RIZ Homeschool

We are so excited to be starting our 5th year of homeschooling.
I love homeschooling and as a homeschooler I have been asked many times why we do this. Actually, not just why we homeschool, but there seems to be a list of questions that automatically pop into someone’s mind when they hear that you homeschool.
Questions like: Why would you want to do that? What about socialization? What about Chemistry? How can you teach them as well as a “real” teacher? How do they learn to deal with people that are different from them? The list goes on and on. Normally I enjoy answering questions on the subject, but occasionally I just feel like I cannot field one more “Aren’t you concerned that they are missing out on all the advantages of public school?”
Homeschoolers are showing up everywhere now. It is so exciting to see so many other families are taking a step and taking control of their children’s education. It wasn’t long ago and homeschoolers were labeled as fanatics, now it is becoming mainstream. No longer is socialization a concern because support groups are prevalent. Children that have been educated at home have excelled in S.A.T’s, in college, in the work force and more. We are educating our own children better than they can be educated in America’s schools.
Homeschool makes people curious. It makes them ask questions. As a homeschool mom, I love that. Questions are something I encourage in my children. I want them to ask whatever comes to mind when something interests them.
A very common question is “What exactly is homeschooling? What do you do?” Basically, homeschooling is parent directed education. In short, the parents take full responsibility for the education of their children. It’s that simple. Part two of that question asks what do you do. There are many ways to homeschool, and it means different things to different families. Some families recreate a school setting at home, complete with desks, chalkboards, textbooks and report cards. Other families choose Unschooling, which is more like child-led learning, where the children pursue their own goals and interests. Then there is everything in between. There are as many ways to approach homeschooling as there are families that do it. The wonderful thing about all this is that there are companies that supply all the materials you could possibly need for whatever method you choose for your family.
This year we are looking forward to some changes that we have made in our curriculum, and look forward to sharing our year with other homeschoolers and family members that don't live close enough to see what is happening in our home on a daily basis.
"And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as fontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates" Deuteronomy 6:7-9