Hi Friend! Welcome to the very beginning of this year’s Blogging Through the Alphabet series. I can’t wait to get into this again, and share with you all the wonderful information, resources, ideas, tips, and tricks from homeschool bloggers.
It’s gonna be a great time of getting to know each other, and I’m sure that you’ll learn a lot with each week’s posts. So let’s get started!
This post may contain affiliate links. You won’t pay a penny more but I’ll receive a small commission. Thank you!
As I’m sure you’ve heard, the number of homeschooling families has increased since the pandemic. I’m so glad that those families have started and I hope that all is going well. Sometimes, homeschooling is hard, but the discouraging times far outweigh the advantages in the long run. Here are a few advantages to consider.
Homeschool Advantage #1:
Homeschooling Facilitates One-on-One Learning and Teaching
My daughter is a teacher’s aide at a nearby private school. Most of the time she helps in a third grade classroom. Any idea how many students are in that class for one teacher and one aide? Thirty. With that ratio it is extremely difficult for the teacher and aide to give 100% of their attention to each child individually.
Granted, it’s not their fault, and they do the very best they can, but when you are at home with your kids you are able to sit and give full attention to your child’s learning and any problems that he/she may be having.
My son was a struggling learner. (Take a look at our story at Homeschool Tips – R) As I was homeschooling him, we spent many, many hours sitting together going over concepts, particularly with reading and writing. Even for his Algebra I class, we would sit and do it together just so I could be there to help when any question would arise.
My mother-in-law who worked in the public school system at the time, encouraged me to keep going. She said repeatedly that the one-on-one attention and teaching was exactly what he needed, and that he was getting that best by being at home.
I’m glad to say that he has graduated from our homeschool, and that he just graduated from an electrical apprenticeship program. He preaches occasionally at our church and has become quite the speed-reader! I really need to tell him to slow down!
Homeschool Advantage #2:
Individualized Learning Pace at Home
I don’t know about you, but I remember being in a classroom full of kids and being bored out of my mind. I was a good reader and spelling class was a favorite of mine, but for other kids it wasn’t. Do you think the teacher let me skip out of the lessons or any review since I knew it already and excelled at it? Nope, she sure didn’t. So I had to sit there and wait for the others to grasp the concepts so we could move on.
Guess what! You don’t have to waste time like that at home. Once your child has learned a concept and mastered it, you can move on. Even if there is more pages in the book to do on that same concept, you can skip it!
Move forward to the next topic, because you never know when you need to slow down and take more time on something else.
Homeschooling allows you that flexibility. For your child, it’s a win-win.
Homeschool Advantage #3:
Take More Time with Interesting Topics
When do you learn the most? When you enjoy a topic or when you hate it? I learn the most information about something when I enjoy it. When that desire and interest is there it’s almost like a hunger.
One of the best parts of homeschooling is seeing a child enjoy learning. When you homeschool your kids, you can go as in-depth as you want and continue learning more about any topic that interests them. That’s what makes homeschooling really fun.
Homeschool Advantage #4:
Homeschool with a Flexible Schedule
Is your interesting topic astronomy? It’s really hard to look at stars during the day.
Maybe your interesting topic is trees. But it’s really hard to go for an educational walk through a forest when the weather is ugly.
Sometimes it’s the adults that need the flexible schedule. Rotating work schedules, travelling, or even illness can cause even the best well planned schedule to be unworkable. You don’t have to worry when you homeschool. You can learn at any time of the day!
Homeschool Advantage #5:
Take Advantage of Out-of-the-House Opportunities
Volunteering
Do you have volunteer opportunities or places in the community where you and your family can get involved?
Taking advantage of these opportunities can teach your child the benefits of giving to others, how to work with other personalities and/or ages of people, how to be a leader or follow directions well, how to multi-task or even be creative with new ideas.
The possibilities and the benefits are endless.
We do a lot of volunteering at our church. My girls are active in drama and puppets, and they really enjoy it. It’s a lot of fun and it creates some great memories.
Do School Outside
When you homeschool, you don’t have to do school inside, in the same room all of the time. You can learn, read, journal, and/or experiment outdoors too. It’s great fun, and the kids really enjoy it.
To see my list of outdoor ideas, just click here. Homeschool Tips – O
To read our learning about tadpoles, just click here. Homeschool Tips – T
Homeschool Advantage #6:
You Get to Choose Your Child’s Curriculum
This advantage is a biggie. You have control over the topics that you teach your kids. Thank you, God, for our freedom to be able to do this.
You can choose religious or non-religious curriculum based on your preferences. You can choose according to your child’s grade level, your child’s learning style, and your teaching style.
For an in-depth look at how to choose the best curriculum for your child just click on the title. How to Choose the Best Curriculum.
Teach your kids what you want them to know, how you want them to know it, and when they should be learning it.
And if you can’t find the curriculum that satisfies you, then you can write your own. For how to create your own unit study just click here. Homeschool Tips – U
If writing Unit Studies isn’t for you, maybe you’d like to have all of your children’s curriculum plus your resources, tips, and information in one place. Check out what SchoolhouseTeachers.com has to offer in my post: Everything You Need to Homeschool Successfully with SchoolhouseTeachers.com.
Homeschool Advantage #7:
Advance Your Child’s Talents
This is another advantage that I think is important.
