Reasons For Homeschooling

Reasons For Homeschooling

Reasons For Homeschooling,Reasons To Homeschool Your Children,Homeschooling is Good for Kids,Reasons Why Doctors and Lawyers Homeschool Their Children,Positive Reasons To Homeschool,

Why do parents homeschool? Have motivations for homeschooling changed over time? Are there different “groups” of homeschoolers? Scholars have traditionally divided homeschool motivations into two categories, ideological and pedagogical, but a growing pile of data suggests that parental motivations are often more complex and varied. In this brief we will look at various parental motivations and explore we know from both statistical and sociological data.

Because I THINK YOU CAN DO IT! 

1. Time For Kids to be Kids

Homeschooling allows our KIDS to be KIDS. They aren't confined to the same 4 walls every day (which kind of resembles prison to me).

They are free to explore, wonder, and create. 

They are free to get lost in play and magical worlds. 

I watched my son this week at his Classical Conversations Foundations class -- the class of boys was reviewing their memory work outside, through games and play. What better way to help children learn than to meet them where they are... not stuff them into a desk and have them read from a dry textbook. 

I'm so thankful my kids had rich childhoods, and I think homeschool is a large part of this.

Let your kids be kids.  Homeschool them!

2. Quality Curriculum

When you homeschool you can choose what you want your children to learn. 

I realize that some well meaning family and friends might know "that" homeschool family that slacks off in this area, but I know plenty of homeschooling families that put a lot of time and prayer into deciding what their children will learn. 

We have chosen a rich Classical education for our children and love to have a lot of literature in our home.

This week my kids have been reading The Old Man and The Sea, The Boy and His Horse, and The Golden Goblet. 

Gone are the days of the evolutionist science textbooks and the inaccurate, dry history books. 

You are able to expose your children to a wealth of beautiful knowledge when you homeschool.

3. More Time For Hands-On Activities

Because of the smaller class size (wink), homeschool kids can learn in quite a different way.

The volume of hands-on learning is amazing to me.

This week my son learned more about the zones of the ocean by creating a model of the zones. He researched, planned, created -- and then executed a presentation for his Foundations class.  

If my children were still in traditional school they would be crammed into a desk most of the day and would grow to hate school by the time 4th or 5th grade rolled around. 

Homeschooling allows us our children to learn in the way that best works for kids -- by DOING! 

4. Increased Family Time/Transmission of Values

Our family spends A LOT of time together.

This means we see the good, the bad, and the ugly in each other all the time.

We learn to be patient, forgiving, and kind. We learn to pull together through illness, tragedies, and celebrations.

My children aren't shielded from real life, and I'm thankful for that. 

Because we are together so much, my husband and I are free to instill our values in our children -- not DEPROGRAM them after they come home from school! 

We start each day with a morning time - devotions, fine arts, memory work, and more. This 30-45 minutes centers my kids and sets the tone for the day.

Hopefully this togetherness is instilling a strong sense of family and commitment in my children! 

10 Reasons You Should Homeschool Your Children

5. Increased Independence

Now that my oldest is in high school, I am starting to see this benefit of independence. 

She plans her entire week and then is responsible for turning in her assignments at the end of that week.  In her Challenge I class she is responsible for semester long projects. 

Having our home as a safe place to fail has allowed her to experience failure under our roof. 

She also takes two online classes, and is gaining the experience of reporting to and learning from other adults. These classes present the syllabus for the year and require her to do a lot of advanced planning. 

If she were in traditional school she would have teachers telling her what to do every step of the way, taking very little control of her daily time. I believe this is why so many college freshman have a hard time - because they haven't had much independence in the high school years. 

Homeschooling creates independent young adults. 

6. Reclaiming Your OWN Education

This is a purely selfish reason to homeschool your children.

I've learned SO MUCH through homeschooling my children.

This semester I'm tackling a very difficult music theory curriculum alongside my daughter, and I'm reading A LOT of great literature with her, too. (I just finished The Old Man and the Sea in preparation for a discussion with my daughter next week.)

Through learning the Foundations Memory Work with my son, I'm learning more than I ever did in my school career!

I never realized how dumb I was until I started homeschooling! 

7. Deeper Friendships

When it comes to friendships, we believe in going deep rather than wide.

My kids each have a few good friends, but not a lot of friends.

I'm totally ok with this.

As a homeschool parent I can guide my children through friendship issues, and I also know all of their friends' parents very well. 

