Have you ever considered homeschooling your child? Thanks to the pandemic, homeschooling has become more common, and so has the curiosity about it. The negative stigmas of the concept have started to diminish in the last few years, and there are so many good reasons to give it more thought if you are on the fence about it.
Here are the top ten benefits of homeschooling:
1. Time Together
You will never regret spending that much time with your kid. The years are short, and the school years are shorter. Homeschooling allows you another opportunity to make memories.
2. Child-Led Learning
Your kid won’t fall behind or get bored if something is “too easy.” You go at their pace. Need to revisit a subject? No problem! You can focus on that before you move on to the next concept. Your first grader wants to try multiplication? You have the freedom to try that without any consequences. One-size-fits-all learning doesn’t work for everyone, and that is a beauty of homeschooling.
3. You Get to Witness Breakthroughs
Remember seeing your baby walk for the first time, or hearing them say “mama”? Now imagine that same feeling when you see the lightbulb go off in their head because phonics has finally clicked, and they are now reading! Best. Feeling. Ever.
4. Diving Deeper into What Your Kid Loves
Is your kid an art lover? Are they very good at math or writing? Does your kid love ancient history? With homeschooling, you have the freedom to dive deeper into subjects your kid really loves, or take it to the next level with different resources.
5. Learning Doesn’t Just Have to Happen at Home
We’ve spent time at the Henry Ford Museum, Cranbrook Institute of Science, local farms, and parks. Walks and hikes can be spent looking for things that coincide with science or other subjects covered that week. Do you own a business? Your kid can also dabble into entrepreneurship or gain some real-life experience.
6. No Bullying or Drama
When we are learning and focusing on school, my kid is not mentally engulfed in the social dramas that can happen at school. You can stay focused, and the lesson will be absorbed without the stresses or anxiety of the latest drama that happened at lunch or recess. Distractions can be kept away.
7. We Can Take a Break
We all have had bad days mentally at work where we show up with poor attitudes and can’t focus on our jobs. Or, we have something heavy on our minds. We are human. It happens. Same thing with kids. Kids have bad days at school.
If we are having a bad day or struggling with our schoolwork, we can take a day and spend it at a park or outside. Or even doing something we love, like art. The next day, we are ready to tackle our lessons and work.
8. Awesome Co-Ops
Because of homeschooling, we have met so many wonderful families and communities that homeschool. I have a team of other moms that I can turn to when I am frustrated with my kid, or even doubting myself!
My kid also gets that “social interaction” that everyone instantly jumps to when they hear the word “homeschool.” There are even national co-op programs that cover subjects such as science, history, geography, Latin, art, and some math concepts.
9. The Love of Learning is Easier to Cultivate
As a parent, you know your child best. You know their strengths and weaknesses. Homeschooling parents know how to present learning material to their kids in a way to keep them motivated, engaged, and curious (you will figure this out, I promise). Since you have the ability to go at your child’s pace, you can easily cultivate a love for learning because he or she is not competing with peers or deadlines.
10. Your Child Won’t Be Left Behind
Some kids might not speak up if they are not comprehending a concept, especially in front of their peers. With homeschooling, my kid feels safe to ask “dumb questions,” she has the freedom to get frustrated, and she has the space to try again at her pace. There aren’t any deadlines to be met where a concept or idea has to be mastered. Are phonics or multiplication a weak spot? The good news is, you know that, and you can take the time to work on it until your child is proficient at that skill.
Along with these awesome benefits of homeschooling, there are so many resources and support groups on the internet for any parent thinking about taking the leap into this learning lifestyle.
