One weekend when my kids were waiting around in the car, I asked them a question. I wanted to know reasons why kids would want to homeschool. They came up with this list of reasons:
1. No homework
With homeschooling there are no long days in school followed by a nightly battle with homework. Sometimes my kids have had to finish up some things later, but typically if the child has put forth effort and not finished the task, we call it done for the day and pick it up again the next day.
2. You don’t have to get up so early.
My kids normally wake up around the time when most local school kids are heading into their classrooms. This is the time they naturally wake up. We tend to spend more time homeschooling in the afternoon than we do in the morning.
3. You don’t have to sit through stuff you already know.
Homeschooling allows you to customize the education to the child. So if your child knows something, you can move on. If your child does not know something, you can stick with it until it is mastered.
4. You get to stay at home more.
My kids like to be home. They would be overwhelmed with an on-the-go schedule that involved being at school all day followed by extracurricular activities. Homeschooling also provides the option to be out and about all the time too. There are many ways to homeschool.
5. You are actually learning more at home.
One-on-one personalized instruction is quite effective, freeing up time to spend learning in greater depth or learning other things of interest.
6. Fun projects
My kids love projects. From making things with food, to creative science challenges, to building history scenes on Minecraft projects provide a way for my kids to creatively explore a subject.
7. You can learn things that they don’t teach at school.
While reading, writing, and arthimetic are standard-fare, other subjects can be explored in a homeschool setting. Learning to code, computer 3D modeling, Arabic, Greek, Mandarin, Bible, logic, world poverty studies, and virtual travel are just some of the things we have done that might not be covered at a local school.
8. You don’t have to rush in the morning.
We’ve had mornings where we have had to get someplace first thing in the morning. No one enjoyed the process of rushing out the door.
9. You get to do things together with your siblings.
Sibling bonds can grow stronger because kids learn together, play together, and enjoy life together. Yes, there is sibling rivalry. But because they are together more it creates a situation where they learn to get along.
10. You get to learn the way you learn best.
Every child is unique and homeschooling allows you to help your child connect with the material in the way that works best for your child. My children are similiar in some ways, but have different learning styles. Homeschooling provides me with the opportunity to approach the same topic different ways depending on the child.
After they finished their list, my 13 year old wondered why someone wouldn’t want to be homeschooled.
What do your kids like about homeschooling? Please share in the comments.
I asked my 4.5yo daughter to explain to her grandmother why she wants to be homeschooled, because my mom was expressing concern (again). My daughter told her: because I don’t want to sit in school all day. I want to spend time with my mom.