We're teaching our children to be accepting, kind, and discerning in their friendships. There is very little teasing, bullying, or typical "friendship drama" in the homeschool arena.

Again - I think this is a myth of childhood -- that kids are just mean and there will be lots of hurt feelings and friendship issues as kids grow up.

Schools are NOT conducive to nurturing friendships, but HOMESCHOOLS are. 

10 Reasons You Should Homeschool Your Children

8. More Sleep and Better Health

Kids need sleep. Period.

Early school start times aren't conducive to kids getting the sleep they need (especially in their teenage years).

Better sleep leads to better health.

This has been one of the most unexpected benefits of homeschooling -- happier and healthier (and more well rested) children.

9. FREEDOM

We no longer live by the schedule of the public or private schools. 

We are free to take vacations or take advantage of special opportunities in the community as the need arises.

I heard a parent recently expressing concern because her child could only take two field trips per year in her public school. That was so sad to me... that kids have to be confined all day every day. 

Homeschoolers are free to go where they want, when they want. They are free to teach what they want when they want.

I do not take these freedoms for granted, and pray our country continues to support them. 

10. Life is Short

This one is simple.

Our kids are little but a short time. We need to savor each and every moment with them.

When my kids tell me they remember our Lewis & Clarke Expedition when they were little it does my heart such good. 

When we get enthralled with The Chronicles of Narnia and don't get off the couch for two hours we are creating lifelong memories. 

When we stop our homeschooling to go help a grandparent in need we are LIVING the values of a family.

One day soon my kids will be out of my home and living their own lives.

Reasons For Homeschooling

Homeschooling is Good for Kids

1. No continual comparison to other kids their age.  We all want to be accepted and liked.  Without the continual comparison afforded by being in school all day, 185 days a year, kids are more free to be themselves.

2. Limited peer pressure.  I don’t think we should put our kids in a bubble but I like being able to allow my kids the freedom from living under peer pressure day after day.

3.  Time to explore interests.  With the one-on-one tutoring style of the homeschool environment, kids are generally able to finish their studies much quicker – allowing more time for exploring interests.

4.  One-on-one teaching.  One-on-one teaching allows individualized instruction that meets kids where they are at allowing them to push ahead or stay back, if necessary.

5.  Lots of time to play.  I always say that young boys should dig for at least 15 minutes a day.  Seriously though, young kids learn SO much through play.

6.  Lots of interaction with adults.   This speaks directly to the issue of socialization.  Kids who are socialized by all ages, including adults, are exposed to much richer experiences.

7.  Lots of opportunities during the day.  No day is the same in the homeschool.  Taking field trips are a natural progression of the homeschool lifestyle.

8.  Learn at their own pace.  We homeschool with mastery in mind.  If a child misses half of their spelling words, we review them until they are learned rather than skipping ahead to the next list of words.  It is not uncommon to have a 5th grade homeschooled student in 5th grade in one subject and a higher or lower grade level in another subject.

9.  Outperform their peers on standardized tests. (source)  Not that I’m big into standardized testing, but this fact does impress the homeschool naysayers.

11.  Homeschooled kids tend to think more independently.  We want our kids to be independent thinkers, better able to discern truth.

12.  Individualized education means less boredom.  Not that my kids are never bored but teaching them in ways that they learn best do tend to keep their interests more than a dry textbook approach.

13.  Work for knowledge and not for grades.  We don’t give grades in the elementary grades.  We are working more towards laying a foundation for future learning than for performing on a test.

14.  Homeschooling methods often instill a love of learning. 

15.  Homeschooling encourages the growth of authentic social skills.

16.  Homeschooling allows kids to be sheltered from some {unfortunate} realities such as school bullies, weapons and violence, illicit sex and troubled kids.

Homeschooling is Good for Moms

17.  Can really know their kids.  This can sometimes be a bad thing in the sense that our kids’ character flaws tend to mirror our own flaws as parents.  Painful as that can be sometimes, being around our kids all day long does afford us a unique vantage point to view their hearts.

18.  Can teach with the methods that work for each child.  I am all about the freedom we enjoy as homeschoolers.  Varying our teaching methods is not only good for kids, it is good for moms, bringing more effective and enjoyable teaching.

19.  Can teach with real life.  It’s hard to raise animals in a classroom or to do many of the hands-on projects that homeschooled families have access to.

