Reasons NOT to Homeschool
There are many reasons why you should homeschool, but what about the reasons NOT to homeschool. Here are some valid reasons you should not homeschool.
Reasons You Should Not Homeschool Your Children
If you don’t like spending a lot of time with your children.
Homeschool requires many, many hours of being with your children. If you don’t like spending time with your kids, but value your relationship with them, please don’t homeschool. You’ll be with your children at least 4 hours per day instructing them, reading to them, teaching them skills, and disciplining them. Then, you’ll be with them the remainder of the day if you don’t have extracurricular activities lined up for them to participate in.
Here’s the deal, parents are different. Some were meant to be stay-at-home parents, and some weren’t. Believe me, there’s no judgment here. There are some days I wonder about myself. The trick is to know what kind of parent you are and embrace it.
If you think your house must be clean ALL THE TIME.
Um, yeah, that’s not happening. And, if it is, your kids are bored. There are times when it can be clean, but those mostly include naptime and bedtime.
Any given day of the week, there are crayons to be put away, paint on the dining room table, a Lego lab in my living room, rocks that NEED to be identified, and several, uhem, disgusting messes science projects happening at once in my son’s bedroom.
We have a routine to keep things manageable, but I gave up the dream of having a spotlessly clean home several years ago. Our home is lived in, my kids are happy, and school gets done. Those are the things that matter. Everything else waits until we have, or make, the time.
Not getting a lot of time to yourself.
This one ties into the first reason, not to homeschool, kind of. You’re spending a lot of time with the kids, but not a lot of time to yourself. Now, there are ways around that, but you must have support for them to be achieved. If you have a supportive spouse, you may be able to run away for a few hours on Saturday afternoons. You could also make sure you go grocery shopping alone when the other parent is available to stay with the kids. Both of those examples are things I do for my mental health.
Thankfully, my husband gets it. He knows I’m a better me when I have a little downtime away from the kids.
Because you think it’s the popular thing to do.
Homeschooling is serious business. If you’re wanting to homeschool because you think it’s the popular thing to do, or because your friends are doing it, you might want to reconsider.
If you look up “homeschool” on Pinterest, you’ll see a whole shebang of wonderful ideas and magical-looking experiments. You might even think, “Oh, there are so many people homeschooling, maybe I should too.” Hold up there, Sally! There are many, many fun projects that you could do with your kids that don’t have to be homeschool related. You could do them and still have kids in public school.
Most homeschool parents feel like it’s a calling on their life and not a free entry into a popularity contest. Odds are, if you’re homeschooling to be popular, you won’t be homeschooling long.
If you have a mental illness.
According to a study from the National Institute of Mental Health, one in five adults in the United States lives with mental illness. Not all of those are coping well. If you’re someone with a mental disorder, you should speak to your doctor about your decision to homeschool. Decide together, with your spouse, if this is a good choice for your family.
*There are varying degrees of mental illness and some sufferers function just fine, unfortunately, some do not. The people I’m referring to, that should not homeschool, are the ones that do not or that are unable to manage their illness well.*
There are other reasons not to homeschool your kids, these are just my top five. Click here to read the Reasons We Homeschool.
If you aren’t already homeschooling, you can find out more by reading How to Homeschool in Tennessee. I also have a free ebook for you. It will walk you through all the steps to help you get off to a great start. You can grab it below.
