A few picture reasons why I love homeschooling

Disclaimer:  Sibling time and family time is not only found in homeschooling families.  I don't mean to imply that it isn't.  It's just that by nature of being together all day long...they get more time together.

Time for sibling relationships to flourish.  Henry is pretty good at drawing and Elizabeth really wants to learn.  The two got together and decided that he would give her drawing lessons.  They are both enjoying them.

Time for field trips.  Sometimes.  I am making more of an effort to take my 5 youngest on some short/ free field trips while my 8th and 9th graders are at classes at a local co-op one day a week.  It's harder for them to take time off, but we will include them on one or two trips this year.
And, our field trips have a three-fold purpose. 

1. Education, at on this field trip they worked on identifying fish in a giant aquarium.
2. An escape from cabin fever.  While the 4 kids pictured here have daily recess outside, 15 mo old Abigail and I do not.  That's her nap time and my time to help the older kids without interruptions.
3. Family relationships...am I harping on this?  I have seen the kids pair up differently, get excited to show a younger sibling something they found, etc.  Our last field trip was to a nature center and they took great joy in showing things to Abigail.  We will invite friends to some of our field trips, that's just plain fun!  But we will definitely keep some for just us.

The following picture really has nothing to do with the joys of homeschooling.   I just thought it was neat.  I have no problem giving my children an A+ for a perfect score.  But I have always told them that there are no  A+'s  in handwriting because there is always room for improvement - it's pretty hard to turn in a perfect handwriting page.  But, Henry consistently turns in pages like the this one.  Yes, if you look closely you can tell which line he copied and which is freehand.  But they are pretty close!