WHY WE AND OTHER FAMILIES HOMESCHOOL 

1) WHY WE HOMESCHOOL - THE HOWARD FAMILY, TEXAS

• WEBSITE: CHRISTIANHOMESCHOOLERS.COM
• FAMILY PHOTO:CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR PHOTO AND READ MORE ABOUT US
• SCURRICULUM WE ARE USING: Christian Liberty Academy School System (CLASS)  - Combination of Abeka, Christian Liberty Press, MCP, and others. CLASS is a complete program including official transcripts and testing. We also supplement alot!
• REASONS WHY WE HOMESCHOOL: We started teaching our son Brian when he was 4 years old primarily just to try. We had friends who were homeschooling their young children at the time and they seemed to be doing very well. By just doing 15 minutes a day of phonics, he was able to read and decode words on his own by age 5! He is now 13, we have been homeschooling for 9 years! My husband and I were both educated in the public schools and we did fine. However, the system has eroded and things have changed. While other parents struggle with their kids' learning disabilities and discipline problems in the public school system, we have been enjoying our son's academic accomplishment year after year with discipline issues kept to a minimum. We enjoy a lot of dedicated family time and interaction, there's nothing like watching Brian play gently with his 8 year-old brother Elijah! The flexibility of homeschooling allows us to take trips and vacations whenever we want. And as Christians, we believe that homeschooling is a perfect vehicle to pass our values and traditions to our children and teach them about our Lord Jesus Christ.

  (The Howards, Texas, December 2005)

2) THE LINKOUS FAMILY - VIRGINIA

• WEBSITE: N/A
• FAMILY PHOTO: N/A
• CURRICULUM WE ARE USING: Christian based
• REASONS WHY WE HOMESCHOOL: I homeschool my 7 year old son Ryan, for a couple of reasons, first  being I believe the Lord gave him to me and it is my job to give him an education not a public school system, I want him to grow up and learn in a Christian enviroment.  Another reason being Ryan has under -gone 5 open heart surgeries, and his speech is slow not his ability to learn, and he needs more one on one contact which he would not receive in a public school. The Lord was leading me in this direction long before Ryan was old enough to attend school, and I always try to listen and try to understand what the Lord wants from me, and teaching my son at home I believe is what I am suppose to do, after all it states in the Bible we are to be our children's teacher.

         (Cheryl & Carl Linkous, Ryan, Virgina, October 12, 2004)

3) THE SCHULTZ FAMILY - ILLINOIS

• WEBSITE: N/A
• FAMILY PHOTO: N/A
• CURRICULUM WE ARE USING:  living books;the charlotte mason approach
• REASONS WHY WE HOMESCHOOL: I,Molly, am a second generation homeschooler. My mom and dad schooled me alongside 5 other brothers and sisters. My husband and I feel that homeschooling our four children (at least until God blesses us with more!) is the best way to obey God's command to disciple our children.  Our oldest is just five and will be starting first grade in the fall.  It is true that homeschoolers are generally more advanced in academics but I feel that is just a side benefit. The greatest blessing lies in being able to love and nurture the children God has blessed us with.

        (Jeremie Schultz and Family, Antioch, Illinois, May 2004)

4) THE PARKER FAMILY - WASHINGTON

• WEBSITE: N/A
• FAMILY PHOTO: N/A
• CURRICULUM WE ARE USING: Quite a mixture, but all christian curriculum.
• REASONS WHY WE HOMESCHOOL: Our 8 year old beautiful twin girls were being abused by the bus driver. She closed the dooron Jessica as she was getting out of the bus and Jessica was just hanging there. Needless to say, we were furious because she was hurt and the bus driver didn't even check tosee if she was ok. She just dropped her on the ground and took off. My girls have alot of developmental disabililties: Jessica has mental retardation, ADHD, bowell and kidney and bladder problems,and a severe speech and language learning Danae has disability.Danae has ADHD and Tourette's syndrome. She had gotten kicked out of her class for her ticcing. Both girls had IEP's and they were not being followed. I was also being discriminated against by the school because of MY disabilities. I have neurosarcoidosis, which is alot like multiple sclerosis, I also have severe fibromyalgia and arthritis in my spine and all my other joints. I have to walk on forearm crutches. The bus driver had 38 comp! laints gainst her and they would not do anything to her!! We had had it. I had been thinking about homeschooling them for several months, and Kim had been thinking aboutit too. I approached him, and at the same time the word "HOMESCHOOLING" came out of our mouths! Well, the Lord was working in both of us and we knew it would reduce alot ofstress for the girls and us, as I was really tired of fighting with the school. We withdrew them, and 2 days later we had a 7.0earthquake here. We were so glad that the girls had been with us as they were sofrightened. But Praise God, not one thing fell over inour apartment, even though there were huge cracks in the concrete outside of our apartment. We are Catholic and believe that it is God's Will to educate our girls at home. We enjoy shopping for homeschool stuff. We've had alot of fun with science (Considering God's Creation) and the Liberty Nature Readers, Explode the Code, and Grace Publications Learn-at-Home publications, ! among alot of other stuff. We love watching Bill Nye The Science Guy everyday. We are having a fun and relaxed time. I love teaching them about the Bible and Praying, which is the priority subject above everything else. My husband and I love watching Joyce Meyer, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, and others. I was raised Catholic and was away from the church because my parents left it when I was a teenage, but have been doing alot of reading Catholic books, praying the Rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Kim was raised in New York and his Dad, who was a war hero, was raised most of his life in the area of New York City that was destroyed by the enemy. Our hearts were full of grief for everyone involved in that incident on 9-11-01.I would really like to get some buddies on line and especially hookup with other parents of disabled homeschooled children. Sorrythis is so long, and please excuse my typeboardingskills, I get alot of trermors. I send my love and prayers to ! you all. God bless you!

