| The Benefits of Homeschooling |
| When you place your child within the school setting you are placing them with 27-30 other children in the classroom. You hope, when you drop them off at school, that they are going to get the attention that they need a deserve, that their questions will be answered, that they will comprehend what they are taught and that the peer pressure will not be too much for them. I am not saying here that some children will not thrive within the classroom setting, but I dont think that the school room is the place for all students. Its not the place for my children - they fare better at home where they can recieve one on one attention. They thrive where I can teach them in the manner that their brain works and not according to the dictates of the teacher. There are several different ways that a child or any other person for that matter learns. One is through doing, the other through seeing, another through hearing and yet another through all three. One teacher to 27 students simply cannot teach according to each individual students needs. It is impossible. My child was slipping through the educational cracks... she was finding certain things difficult within the classroom and not asking for or getting the needed assistance. The pressure to "look good" in front of her peers prevented her from asking questions in order to more clearly learn the concepts being taught. ~ At home, there are no set schedules unless you want there to be. If you have a sick day, then school resumes itself on a Saturday. If a child struggles with math for example, the concept is taught in different ways until her brain suddenly clicks and says "Oh I get it!". There is no time limit to which we must adhere when studying the Celts or reading the classics. Dive into it if you will and dont look back. If we are wanting to move forward in the historical period of study, we can go ahead and do so, but at the end of the day the Celts and their tales can still be waiting for us - since the end of the day for us is around 1:00pm - plenty of time to persue other interests. ~ Our days are as rigid or flexable as we choose. There are times when sitting down and learning is just not going to happen... children are excited about Christmas, the morning isnt going well, or other things cloud thier minds. Rather than sitting in a desk at school where they will retain little, if anything of what is being taught, we go for a walk. We do some art. Dance to some music in the living room. Later on in the day we come back to our math or spelling or science - when our brains are clear and ready to learn again. One of the most difficult things for our family to learn is that school at home is NOT SCHOOL. The rules are different here. There is no falling behind. We can bend the rules as it suits our needs. Some families wake up at 7 am and start school at 9 am. Others sleep in late and then start schooling after lunch. One family I read about schooled in the evenings because their father worked nights and this was when he was able to be with them. Throughout the afternoon they did errands etc and in the evenings before their father went to work they schooled and worked together as a family around the home. This schedule is not for everyone but it was working for them. Had the children been in school they would rarely have seen their father. ~ At home multiplication tables are learned while skipping on the front porch. Letters are learned using a big piece of sidewalk chalk, writing the letters on the driveway and squirting the A or the D with a squirt gun. Weights are learned in the grocery store while weighing fruits. Measurements are learned in the kitchen by baking cookies. Classic stories are read by the fire place with a mug of hot chocolate or cider. At home, the possibilities are endless. ~ When you teach your children at home, you can, to some degree control their outside influences and environment. Morals are taught according to your own beliefs and standards. Jesus Christ and God are the center of your teaching and your life in all aspects and not just on the weeknights and weekends when your child is not in school. You can teach religion according to your beliefs. You can pray every morning before starting school. You can pray everyday when you are finished the days work and before you move onto the other things in your life. ~ At home you have the freedom to teach what you want, when you want, how you want. You get to know your children better than you ever thought possible.. their hopes, their dreams, their desires. You can watch sibling relationships thrive. Your 11 year old will still play barbies even though she is 11 and all the other 11 year olds are experimenting with makeup. Your 3 year old will learn so much just by being near the older sibilings. To me, these things are the greatest benefits of all. |