7 children and 23 years later, Bill and Tammy Wood remain big believers in home schooling.
The Woods began “home schooling for convenience.” But soon after sending their second oldest daughter, Lucinda, to a private school for her 8th grade year, the Woods realized home schooling truly provided the best educational option for their family.
Speaking of Lucinda’s year at private school, Bill explains that “it was one of the most frustrating years. It was so constricting.” Lucinda swam competitively, and found that the private school lacked the flexibility for her busy competition schedule.
So the Woods decided to return to home schooling…and never looked back. “It’s been great,” Tammy says. “The time that Bill and I got to spend with our oldest daughters in high school was fabulous.”
After their two oldest daughters headed for college to become teachers, the Woods made the life-changing decision to adopt 5 more children. And they never doubted how to educate them: “Home schooling is what we do,” says Tammy.
For their new children, home schooling indeed provides the best option because of the individual attention Tammy can give each of them. “They had no English skills at all. Imagine putting them into an American middle school having only three months of English, and no understanding of Western culture. That would have been awful!” Home schooling allowed the Woods to “bond as a family,” and “better help the kids gain English skills.”
Home schooling provides other benefits for their family. Bill’s strenuous work schedule makes having family time difficult, but home schooling gives their family flexibility to work around his schedule. This has created a tight-knit family dynamic that they love.
Tammy also expresses that “home schooling has been a blessing to push each student to their full potential. It allows us to send everyone out successfully. It’s exciting to see them meet their potential!”