We love hearing stories from our homeschool parents! Here, Mary Beth, former Fairfax Country teacher and now homeschooling mom of six kids shares from her 17 years of homeschooling experience about why she homeschools, how CHESS provided valuable learning opportunities for the high school years, and—most importantly—what homeschooling has meant for her family.
When I am asked why I homeschool, my answer is always the same. I homeschool because I know that no one can understand the needs of my children better than me. I was a public school teacher in Fairfax County before having kids. I dedicated all I had to my adorable second graders year after year. However, I was disappointed to find that most of my job involved behavior management and teaching manners and social skills—not academics.
Each year brought different challenges and when I became pregnant with my first child, I knew in my heart that the public school was not where I wanted my child to learn. However, homeschooling was not on my radar.
I made the decision to leave the teaching profession. I loved to be at home with my new baby. When that baby was preschool age, I excitedly started to look at preschool options for him and was shocked at how expensive it was for someone to teach my child ABC’s and 123’s. I could do that myself!
So, I searched for different preschool programs and that lead to homeschooling resources. I then decided to start my own homeschool co-op and advertised it within a local homeschool group. For seven years I ran that co-op of 7-12 families that included programs for all the kids in each family. My children made life-long friendships, and so did I.
I have a Masters in K-8 Education, so I was very confident in my ability to teach through middle school. High school, however, was a great unknown and a bit intimidating! Since kindergarten we have used the same Catholic school curriculum, but I knew that I would not be able to successfully teach my high schoolers upper level math, sciences, and foreign languages.
Our homeschool curriculum allows for outside classes in those subjects, so I began the search for a good program. There were many great online options, but the traditional schoolteacher in me wanted them to have a classroom setting. I wanted them to learn from and be accountable to another adult that was not mom.
Thankfully, I found CHESS! Not only have my high schoolers enjoyed solid academic learning experiences, the community has been welcoming and supportive and they have made great friends. Having classes just twice a week is very similar to how college classes are and allows them to learn time management as they work to complete their assignments before each class.
It is reassuring and comforting to know that CHESS is there to offer the high school support and guidance I need. My first baby that motivated me to homeschool is now a sophomore at George Mason and is enjoying great academic success. My high school senior and sophomore daughters are currently taking classes at CHESS and I look forward to my younger three also participating in those classes in the future.
The best advice I can give to parents is to remember that as the parent no one will know or understand the needs of your child better then you. Homeschooling can be challenging, but when we approach the commitment with prayer, we are given the graces to be successful. Sometimes those graces come in the form of fellow homeschoolers who can offer support, guidance, and friendship.
We will not see the fruits of our labor every day because raising kids is a work in progress, but we will get glimpses of the wonderful people they are becoming under our guidance and hopefully one day, we will see that our kids have grown into successful, competent, and kind adults.
That is why I homeschool.
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