  (Kim , Leanna, Jessica and Danae Parker, Tacoma, Washington, September 30,2001)

5) THE OPPER FAMILY - WASHINGTON

• WEBSITE: OPPER.COM
• FAMILY PHOTO: N/A
• CURRICULUM WE ARE USING: Christian Liberty Academy Sattelite School (CLASS) as well as supplements of A.C.E. and Abeka.
• REASONS WHY WE HOMESCHOOL: We decided to homeschool initially out of the lack of tuition for another year of private Christian school. But from that, the strong desire to teach our three children godly character and values instead of just filling their heads with facts took over! We now have stronger relationships with our children as a result of homeschooling them. I don't think I'd ever put my children back in a private or even a public school again. The days of childhood are too priceless to just hand over to someone else to cultivate.

  (The Opper Family, Edmonds Washington, September 21,2001)

6) THE KLEPPER FAMILY - TENNESSEE

• WEBSITE: N/A
• FAMILY PHOTO: N/A
• CURRICULUM WE ARE USING: We use a variety of Saxon, Bob Jones and Abeka. I also buy several curriculum books from our local school supply store to keep things interesting as well.
• REASONS WHY WE HOMESCHOOL: why = I started out homeschooling because I always felt uneasy sending my precious five year old off to a cold public school every morning. I was having those feelings, I believe, because the Lord was trying to get my attention. Believe me, when I first realized I was going to be a home schooler I was scared to death. Not me Lord! Why me?! My son had been in public school since kindergarden, and was now in his first day of third grade in public school. I finally gave way to the Lord's direction. I drove to that school, had my son to gather his belongings, and six years later he hasn't been back since. We don't regret it for a single moment. If I could change one thing however, I would go back and never have sent him off to "school" to begin with. We have literally fallen in love with each other. There is a closeness that we never had before. I now have another son. He has never been in the public school setting, and has no desire to be. Our children are in need of us the most when they are young, but their youth is fleeting. I want to be there for every single moment.

  (The Klepper Family, Tennessee, September 2,2001)

7) THE CRAWFORD FAMILY - MARYLAND

• WEBSITE: N/A
• FAMILY PHOTO: N/A
• CURRICULUM WE ARE USING: Greenleaf history, Saxon math, Shurley grammar, "Good Science" science, Critical Thinking logic, Artes Latinae Latin, literary classics, lots of pick-and-choose supplements.
• REASONS WHY WE HOMESCHOOL: We researched homeschooling methods for several years after our first was born, and settled on a Classical Education and the Trivium--focusing on language, logic, and rhetoric. Using phonics, our son was reading at age 4 and reading at a 12th-grade level three years later (no kidding!). My husband was the son of two public school teachers, and although he wasn't sure about homeschooling he agreed to give it a go. It wasn't long before he was sold. At one point I wanted to go to graduate school and we started to enroll our eldest in a local Christian school with an excellent reputation--and ultra-high tuition fees. I wanted to put him in the second grade with the other 7 year olds, but the school counselor and principal were determined that he should start from kindergarten. Here he was reading National Geographic and Popular Science, doing multiplication and division, and conversing effortlessly with adults, and they wanted to put him into a class that was learning how to draw an "A" and struggling with counting to twenty--"for socialization purposes," they said. "Not on your life," I said. All three of our sons are homeschooled and are thriving, and I've never again been tempted to put them in a traditional school so I could focus on myself. This IS something for me--raising brilliant, well-educated, fine young men who will be extraordinary adults and a source of great joy! They get all the peer interaction they need from church and their neighborhood friends. We also are free in our schedule to adjust curriculum to skill level, and we can take wonderful field trips to exciting and interesting places any time we wish. And as we move around from one military assignment to another, I know their schooling is going to remain consistent. (By the way, we get comments wherever we go about how well-behaved, articulate, friendly, and polite our children are. I attribute that to the LACK of public-school "socialization"!)

  (The Crawfords, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, August 09,2001)

8) THE WEBB FAMILY - NORTH CAROLINA

• WEBSITE: N/A
• FAMILY PHOTO: N/A
• CURRICULUM WE ARE USING: We are using ABeka,Alpha & Omega and supplimentary materials.
• REASONS WHY WE HOMESCHOOL: We decided to homeschool our children, first of all God ordained the family not the school system! We are responsible for everything our kids learn (or do not learn).It is not the public school systems fault we are losing our young people.We gave our kids to them.Let us take them back to where God wants them to be. HOME!!

  (The Webb Family, North Carolina, April 10,2001)

9) THE WILD FAMILY - TEXAS

• WEBSITE: N/A
• FAMILY PHOTO: N/A
• CURRICULUM WE ARE USING: I am using " Love to Learn " material , Ace Math video w/workbooks ,Elijah homeschool material. I love a mixture of these materials and so do my children. I have made homeschool fun for my children by doing what interest them and not being so rigid in there studies.
• REASONS WHY WE HOMESCHOOL: I home school because I felt like my children were being controlled too much by the school system. I did not like some of the negative effects it was having on my girls. Also, when they had 2-3 hours of homework a night in the 2nd grade I figured why not homeschool them and that 2- 3 hours they can learn what they spent 6-8 hours in school learning.

  (The Wild Family, Texas, January 8,2001)

11) TELL YOUR REASON WHY YOU HOMESCHOOL, CLICK HERE!

 Related Page: What About Socialization?