There was a time when home schooling was done by a few weird people. But the pandemic hit and suddenly many people were forced into home schooling. Some loved it and decided to carry on while others hated it. Let’s be honest, it is always easier to enjoy something when you choose to do it but regardless of how you got there, there are many benefits of home schooling.
Convincing my Husband
I remember the first conversation I had with my late husband about home schooling our youngest daughter. He thought I was mad, told me I would never be able to do it and his main concern was discipline. Coming from a very rigid, disciplined background, he felt private school would teach her discipline, starting with polishing her shoes every day. Of all the things he could be concerned about, that was his thing…
Thankfully, hubby hated school as a child and it didn’t take too much effort to convince him. After all, there are so many benefits of home schooling, I new he would see the light.
Here are 10 Main Benefits of Home Schooling I Love
Personalized Education
Think back to your school years. How much of what you learned in school do you remember and use today? For most people we remember very little.
Firstly because you had no interest in the subject that was taught and simply relied on short term memory to pass a test. Secondly, you might not have been developmentally ready for that subject or lesson at that time.
When you home school, you can adapt what your child learns according to your child’s needs and interest. There is a vast amount of resources available and whether you are unschooling or following a fixed curriculum, you can always adapt according to your child.
Better Socialization
Yes, I said it. And I have to mention socialization as this is the number one question I am always asked. How will your kids socialize? So let’s get clarification.
Home schooling does not mean you are locked in your house a way from civilization for the rest of your kids childhood. In fact, it is very possible for your kids to socialize more than a child going to school ever will.
My kids go everywhere with me. They are introduced to people from all walks of life and get the opportunity to talk with a wide variety of people.
Being out, means you make friends. My youngest made best friends with kids she met in a park. And the mom became one of my best friends too.
You can search any social media platform and you will find a plethora of home schooling groups in your area. From arranging educational outings to a get together picnic, you are never short of opportunities. In fact, at some stage I had to back down on socialization. It was too much.
Flexible Schedule
You don’t have to plan your life around school holidays. Impromptu holidays are always the best and you can take them when you want to.
What happens when Mom is sick? No stress, you can always catch up on the school work another day while mom takes the day off and stay in bed. It is easy to swop your days or even weeks around.
Learn Everywhere
When learning gets normalized as something you only do in a classroom, you get conditioned to switch off outside of the classroom. It is such a pity as there is so much more to learn outside of those four walls.
You can learn basic maths and science through baking, learn reading just about anywhere and budgeting while shopping. Hands on learning is available everywhere you go.
Everything is a learning opportunity and if you keep it natural your kids don’t even realize they are learning.
Building Family Relationships
I am not going to lie. We bump heads. Being together most of the time does have its challenges. But at the same time you have so much more opportunity to bond with your child. I learned to become flexible and let go of most of the rules I used to follow from school.
I have so many fond memories of those early years of home schooling when we did morning reading. Every morning I read to my kids. Or we had tea time poetry (inspired by Julie Bogart from Brave Writer) with delicious home made cookies and tea in fancy teacups while reading children poems.
On a cold day, stay in your pj’s and curl up in bed together while watching movies together. Your kids will always remember the time you spent with them.
No Bullying
We all know what a big issue bullying is in schools. I believe, part of this is the unnatural environment of a school setup. But we have also experienced bullying in the home school community. You will never get away from it.
Bullying while you are with your child, is a different experience though. When someone bullies my child, I am around. She can come to me immediately and ask for advice on how to handle the situation. Or maybe she needs a should to cry on before she moves on and I as a parent, I am there for her.
The point is, when bullying happens, there is a lot more control and you as a parent can teach your kid the skills you like them to have. You can teach them how to deal with the bullying while in a safe space.
No School Run
My youngest child is fully home schooled. She never went to school. My older two was home schooled for the last few years of high school. Taking them out of school opened my eyes to new possibilities and gave my youngest the opportunity to home school from the start.
I also realized how many hours of my life I spent doing school run. It is not only the school run itself. It is everything that happens before that too.
I don’t miss the early morning rush to get everybody ready. Being able to wake up in the morning and spend time with my kids without the rush is priceless.
No Homework
My sister doesn’t home school. She complains ALL the time about the amount of homework her boy gets and how much time it takes up every night. I don’t miss that at all.
Home schooling means you learn to understand and if you don’t understand today, you carry on tomorrow. You don’t need to complete sheets of extra exercises so you can get graded on it.
You simply carry on with the same lesson until you understand it. As far as I am concerned, that makes for much deeper learning anyway.
Deep Exploration of Interests
I have three kids with ADHD. Hyper focusing is a thing in my house. When they want to learn something, they go deep into the subjects.
Deep learning means they become experts in what they learn. And this is for all kids, ADHD or not. When you child learns something they love and there are no time boundaries, they learn passionately and become experts.
My youngest was 7 when she sewed her first dress on a sewing machine. It took time, much longer than for most people but by the end of it, she new exactly how to thread her machine, match the pattern and could proudly wear her own dress.
Home schooling allowed for her to focus on this one thing for days. She didn’t have to stop what she was doing to go learn something a grown up wanted her to learn. She could focus on her interest and become an expert.
Mom Learns Too
This is the best one by far. I am not a crafty person but I now can sew too. I also learned to bake blue pancakes… I learned science facts I never heard of before and tried a few new science experiments. Some worked, some we rather don’t mention.
In fact, most moms will tell you that while going through the lessons with their kids, they started to master subjects they were hopeless at in school. Especially subjects like maths and science.
And if you don’t feel like you want to learn a new subject, there are plenty of alternatives like co-ops, online teachers, other moms etc.
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Final Words
Home schooling has many more benefits than what I mentioned here. Families all have different reasons for choosing this option and the benefits will change depending on the family.
I have never regretted choosing to home school.
Thank you for reading this article and I hope this gives you insight into the many benefits of home schooling and will inspire you to build a stronger life with your kids.
