What is the Advantage of Homeschooling Your Child?

Homeschooling may seem like a new trend in education, but it has been around for a long time. More and more children get their education in the privacy of their own homes with parents as their teachers. The learning experience is focused, scheduled and managed around the family. Many advantages of homeschooling benefit both parent and child. However, the most important factor of all is the parents, because they are the teachers behind effective homeschooling.

Homeschooling: The Benefit of Personalized Schedules

Educating your child or children at home has many advantages. One advantage that parents consider when thinking of this form of education is the flexibility of creating a personalized teaching schedule, one that will benefit both parent and child. In public schools, the school day starts promptly at 8:30; however, for homeschooling, the school day can begin at 10 o clock, letting the personalized time schedule be more in tune with your family. Having a personalized schedule will allow your child to learn when they want to and for as long as they want to. No more mandatory 50-minute lesson plans. Perhaps your child wants to spend more time in English class and less time in Science. With homeschooling, personalized time schedules cater to the child wants and needs. The school day can be several hours per day as opposed to 8 hours of mandatory academic study.

The Homeschooling Curriculum

Social Studies, Mathematics, Science and Reading are just some of the classroom courses that students have to take in the public and private school systems. However, with homeschooling, education can go outside the classroom to include the environment and the community. With the parent as the educator, a child gets a more rounded education with hands on learning and experience that will complement their book learning. You can balance out the learning experience by including both principles into the curriculum. Educating a child at home means that if a parent wants to instill religious values and morals they can do so without opposition from a principal, a superintendent or a school board. A homeschooled child can uphold their religious beliefs while studying academics. With prayer being removed from the public school system, parents of homeschoolers can start their school day in prayer without the worry of offending anyone, if this is what they opt to do.

Homeschooling Opens Doors for Other Interest

Due to budget cuts within the public school systems, many school activities are obsolete or do not exist anymore. However, with homeschooling, if a child shows some interest in music, dance, art or cooking, a teaching parent can add these interests to the curriculum as part of the child’s education or school day. A homeschooled student can have the opportunity to expand their mind in areas of study that the public or private school systems do not offer. There is not a subject matter or an educational activity that cannot be sought when exploring the avenues of opportunity in homeschooling. There are no limitations in homeschooling, for the sky is the limit when a child shows interest in a particular area. The parent can make sure that the interest is part of the curriculum.

Focus Around the Family

Another advantage of homeschooling is the fact that this avenue of education is not centered on an overcrowded classroom. There are no classroom disruptions from unruly students. Teaching a child or children at home becomes more personal as opposed to a public or private school where teachers contend with 10-15 or more students per class on a daily basis. Homeschooling brings about a one on one teaching experience for parent and child or children. The student or students get the personalized attention that they need if they are having difficulty in certain academic studies or school activities. They do not have to compete for the teacher’s time and attention in a homeschooled setting. With the homeschooling environment, the classroom focus is also on the family, regardless of how many children are taught at home or their ages. It becomes a family thing when doing activities and educational outings. Everyone becomes involved with the experience. Teaching a child or children at home means there will be less bullying to contend with and no metal detectors to have to walk through as they start their school day.

The Absence of Peer Pressure

A child taught at home may have less problems and worries about dealing with peer pressure and socialization issues. Today in the public school sector, the norm is for everyone to look and dress the same, wearing school uniforms to put everyone at ease as far as status is concern. To look at a uniformed student, you cannot tell if they are from the middle class, the elite or if they come from a poor background. However, in reality, it takes more than a uniform to make a student feel accepted and comfortable in their environment, especially if they are different mentally, emotionally or physically. With the public and private school systems, parents tend to worry about all the negative influence that their child may encounter while socializing in their peer groups. Being educated at home sets a firm foundation of self-esteem, values and moral integrity, a foundation built and regulated by the parent and not by peers or the public school system. Parents have the control over their children and their learning experience.

The Learning Experience

Another advantage of homeschooling is the fact that with this type of education, the child or children learn at his or her own pace. They can take all the time they need to work out a complicated math problem, or learn a particular subject. With the public school system, everything focuses on a time schedule. A child must move on in any particular subject even when they do not have the understanding of the material. In the homeschooling environment, a child does not have to rush to put the math book away to hurry over to social studies or government class. This kind of situation can be frustrating, bringing about the feeling of inadequacy and lower self-esteem, because they are having trouble keeping up in class or in mastering their school assignments. Homeschooling avoids these situations by allowing the child to move on when they are ready and when they fully understand a particular subject matter. It is perfectly okay if a student needs more time to master a subject matter in homeschooling.

