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Top 5 Benefits of Homeschooling


Over the years I have worn many hats, and one of them is as a homeschooling parent. My family and I are now at the end of our homeschooling journey as our son is off to university in August. So, with the perspective of someone who has invested a lot of (literal) blood, sweat, and tears into homeschooling, here are my top five benefits of homeschooling:


  1. Flexibility


Flexibility comes in many forms. First, here is the flexibility of time. If your family is taking a vacation in September, you can postpone homeschooling until you return and then extend your school year out into the spring/summer. If your teenager is not a morning person, they can do school work until late into the night and not have to wake up at the crack of dawn. Or perhaps the cello teacher can only have private lessons before 2pm. If you were in traditional school, this would be a problem, but as a homeschooling family you have flexibility.


Secondly, there is the flexibility of curriculum. Of course you should be aware of state standards and working to meet them, so I'm not proposing eliminating algebra from the curriculum. But if you want to devote school time to learning about the life cycle of plants by growing a garden, there is time for that. Or maybe you want to include study of your family's religious tradition, you can make room in the curriculum for that.


2. Time with kiddos


It's a joke that I've told hundreds of times over my family's homeschooling journey: What's the best part of homeschooling? Time with your kids. What's the worst part of homeschooling? Time with your kids.


Recently at a dinner party a friend asked me what the best memory I have of homeschooling is. I didn't miss a beat: It was snuggling with my son in a comfy chair after lunch with a pile at least two feet high of picture books to read. My six-year-old son, who was a whirling dervish and had more energy than a cheetah, could easily sit for an hour or more and read picture books together. This time spent sharing books with him is time we wouldn't have had if he were at school all day.


There is also the luxury of time when it comes to mastering challenging skills. Perhaps you have a kiddo who is struggling with long division. As a homeschooling parent you have the luxury of taking all the time that your child needs to teach and reinforce that skill before you move on to the next math skill. If the child were in a traditional classroom, the teacher needs to keep to a schedule and if a student hasn't completely mastered a skill, then the teacher needs to move on regardless.


3. Give attention to kiddo's strengths and weaknesses


Building on the point above, you can give time and attention to areas where your child might be struggling. Additionally, you can give time and attention to your child's strengths. Perhaps your kiddo has a knack for drawing. Instead of one block of art class per week in traditional school, you can allow for drawing time each day. Or maybe you have a kiddo who is a creative writer. Most ELA teachers (raising my hand) wish they had more class time to devote to creative writing, but we don't. As a homeschooling family you can search out writing circles for your child either virtually of in person. You can help your child refine a work that they're most proud of and self-publish. Homeschooling allows the room for your child to grow in whatever direction is right for them.


4. Every day is PJ day


...well, not every day, but many days. From the time my son was very small to well into his high school career, we loved "P" days. These days originally started as PJ days--days where we didn't have any demands outside of the house, so we could stay in PJs all day. They quickly grew to be "P" days where we ate pancakes for breakfast, practiced piano, at peanut butter for lunch, painted, practiced printing...you get the idea. Don't get me wrong, I know that PJ days at traditional school can be fun too, but at home they have a coziness factor that is second to none.


5. Pride in your family's accomplishment


Having just come through the bruising process of college applications and acceptances/rejections, I can finally take a step back and feel real pride in what my family accomplished in our homeschooling journey. Does that mean that every day was pure magic? Absolutely not! But we worked together to create an education that was right for our son and our family as a whole. Our goal was for our son to attend a competitive university, and he leaves in a few weeks to begin that journey. Whether you're homeschooling for one year or twenty, you can take pride in venturing off the traditional path and finding the road that is best for you.


Are you a homeschooling family? What do you see as the benefits of homeschooling? Please share in the comments.



 
 
 

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