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“The education of even a small child, therefore, does not aim at preparing him for school, but for life.” – Maria Montessori (link here)
“I’m thinking of homeschooling my children, but I don’t know if I have the patience”
“I would homeschool my kids, but I do not even know how to get started”
“How am I supposed to know what curriculum to use?”
“Is it possible to have a real routine if you do school at home?”
“What if my child gets behind?”
“Do I really have what it takes to homeschool my children?”
You’ve heard the questions. You know the excuses. Maybe you even know your own tendencies, fears, and questions. Homeschooling isn’t easy, and we do not claim that it is. It’s not. Homeschooling takes a lot of effort, energy, and determination if it is ever going to work for you and your family. In the past, I wrote a post about “What it takes to homeschool” (Link HERE). Though there are many challenges that come along with homeschooling, I think it is also important to consider some of the benefits of homeschooling.
1. Control over what your kids are learning – Homeschooling curriculum/perspective
For some, this benefit is one of the most important of homeschooling. You get to choose what your kids are learning. If you want to blend different curriculums together, you definitely can, but you are also free to find one that you love and just stick with it entirely. You get to decide if they take hand-lettering for an elective or woodworking or singing or baking. You get to choose what books they read for book reports and how they present the book reports. Additionally, you get to choose the supplemental resources for each and every class they take.
If this level of independence almost seems daunting or frightening to you, don’t worry. There are so many resources to help guide you in the right direction if you prefer to follow a more strict form of homeschooling. Using only one curriculum can also help with working through this overwhelm.
With that said, not only do you get to choose which curriculum you are going to use to teach your kids, but you also get to choose which perspective you teach that curriculum from. If you are a Christian, you probably want the curriculum you use to come from a perspective that is aligned with your values. On the other hand, you can also use different resources as conversation starters so that you can talk through things with your kids such as current world events or even various principles.
You are in control of what is presented to your children along with the perspective that the information comes from.
2. The integration of education and family life
Since your babies are with you for the whole day, you have the liberty to integrate their education into your entire family life. For example, their morning routines can be used as tools to put into practice some of the things you are learning in school like how to tell time, how to tie their shoes, or even how to make biscuits. Or, maybe you want to watch a movie together that is based on a true story about a historical event that you are learning about. Additionally, your morning basket could directly correspond to what your kids are learning in Sunday School at your church or what you are covering together in family devotions at night.
You have the ability to make their education directly linked to every other part of their life, rather than an isolated part of their day. The possibilities related to integration are truly limitless!
3. Time with your kids
This point may seem completely obvious, but I still think it is worth noting as we talk here about the benefits of homeschooling. Homeschooling gives you so much more time with your kids, time you will never get back. You get to be a part of every milestone they reach whether that be learning to read or solving their first algebra problem on their own. As it has been said, you only have 18 summers with your children before they are adults. That said, you also only have 18 falls, winters, and springs. Homeschooling allows you to spend more of that time with your children.
4. Flexibility
Flexibility is a benefit of homeschooling that is probably one of the more commonly known. You get to choose when and how you do school. Would you rather your kids get done all of their schoolwork in the morning so that they have the afternoon to do other things? Maybe you would like your kids to do four days of school in any given week and take one day to explore nature. Alternatively, maybe you would like to do school all year long rather than taking the summers off so that you only have to do two hours of school every afternoon. You get to choose! You have the liberty to design your homeschool the way you think best fits you and your family.
With all of that said, if flexibility is not used effectively, it can also be one of the greatest challenges of homeschooling. Having flexibility while educating your children does not mean that you never do school. For many homeschoolers, it can be incredibly tempting to keep taking days off when it is inconvenient to do school. For that reason, flexibility must not be abused within our homeschooling routines.
Flexibility in our homeschooling is a tool to be used and a liberty to be enjoyed, but it is not to be abused to the extent that routines and at least some form of structure do not exist.
5. The ability to cater to individual learning styles
For many, this benefit of homeschooling is the clincher. As we know, each child is different, and each child learns differently. Children are going to have different struggles and strengths when it comes to learning. For example, one child may really struggle with math while another is challenged most by writing papers. Because every child is different, we consider being able to cater to each child’s individual learning style and challenges to be one of the many benefits of homeschooling.
With that said, we also have the ability to cater our learning approach to each child’s individual learning style. For some, videos will be the most effective way to learn, but, for others, reading may be much more powerful. Homeschooling is an amazing way for parents to be able to cater to each individual learning style of their children.
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As was said before, homeschooling is not something that will be easy. In fact, homeschooling can be extremely difficult, but that does not mean it is not worth it. There are so many benefits of homeschooling your kids! We have only scratched the surface, today, and I sincerely hope that this post has encouraged you wherever you are in your homeschooling journey.
What is your favorite homeschooling benefit?
Let me know in the comments below!
Until next time
