitably miss. With as complex as it is, here is a breakdown of some of the reasons why homeschooling isn’t the best choice for our family.

  1. I love our public schools. I always have. It’s the reason we moved here in the first place. We would have stayed in public schools last year if it weren’t for the pandemic. I know we are still in it, but the vaccines are out and things are definitely looking to be much improved from the past year.
  2. My kids learn better from a teacher- bottom line.
  3. They aren’t as social as they used to be. Hold up, because I know socialization is a biggie that people throw around in opposition to homeschooling and I am NOT saying that homeschoolers aren’t socialized. My two middle children have bonded and I love it, but they also have become so bonded that at times they were becoming exclusive and not opening up to other children at church because they had each other. We worked through this, but still they aren’t in any clubs, sports, or extracurriculars right now. So getting them back in school with friends (since it’s no longer prison level restrictions thank God) will be good for them.
  4. In public school they will have specialists to assess their needs. Each one of my kids have had various IEPs, IFSPs, and WEPs. I know ALL children are individuals and that’s the beauty of homeschooling, but I don’t have it in me to fight for these resources. I know that my children have special needs and I really value the extra set of eyes and expertise.
  5. Free tutoring. On the same note, if they do have struggles and need personalized help there are intervention specialists available to work with them. I feel a huge burden lifted knowing caring professionals are tracking their progress and will tell me if they see any red flags in learning and then HELP ME know how to help my child. This is a big deal for me because with one child in particular I am drowning with concern. I want to make sure they get all the help they need.
  6. Teachers can answer questions that I can’t. I am great at googling things, but I am feeling less passionate about the teacher role. I pray that my children will get teachers that are still passionate about theirs (Our district has a fantastic track record in this area).
  7. Public school is free. We have made some budget changes that leave us temporarily going from paycheck to paycheck. So I have almost no money to put towards curriculum, workbooks, arts and crafts, and other projects. Other than field trips, I know the schools are back to offering all of their cool learning tools so that makes me happy.
  8. My husband works from home and our house isn’t that big. This makes for a major struggle trying to keep the volume down on most of the day.
  9. Math is a HUGE challenge for me. It always has been. I don’t like helping with 4th grade math and I definitely don’t want to help with 5th. Right now my daughter is dividing, comparing, or converting fractions and decimals. Yesterday and today my husband had to swoop in a lot, which is hard because he has work.
  10. We feel God has given us a peace about sending them to school. That’s the biggest reason.

Last year we were prayfully led to homeschool and I don’t regret it. I KNOW that was the right choice for us and I was open to the idea that I may love it so much that homeschool would be my new calling. While I already mentioned all of the beautiful benefits of homeschooling I don’t feel it’s my calling, at least not right now. Last year we stepped out in faith to homeschool. This year we stepping out in faith again, but in a different way.