20.  Can teach with interest-led learning.  Completing the 3 R’s can be done fairly quickly in the homeschool, allowing kids to pursue their interests in the afternoons.  Our kids have bred animals, traveled extensively, pursued sailing, internships and careers long before they graduated from high school.

21.  Can relax and learn together.  In true one room school house fashion, younger kids learn alongside the older kids and many older kids are natural teachers of the younger ones.  This is indeed good for moms!

22.  Can observe kids’ talents.  The day-to-day time spent together as a homeschooling family allows parents to observe budding talents and interests at an early age.  I’ve already mentioned how the shorter school h0meschool day allows for more time to pursue those interests.

23.  Can observe kids’ faults and correct.  Spending all day together gives parents the unique {albeit tiring at times} ability to see and correct their kids’ character faults consistently.

24.  Unique opportunity to help form their character throughout the day.  I try to look at my kids misbehaviors as opportunities for character training.  We have lots of these opportunities!

25.  Forced to handle behavior problems so that the home is a peaceful place.  When I was a young mom, I yearned for time alone, away from my family.  Now, 24 years later, that myth of ‘me time’ has been blown away.  It simply does not help!  What does help is to face behavior issues straight up.  The result?  A more peaceful home.

26.  Able to be with kids all day and not leave them in someone else’s care.  I know that there are some amazing teachers out there – even teachers that are way more talented than me.  However, no one loves and cares for the well-being of my child like me.

27.  Can walk kids through difficulties they face.  Of course all parents are able to do this but helping kids within the more intimate homeschool community is awesome because like-minded parents can model conflict resolutions that really work.

28.  Experience the ‘firsts’.   Not only first steps etc, but reading their first word, losing their first tooth, and other life milestones.

29.  Stretches us to grow in knowledge.  I have learned so much from homeschooling my own kids.  Although I would be okay if I never had to teach another person to solve for X and Y!

30.  Stretches us to grow in grace.  Kids tend to mirror our own weaknesses.  Boy is this humbling!  Thankfully, with some humility, we can learn to bear with one another and grow in grace.

31.  Stretches us to grow in humility.  See above!

32.  No high pressure mornings trying to get everyone out the door to go to school.

33.  Kids’ fresh insights and ideals are inspiring.

34.  I am learning to appreciate the everyday.

35.  Seeing the lightbulb go off when your kids really ‘get’ something and knowing that it was you who taught them.

Reasons For Homeschooling

We’ve had our kids in both public and private schools, but homeschooling has turned out to be the best option for our family.  Here are 18 reasons why we have joined America’s fastest growing educational trend:

1)      We spend less time homeschooling each day than we used to spend driving.  With four kids in four locations last year (including a newborn at home), school drop-off and pick-up took four hours, on a good day.  We’d get home at about 4:30 and still have homework, music practice, sports, chores, dinner and bath to fit into the 4 hours before bed.  Now we spend about four hours per day homeschooling, instead of four hours in the car.

2)      We can’t afford private education.  Even on a doctor’s salary, private education has become unaffordable, especially for larger families.  Which choice would you make: save for college, save for retirement, or pay private school tuition?  Few families can afford for all three, and most can only afford one.  As educational debts loom larger for each successive generation, this financial crunch will only get worse.

3)      Our kids are excelling academically as homeschoolers.  Homeschooling allows us to enrich our children’s strengths and supplement their weaknesses. The kids’ education moves as fast or as slow as required for that particular subject area.  They are not pigeon-holed and tracked as gifted, average, or special needs.

4)      Homeschooling is not hard, and it’s fun!  We bought a “box curriculum” from a major homeschool vendor, and all the books and the day-by-day curriculum checklist came in the mail.  We have a lot of fun supplementing material through YouTube and online educational sites like Dreambox, Khan Academy, and others.  Our kids do about half of their math online.

5)      Use whatever public school services you like.  Need speech therapy, the gifted program, or remedial academics?  Homeschooled kids are still eligible for all these services.  Some homeschoolers come into public school daily for “specials” like art, music, PE, or the school play.  Your kids can even join high school sports teams once they are old enough.  Our kids are still in sports and scouts sponsored by their old schools.

6)      I like parenting more, by far.  As a mom of school-aged kids, I felt like my role as parent had been diminished to mini-van driver, schedule-keeper, cook and disciplinarian.  And there was no mercy from the schools– six minutes late for pickup and they’d be calling my husband at work, unpaid 5 cent library fine and they’d withhold my child’s report card.  Every day I’d unpack a pile of crinkled notice papers from three backpacks and hope that I didn’t miss the next permission slip.  I was not born, raised and educated to spend my days like this.  Now, I love being a mom.

