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Why did we decide to homeschool?
If anyone had asked me before I had kids if I was going to homeschool them, I would have said, “No Way!”
Back then I had never even considered it, nor really knew it was a viable option.
I had grown up seeing and knowing about only one option, and that was public school, so of course, that’s what we were going to do! It was just simply the course of things, just like breathing and sleeping. That’s just what you do. Right?
My friend told me “You’ve got to read this!”
But then one day when my oldest was 3 years old, a dear friend of mine came over to the house with a small stack of stapled papers in her hand and said, “Myra! You’ve got to read this!…” and then proceeded to tell me who she had gotten the papers from and why she was so excited about it.
She handed me the papers and the cover page said something like “Utah Home Education Week – Basic Information About Homeschooling” and it was published by the UHEA, the Utah Home Educators Association. It was simply a few pages of questions and answers about homeschooling.
I read the cover and thought “Ugh… No way. She wants me to read this?!” I slapped an appreciative smile on my face and said a feeble, “Sure.”
So, out of respect for my friend…
Well, very reluctantly, but out of respect for my friend, I sat down that afternoon and began to read through it.
I had no idea what was happening to me at the time, all I knew was after I finished reading the entire thing, I looked up at my husband who was sitting across the room and I said, “I just got an answer to a question I didn’t ask. . . We’re supposed to homeschool.” He looked at me and thought for a short moment and then said, “OK.” (He had an aunt that homeschooled so he was familiar with it.)
During those 10 or 15 minutes of reading about homeschooling, something completely changed inside of me. I knew I now had a different path to take, and I was sure of it. Yet I knew nothing about that path!
My first question after I said, “We’re supposed to homeschool,” was “How in the world do you homeschool?!”
Well, that afternoon’s experience has led me on an incredible journey, one that I am and will be forever grateful for. It was obviously an invitation from the Lord to help my family learn and progress in a manner that he saw fit for us and our needs. It has been a total blessing to our lives!
So, since I knew nothing about homeschooling, I soon went to the library and checked out every book I could on the subject and began an intense study. These are the books I checked out: (There are many other great books that have been written since then, but these are the ones that were available to me in 1994! And before the internet was so big and strong! 🙂 )
Related Post: The Benefits of Including Games in Your Homeschool
“Dumbing Us Down” by John Taylor Gatto
(In my opinion, this is a must-read for everyone, whether they are considering homeschool or not.)
“The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook” by Dr. Raymond and Dorothy Moore
“How Children Learn” by John Holt


“A Homeschool Genesis: A Story-Sourcebook” by Cathy Gileadi
“Free at Last – The Sudbury Valley School” by Daniel Greenberg
Again, these are the books I grabbed off the library shelf and devoured, just so I could get some sense of what homeshooling looked like, and how to do it. There are several other books I’ve read since then but I’ll discuss those in other posts. These books were a great springboard into the homeschooling world.
Everyone who homeschools has their own story of how they came to this decision. They are all unique. But one common thread I seem to find among people I have talked to over these many years is that they simply felt it was the right thing to do. How about that. So many people are feeling the call to homeschool, and so much good is coming from it.
It’s not an easy journey. But it is oh, so worth it!
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I made this free printable of “15 Things to Remember When you Start Homeschooling” just for you. 🙂
Are you feeling any inklings to homeschool? If you’ve recently decided to homeschool, what is your story? I’d love to hear!
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