There are so many benefits to homeschooling! If there weren’t, millions of families would not be doing it.
So just why are so many people opting to homeschool these days? The list of reasons is almost as long as the number of families homeschooling.
My youngest graduated last year, so I am now a retired homeschooler. Looking back over my family’s 16 year homeschooling journey, I can see at least 40 benefits of homeschooling that helped my children grow into the wonderful young adults they are today.
Closer family relationships. Even my grown children will tell you that the time we had together as a homeschooling family is what makes our family so close today. They acknowledge this as a major benefit of homeschooling.
Homeschooling takes less time. Actual book learning doesn’t take that much time. My children enjoyed being able to move on to the next thing without having to wait for the bell to ring.
Plenty of time for hobbies and free-play. Since school work can be completed quickly and more efficiently, there is time to pursue hobbies. Time for free-play is something sorely missing in many children’s lives, but free-play is time for them to build their imaginations.
Ability to move at your own pace. If you have a child who struggles with reading, but is a quick-study with math, homeschool allows them to move faster through math and slow down a bit through reading.
Plenty of time to sleep. I once talked to my son’s pediatrician about the fact that he wanted to sleep over 10 hours a day when he was around 13-14 years old. The doctor said, “Let him!” She encouraged us to take advantage of the fact that we homeschool and let him sleep through this major growth spurt. Turns out, teenagers need more sleep than 10-year-olds!
More opportunity to learn life skills. Being based at home more often means homeschooled kids have more time to help around the house… learning home repair and how to cook and clean. As a matter of fact, life-skills can even be incorporated into your school day as a class!
No dress code. For my own kids, having no dress code was a MAJOR benefit of homeschooling! No restrictions about pants vs. shorts, or t-shirts vs. school uniforms.
Ability to quickly change curriculum if it’s just not working. Public and private schools take FOREVER to change curricula. Committees are called. Research is done. Meetings are held. If you’re lucky, the curriculum that is not working for your child might get changed in 12-18 months. With homeschooling, you can borrow or buy something else and move on.
Vacation whenever you want. Honestly, it’s much cheaper to travel in January when everyone else is trying to re-establish routines after the holiday season. If you see a great travel deal in the off-season, you are free to jump on it. (Assuming you have the money.) Also, being able to just pick up and go visit out-of-state family at any time is a big benefit and an even bigger blessing.
Ability to take school on the road. Speaking of traveling… if you ever do want or need to go away, homeschooling can be done from anywhere!
Not having to fit your life into someone else’s schedule. This goes along with the previous two, but I cannot emphasize enough how not having to follow the school system’s calendar and class times is one of the single greatest benefits of homeschooling!
More time out in the community. Instead of being stuck indoors most of the day, homeschoolers are free to roam… the library, the grocery store, the parks.
More control over your life. You decide the when, where, how, and what of everything.
Not being micromanaged. My son, in particular, does not enjoy being told every little thing he needs to do. He was fine with me giving him a daily list, then going off on his own to do it. If he needed me for anything, he’d track me down.
Learning what you want to learn. If your 7-year-old is fascinated with volcanos, you can add that into your school day.
Documentary days. Sometimes as a homeschool family you’re just not feeling it. No need to force bookwork. Just curl up and watch documentaries for an educational day.
Ability to tailor educational methods to the individual child. Some children are auditory learners, while others are visual, kinesthetic, or reading and writing learners. Because of these differences, not one type of schooling works for everyone. The reader and writer would probably hate online learning, while the visual learner might thrive with online school.
Not having to deal with drama at school. Neither of my kids have any tolerance for drama and brick and mortar schools can be a HUGE drama fest.
No active shooter drills. ‘Nuff said.
Not having to catch the bus at 6:30 am. When my daughter decided to go to the local public high school, she had to catch the bus at 6:20 every morning. Then, she didn’t get home till almost 4:00 in the afternoon. After one semester, she begged to be homeschooled again. 🙂 For her, not having most of her day taken up with school and the commute was definitely one of the biggest benefits of homeschooling!
Home cooked lunches. Nothing beats fresh and homemade!
Ability to just go out to lunch. Close second to homemade is leaving the house to go to lunch… especially when you can call your homeschool friends to join you.
Not having to sit on hard, plastic chairs all day. Do schoolwork on the sofa, or bed, or the porch, or even on the trampoline.
Ability to take a day off and make it up whenever you can. No need to schedule makeup days at the beginning of the year. Just go with the flow.
Exercise breaks. When the kiddos can’t focus, you can take them outside and let them burn off energy whenever necessary.
Not having to go out in bad weather. No catching the bus in the rain. No need to warm up the car before the crack of dawn in zero degree weather.
Naps, if need be. If everyone is sluggish, you just declare a nap time for the day.
Doing school with your animals. The dog curled up by your feet while doing math lessons can add much needed stress relief.
Learning every inch of your public library. The library is one of the homeschool family’s greatest resources and you will know everything about it in no time.
Sick days are not a big deal. You can still have a documentary day or just take the day off and make it up later.
Ability to prioritize your child’s physical and mental health. Another of the major benefits of homeschooling… if your child is suffering in some way, you can give them all the attention they need while still getting some school done.
No teaching to a test. *mic drop*
Plenty of time to learn through play. Children learn best through play. And not just the young ones! Tweens and teens can also benefit from playtime.
Ample opportunities to learn how to learn. Many schools are stretched to the limit with requirements and standards. Most teachers have no choice but to spoonfeed their students. As homeschoolers, you and your children will learn how to find answers on your/their own.
Developing self directed learners. Letting your children take control of and responsibility for their learning produces life long learners.
Less peer pressure. Don’t be fooled, peer pressure exists everywhere, not just schools. Your children will have to deal with peer pressure at some point, but they will not be bombarded with it all day, every day.
More field trips. Do public schools even do field trips anymore? Another one of the absolute greatest benefits of homeschooling is learning through field trips.
Parents can learn (or relearn) along with their kids. Having to teach, tutor, or facilitate your child’s learning will provide you with your own education.
Homeschool children routinely out-perform public schooled children in academics. Even when families are not teaching to a test, their children still out-rank the public schooled kids on achievement tests and college entrance tests.
Potential for more well-rounded kids. When school-work doesn’t take up so much of their day, homeschooled kids can pursue other interests, get out of the house and see the world, interact with a variety of people of many different backgrounds and ages. This is how you create well-rounded children.