My oldest daughter and my son have a gift with music. Erika plays the violin, but she enjoys playing fiddle style. We don’t have any teacher around us that teaches fiddle, so we were able to do one-on-one lessons on-line with a fiddle teacher in another state.
The teacher worked with my son as well, getting both of them to play together. Zachery on the guitar and Erika on the fiddle. Praise the Lord, they’ve been able to use their talents for God at our church.
The video below is Zachery and Erika playing I Feel Like Traveling On. Hope you enjoy it.
Maybe music is not your kids’ thing. It could be dance, fine arts, anything. Their talents that they exhibit now can be fine-tuned so that when they are adults, they will be proficient at that skill.
Need help in finding classes that will extend your child’s talents? Just click here for a list of classes that SchoolhouseTeachers.com (affiliate link) has to offer you. Homeschool Tips – M
Homeschool Advantage #8:
Protect Your Child at Home
Unfortunately, the world is getting to be more wicked every day. When your child is at home, you can protect them from the nasty world. Here are just a few things that you may want to protect your kids from.
- gun violence
- bullying
- drugs
- alcohol
- smoking
- peer pressure
- bad behavior traits
- negative influences from their peers
You can also teach them in a non-threatening way how to respond if an emergency were to happen.
To see how to teach your child what to do in an active shooter situation, just click the title. Active Shooter: Teach Your Kids What to Do
Homeschool Advantage #9:
Strengthen Your Child’s Social Well-Being at Home
Doesn’t quite make sense does it? Strengthen socialization at home?
Think about it a minute. At home there is no one else to discourage and put down your child. There is no emotional battle going on against your child from peers that think they are better than other people.
At the other extreme is where you want to be. You get to encourage, you get to lift up their spirits, you give them confidence, you control the baby steps of social involvement, you control the amount and with whom your child should interact with and be influenced by. You are the one in control of how they learn to behave in society. For a lot of kids today, that is missing.
Maybe it’s not the emotional well-being you worry about the most, maybe it’s the whole influence thing all together. Think about this.
Your child’s teacher assigns your child to be partners with some drug selling skin head boy that wears black clothes, black make-up, has a tattooed and pierced body, wears big, bulky jewelry, and is a foul mouthed Devil worshiper. Would you feel comfortable letting your child be around that person for an hour or two every school day? I doubt it, but these children do exist and you can protect your family from it.
Instead, you can have your family fellowship with those of the same morals and values and religious beliefs as you. They can be encouraged to interact with adults that you know and trust. They can be taught, under your watchful eye, how to interact with strangers, and how to help the elderly or those in need.
This sounds way better to me.
Homeschool Advantage #10:
Close Family Bond
Nothing can take away the bond that is created when you homeschool your kids.
Yes, homeschooling does take a lot of your personal time, but the rewards are so much better. Years later, you’ll look back and you’ll wonder where the time has gone.
Those days of tears, frustration, and worry are outdone by love and laughter as you all learn together.
You can extend the family bonding farther than just your immediate household. Encourage the grandparents or aunts/uncles to share their knowledge and expertise, you won’t regret it.
Homeschool Advantage #11:
Teach Patriotism
Do you want your child to learn about and respect our nation? You can be as patriotic as you want, when you homeschool. You may even be raising and influencing the next generation of government officials.
If you need patriotic ideas on what to teach, just click the title. Homeschool tips-P
Also, here is a high school curriculum review that I did that would help you teach about the founding of our government and how it is run today. Principles and Precepts of Government
Read More Blogging Through the Alphabet – A Posts
A great big thank you goes out to Megan from My Full Heart for doing all the behind-the-scenes work hosting this year’s Blogging Through the Alphabet series. So far for this week, Megan is sharing her daughter’s barrel racing story with A is for Arena, and Laura from LauraMckinneyAdams.com shares her ideas and tips on how to teach the alphabet.
Kristi from Bailey’s Homeschool Adventure shares information about Auditory Processing Disorder, which is what her daughter has been diagnosed with. Also, Kristen from A Mom’s Quest to Teach has shared the really interesting story of the Arlington National Cemetery.
Jennifer from A Piece of Mind shares her latest moving Adventure!
I know there will be more linking up, so keep checking in. I hope you all have a good week. Let me know in the comment section if you can think of any other advantages to homeschooling.
Stay healthy and stay safe on your homeschooling journey. See you next week!
Well written! As I was reading, I kept saying YES, YES, and YES! LOL! You named every reason why I have chosen to homeschool and reminded me how lucky I am to be able to walk this homeschooling journey with my kids! Thanks!
Thank you very much, Kristi! Thank you for commenting!
The family bond is so important. Our oldest went to public school until 10th grade. It was such a struggle to get him to talk about his schooling as we wanted to be actively involved. I feel like we missed out on those years because he wasn’t home with us. Being able to have a closer bond with his two younger siblings is wonderful. And he gets to have a closer bond with them since he is home.
That’s great! I’m glad it’s working out for you now! Thanks for commenting, Kristen.
This is such a great list of homeschooling advantages! I can’t think of any to add to the list. Some of my favorite reasons we homeschool: more time with my kids, more free time for my kids, and control over what they’re being taught and when. My kids are able to cultivate their interests, like Mercie with her horses, and spend time doing things they love, like hunting during the winter. When it gets tough, I try to remember all of the reasons why I love homeschooling. That usually helps me push through! Thank you so much for linking up!
Thanks for commenting, Megan. I like your “more free time for my kids”. I didn’t think of that one, but it is true.