7)      Our family spends our best hours of each day together.  We were giving away our kids during their best hours, when they were rested and happy, and getting them back when they were tired, grumpy and hungry.  I dreaded each evening, when the fighting and screaming never seemed to end, and my job was to push them through homework, extracurriculars, and music practice.  Now, our kids have happy time together each day.  At recess time, the kids are actually excited about playing with each other!

8)      We yell at our kids less.  Homeschooling forces us as parents to maintain a loving authority in the household.  We stopped spanking our kids.  You can’t get your kids to write essays or complete a large set of math problems if you don’t have their respect and obedience.  Spanking and corporal punishment establish fear, not effective, loving obedience.

9)      Our kids have time for creative play and unique interests.  Once my kids entered school, they seemed to stop making up their own creative play together.  They didn’t have time for creative play during their busy evenings.  Now they build forts and crazy contraptions, play dance parties, and pursue their own unique interests.  My eight-year-old has taken up computer programming and taught himself how to play the organ.  My six-year-old is learning to cook.

10)   We are able to work on the kids’ behavior and work ethic throughout the day.  My son’s poor work effort at school was nearly impossible to address.  The teachers didn’t have time to make my son repeat work they felt was average quality.  We wouldn’t see the work until days after it was completed.  Finally, we’ve been able to push him to his full potential.

11)   Get rid of bad habits, fast.  Dirty clothes dropped on the floor?  They used to stay there all day.  Now there is no recess until they are cleaned up.  I never really had the time to implement most behavioral techniques when my kids were in school.  I knew what I needed to do to get my kindergartner to dress herself, but it was easier to dress her myself then deal with the school complaining that she was improperly dressed or late.  Now, if she takes too long to get dressed, she misses out on free play time.

12)   Be the master of your own schedule.  Homeschooling provides a great deal of family flexibility, which is a tremendous asset for our busy family. For example, we save a lot of money on plane tickets because we have the flexibility to fly almost any day of the week.  Zoos, children’s museums, libraries, parks, etc., are far less busy on weekdays as they are on weekends.  Scheduling anything is eons easier—doctor’s appointments, piano lessons, vacations, etc.

13)   Younger children learn from older siblings.  For larger families like ours, even toddlers are learning during school time. Our four year old sits at the same table during school time as our six and eight year old.  He wants to do his worksheet, too.  Some of that math and phonics work rubs off on him, and he’s learning how to read.  When chore time comes, he asks, “What are my chores?”  And our one-year-old recently tried to clean a toilet.

14)   Save money.  Committing to homeschooling requires at least one parent at home for most of each day.  Although you may lose an income with this commitment, you save (a lot) of money since younger children don’t need daycare and older children don’t need private school.  We also save a lot of money on gas now that we drive less.  Many homeschooling parents still work part-time.  We pull off homeschooling because I work nights and my husband works part-time from home as an independent IT developer.  I know many families homeschooling on family incomes of 40-60K.

Positive Reasons To Homeschool

1.  It's fun.

As a homeschooler, I go on all the field trips, read all the book club selections, and make my own creations at the drop-in art program. For me, getting to play and learn with my kids has been one of the biggest benefits of homeschooling.

2.  I learn stuff.

I use homeschooling as an excuse to fill in the gaps from my own school days. Instead of memorizing dates, definitions, and formulas, we learn about interesting people from history, catch up on the latest discoveries in science, and explore the concepts behind the math problems. It's lifelong learning at its best.

3.  My kids enjoy it.

Every year I ask my kids if they'd like to try school. They've never seen a reason to. Almost all their friends homeschool -- which means they're around during the day to get together when their school friends are in class, football practice, band practice, or doing homework.

4.  It lets kids show their enthusiasm.

Most of the homeschooling kids I know have their own particular passions, areas that they can discuss like an expert. Very few of these areas -- modern art, Legos, analyzing horror films -- are the kind of things students learn about in school.

I know from my own school experience that having an offbeat interest doesn't win you points with teachers and other students. But among homeschoolers, it's what makes your friends so interesting.

5.  It introduces us to fascinating people.

One thing I learned as a newspaper reporter: you hear the best stories when you ask people what they love to do. As homeschoolers, we spend our days visiting people and taking classes with teachers who do it because they really want to, not just because it's their job.