The stress of getting up early in the mornings, packing lunches, getting to the bus stop, fighting car lines, or attending PTA meetings and parent conferences is the norm for moms of public school kids. Compared to that, homeschooling is relaxing!

Now hear me out. Almost immediately, you probably thought “Homeschooling is NOT relaxing! She’s crazy and she’s spreading lies about the truth of homeschooling!” I know you did, because I thought the same thing when I was typing my intro to this post. Homeschooling isn’t truly a relaxing choice to make. We homeschool moms work hard day in and day out making sure our children are educated, socialized, and entertained. Not to mention the other tasks we may also have to attend to during the day, such as homemaking and financial management of the household, and possibly even working a part-time or full-time job. It’s not very relaxing.

However, you have to admit that the alternative doesn’t sound any better. At least we get to stay at home if we don’t feel like going out one day. At least we aren’t held down to the demands of a public school calendar and schedule. And we can stay in our pajamas all day, or even sleep in whenever we feel like it. And homework doesn’t exist. Neither do research report deadlines or Science fair projects if we don’t want them to.  Parent/teacher conferences occur over dinner or during the break in between TV show episodes when watching Netflix at night. Field trips are not rushed and overcrowded, and the kids can actually stop at an exhibit and fully take it in if they find it particularly interesting. Breakfasts and lunches can be eaten hot and fresh, not cold or mushy. Fresh air and sunshine, and unscheduled hours of outdoor exploration can be a normal occurrence instead of a standards-driven 30 minute block of health/PE time.

So one of the reasons I homeschool is because it IS relaxing. I have seen the other side of the coin (I used to be a public school teacher) and I know that it’s not so shiny. Homeschooling my kids allows us all to relax in the sense of not having to meet outside demands and schedules, and being able to do things when we want to, and how we want to. To me, that’s relaxing.

In what ways is YOUR homeschool RELAXING?

This post is part of my “ABC’s of Why We Homeschool” series. Go check out the other posts now!