Top 7 Reasons To Homeschool

Hindsight is 20/20. Every year we debate the merits of our past life as a homeschooling family. We go around and around regarding what's the best way to handle educating our children for a bright future. Sure, we all have the same concerns  about socialization. The foundation of all America's "isms" is lack of knowledge and wisdom regarding others. Teaching our children in our home only offers them us. It doesn't help them get to know any other way of living. That's tragic in a great nation like America where you can find so much life in diversity. That reality aside, there's much to be said for actively educating your own children. After all, schools are built on the premise of the factory model. High production and efficiency rates, with effectiveness being a by product, perhaps even an afterthought. At home it's a completely different story...yours! In fact, here are 7 fantastic reasons for teaching your kids at home.

1.) Focus on effective instruction. 

Smaller class size means you get to concentrate on designing a learning plan that fits each of your children perfectly. Even in a home with the largest of families instructional practice can fair better than in a large classroom setting. There's no need to have everyone do the same thing or even have the same schedule. You can tailor the day and every activity to fit each of your children's needs to maximize how well they learn the content.

2.) Create your own schedule. 

Regular public school begins at ridiculous hours. The ideal time for me would be a 9:30 start time. It comes off as ludicrous considering we're up at the crack of dawn as a public school family. That's to ensure we're not tardy for a 7:50 start time. But, there's much to gain when we begin just a little later. The extra time provides an opportunity for everyone to spend some quiet time reading or meditating, have a hearty breakfast, complete routine tasks, and feel ready to interact and engage with each other peacefully. The beauty of homeschool education is that every family can adapt to their ideal times and schedules.

3.) Projects have a purpose and a clear focus. 

Since my sons began their journey through public education, countless home projects have been assigned for them to complete with an explanation, plan, and list of materials. The problem is it ends up being busy work. It's ineffective because the continuity of the educative process is broken. They're learning to do a project, but many times the overall objective is lost. I find myself teaching the concept step by step and enriching the purpose so they walk away understanding its deeper meaning. If I have to do it anyway, why not be the one who is assigning the project and seamlessly connecting all the dots?

4.) No homework. 

I know schools mean well. And as a teacher I always assigned some homework to ensure students kept thinking about what they were learning and to keep families engaged in the process. Not to mention, the principal or district I worked for required it. Today I wouldn't dare. They're at school for hours only to come home and pour over the same material for hours. By then it serves as eyeservice to them. For 10 months of the year they don't get any time to concentrate on developing a skill in which they simply take interest without anyone telling them they have to do it. This is unfortunate. Yes, I am fully aware some kids don't have direct supervision when they get home from school. Accountability through homework is one way to keep them preoccupied with something other than TV, social media, and neighborhood shenanigans. But, perhaps giving students a list of great things to do afterschool and letting them choose would be more effective in helping them become critical thinkers and good decision makers.

5.) Fewer expenses. 

School shopping is evil... Too dramatic? Probably. But, impossibly long lists of school supplies that seem to grow with each passing year, intricately detailed dress codes, and supplemental fees for books and programs drain bank accounts and create an atmosphere of distress around what should be an exciting time for kids and families. Hundreds of children are going to embark on this one destination almost every day for several months. It's an expensive undertaking and socially challenging so I understand the need for all of it. Still, geez! Is that any relief? I would not be opposed to generous donors who maybe receive large tax cuts every year donating a fraction of that to help out with the supplies and material fees local schools are missing so that families don't end up paying this extra tax, which could easily be several hundreds of dollars.

6.) Awareness. 

When you are the teacher, the principal, the mom, and everything else you really know your kids. You have a keen awareness of your child's academic and social needs. During my son's first parent teacher conference I was devastated to see him dissolve into a mass of tears seeing an "F" in math, his second favorite subject. He completely fell apart.
It had been 8 weeks and even helping with homework and reteaching concepts at home couldn't stop him from failing tests and quizzes. It's heart wrenching to have your child come home with a low grade or a bad report. The tough part is you had no insight into how it all fell apart. Truth be told, teachers have more than 25 souls to look after all day. But you're only sending them that one. You hope they put as much care into their development as you would. The reality is they can't. There is no inspector for quality assurance at the end of every lesson. Kids go through the assembly line and we deal with whatever comes out at the other end.

7.) Flexibility. 

Homeschool families design lessons and units, but they're able to adjust at the snap of a finger. When a lesson isn't working they can stop and change it. When they want their kids to get a deeper understanding they can plan a field trip. Need to explore something in nature? Let's go. They're frazzled and having a meltdown...adjust and rework what you're doing. Family visiting from out of town? No problem, take a few days off to enjoy their company. Main bread winner has a few days off? Great! Let's stop "school" to create a learning opportunity that's off the beaten path while we can. The possibilities are endless.

Homeschool isn't for everyone. We stopped due to a confluence of many circumstances that made it too difficult to continue. It's quite an adjustment for those who have always sent their children off to school. But, there are a great many benefits that keep us engaged in major debate whenever the shine of a promising new school year begins to dull.