Why Homeschool?

Before being a stay at home mom, I was a teacher. When my husband and I found out we were expecting our first daughter, we talked about all of our hopes and dreams for her. We doled out responsibilities such as, Daddy will teach her how to drive and how to properly care for firearms, and I will teach her how to cook and make all of the decisions regarding her education. As Sophie got older, and was joined by her younger sisters, the responsibility for her education became a tall order, and the endless discussions about where to send her to school began to weigh heavy on me.

We discussed all of the options here in Arizona: our local public school (I hear great things about it), open enrollment to a different public school, private school, charter school, and of course homeschooling. We've talked a lot about public and private, some about charter and only a little about homeschooling. The truth? I've been looking forward to my children starting school in the hopes that I might get a little break!

As time went on though, it became clear to us that our options we fewer than we had once thought. Nonsecular private schools, such as a Montessori school, are expensive. We are an interfaith family (I'm Jewish and hubby is Christian), so religious schools were out of the question. I'm afraid that public school will bore my daughter to tears, and the charter schools are just too unreliable for us. We also have concerns about the content that is being taught in the schools. Even though my husband and I practice different religions, our values are the same and we both have a desire for our children to lead Godly lives, so it was important to me that faith-based character education be a part of our childrens' schooling.

In July I had the oppportunity to attend the Arizona Families For Home Education annual convention for free through their Parents of Preschoolers program. It was awesome. I was inspired, excited and convinced that homeschooling was the right choice for our family. Now, this doesn't mean that I don't have concerns. I have no idea how this is all going to work. I'm still wondering when I'm going to get a break. I'm not sure how this will affect our family financially (we've been counting on me going back to work once all the kids were in school), and can I really do this?? I mean, I can do this through 4th grade, but what about when the subjects get hard??
So here we are, dabbling in the homeschool thing before the girls are kindergarten age just to see if I can actually do this. And as has been my experience in all things, if this is God's will for our family, then I will be given everything I need for it to happen.