Thursday, June 14, 2012

4 Reasons I Love Homeschooling

Many people are surprised when they find that I love to homeschool my children. They think I must be very organized. Or extraordinarily patient. Or frazzled beyond belief.

But they're wrong.

I've simply learned to embrace the benefits that come with homeschooling a larger family.

1. A more flexible schedule
For a few years when my older children attended a local Christian school, I had to have everybody up and out the door by 8am. Yes, even my little ones had to be scooped out of their warm beds, wrapped in blankets, and hustled into car seats. And I hated it.

Now that we are homeschooling, the littles can sleep until they awake. Teens can get the extra rest that their growing bodies need. Even Mom can get a little extra shut-eye after a restless night with a teething baby.

And if Dad has a day off in the middle of the week, we can take a day off, too. Talk about flexibility!

2. Less travel time
During our pre-homeschooling days, we left the house around 8:00 to take the kiddos to school; left again some days at 11:15 or so to pick up a kindergartner; and finally left around 2:00 to pick up the other two children at the end of the day. 

All told, we spent close to one-and-one-half hours shuttling between home and school each day. Now that we are no longer spending so much time on the road, it's easy to apply that time to learning activities at home.

3. Family trips instead of field trips
Homeschooling allows us to have fun and learn together as a family. It's just so much more enjoyable when our whole family can share the experience together. Of course, we still take advantage of every opportunity to enjoy a field trip with other homeschooling families, but even then, we're all together (except Dad, who works weekdays).

4. More time to learn life skills
Since my children are home with me all day, I have more opportunities to help them learn the skills they will use throughout their adult lives. Cooking, cleaning, child care, financial responsibility, grocery shopping, handling phone calls--homeschooled children are learning all day long.

There are dozens of reasons why families choose to homeschool--why do YOU love homeschooling?

4 comments:

  1. Those are four great reasons! I have learned that once you gain your footing in HS life is great! It would break my heart to give up my children to the school again.
    Jillian
    www.withjoyinourhearts.com

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    1. I totally agree, Jillian! I can't imagine sending my kids away to school again.

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  2. The first reason for me was this....how could I as a Christian father send my kids to a place (public school) where our biblical values are not merely omitted but down right rejected. We are actually homeschooling preschool as a trial run, through alpha omega horizons. If the HS option isn't for us, then I will send my kids to a good Christian school. We're pretty excited to start homeschooling.

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    1. The lack of respect for Biblical values is definitely the core reason for homeschooling. Everything else is just the icing on the cake, so to speak.
      Wishing you all the best in your homeschooling journey!

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