Conclusion

It used to be that only the rich and famous homeschooled their children, but not anymore. This form of education is recognized and accepted throughout the United States. The only requirement to get started is that parents must follow state regulations when teaching their children at home.

To learn more about homeschooling consult the following links.

Advantages of Homeschooling: This informative article discusses the flexibility of choices in homeschooling.
Understanding Homeschooling: The information on this page is a beginner’s guide to homeschooling, describing what steps to take in getting started.
Your Child and Homeschooling: An article showing homeschooling benefits to children and families. It has several tailored lists that discuss 3 main advantages.
Homeschooling Verses Public School: When contemplating homeschooling or the public school system, this informative link show the advantages of homeschooling and weighs them against the public School system option.
Advantages of Learning at Home: Information on this link is geared toward Christian homes, showing that homeschooling can balance out the faith and religious aspect of family life as well as keeping the focus on education and learning.
Reasons to Choose Homeschooling: This link gives 20 advantages that homeschooling offers. Each advantage has a detailed explanation.
Home: The first school: Informative article discusses the whys of homeschooling. Information gives understanding to children, making them understand the difference between going to school and being educated at home, showing that homeschooling is legal and accepted.
Social Skills and Homeschooling: Family Education is a website that gives resources and information on homeschooling. It shows the facts and myths on the socialization issue. It also discusses the research done by Discovery Institute on the topic of socialization.
Homeschoolers Are in the Real World: Home School Legal Defense Association takes a deep look into homeschooling and its advantages.
Homeschooling Comes of Age: Information on this link is from the Discovery Institute, showing the rapid growth in the homeschooling option.
Would You Homeschool Your Child?: This is a link that looks at homeschooling and what education was like before compulsory school enrollment existed. The article is interesting and poses the question of would you homeschool your child?
About Homeschooling: The information from this research center looks at the reasons behind homeschooling in past years and what it is today. It also gives positive data from the National Home Education Research Institute on how many children benefit from homeschooling.
Homeschooling: Back to the Future: From the Cato Institute, this article covers the origin and the influence of homeschooling for families. It also gives information on what types of families select the homeschooling option.
Homeschooling Goes Mainstream: This informative article names some famous people who have homeschooled their children and gives the reasons why behind their choice of action. The article also has a chart and graft showing how popular homeschooling is becoming among the different races and ethnic backgrounds.
Homeschooling: The Best Form of Education: Article gives the definition of homeschooling. It also shows what qualifications a parent needs to teach their child at home. It also list more advantages to teaching your child at home.
New Hampshire Homeschooling Coalition: This article promotes homeschooling. It also looks at all aspects of homeschooling, including the testing of students.
A Look into Homeschooling: The information on this link is a Calvert School resource for parents contemplating homeschooling. They tell you what to do and where to go if you have a gifted child who needs the education of homeschooling.
You Can do Homeschooling: This information shows what it was like when homeschooling was illegal and frowned upon.
A Growing Option in American Education: Interesting and informative article that shows how much money homeschooling is saving taxpayers in instructional costs. It also gives a little history into homeschooling, showing that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were students of homeschooling.

A parent's Network on Homeschooling: The information on this site shows the difference between homeschooling and unschooling. It also gives personal accounts of parents teaching their children at home.
Homeschooling for Gifted Children: A resource page for teaching kids at home. This informational site directs you to other places that deal with teaching teens, gifted kids, and personal experience of those in homeschooling.
There is No School like Home: This article shows personal experience of parents opting for homeschooling
Origins of Contemporary Homeschooling: In this article, a fifth grade teacher talks about his transition from private schooling to contemporary homeschooling.
Homeschooling: Facts and Resources: This website gives information for parents contemplating homeschooling their children. It gives facts and resources in getting started in this field of education.
The Pros of Homeschooling: This article shows the benefits of homeschooling, comparing and giving examples of the differences between public schools and homeschooling.