Top 4 Benefits to Homeschooling

Before the global pandemic of 2020, I never saw myself as a homeschool mom. It never even entered my mind. Everyone I knew went to public or private school. So I wouldn't even know where to begin.  

Now we’re heading into our fourth year of homeschooling, our family absolutely loves it! We went from never in a million years to never going back to public or private school. 

I’ll be sharing with you four of the main benefits and reasons why our family loves homeschooling.

• Create a personalized curriculum

• The freedom and flexibility of creating your own schedule

• Enjoy learning with your kids

• Get to witness the wins

Create a personalized curriculum

When we pulled our youngest daughter out of school, her reading abilities weren't at grade level. She was going into 3rd grade and we knew that she was not ready for that level of reading. We also knew it was going to be very difficult for her. So our plan was to have her repeat 2nd grade and get assistance.

However, in other education skills she was right on track. Instead of her learning at what society or the school system says she should be at. We get to customize her schooling based on her abilities and where she's at. So there's not that comparison of ahead or behind. Not have her confidence be affected and feel stupid if she's not at the same level as her classmates. 

Another way to create a personalized curriculum is you can tailor it to the child's individual interests. When you allow a child to learn what they are naturally interested in, they are more excited to learn. They want to read books, watch videos, research, etc. 

Now that’s not to say they have full control over what they learn. For example, my daughter loves studying about Space and the Solar System. She could spend months learning just that alone. But we still do the core subjects needed for a well rounded education. Such as: language arts, math, social studies, etc. 

Every state is different on what you are required to teach, but you get to pick how it's learned. Check with the HSLDA (Homeschool legal Defense Association) your legal requirements for your state. 

The freedom and flexibility of creating your own schedule

As a farming family we love the freedom and flexibility of creating our own homeschool schedule. Usually we don’t start our school day until after morning chores and breakfast. We get to eat breakfast as a family. 

It's nice to have the flexibility to do school work when it's too hot or too cold to go outside. Then we can go outside more when it's nicer out. 

Because we create our own schedule, we as a family get to choose when we take days off. Whether it’s to go on a vacation or we just need a brain break.  

It's so nice letting my daughter wake up on her natural schedule. Otherwise, with our school district she'd have to get up by 6:30am to catch the bus by 7am. Especially on those nights when she doesn't sleep very well, whatever the reason maybe. 

We all know that kids get sick. So we don't have to worry about her missing school and have a bunch of work to make-up. Or even her missing out on an important lesson. We’ll just pick it back up when she’s feeling better. 

Check on the HSLDA website to see how many days or hours your state requires. Otherwise, you can pick what time of day and days you want to do school. Nothing says it has to be Monday through Friday, 8-4, September-June. A traditional school year. 

Enjoy learning with your kids

Before we started homeschooling I thought the only people who were capable were former teachers. They have knowledge or the need to know information to teach different subjects. Boy was I completely wrong! 

There are so many homeschool parents who don’t have a formal education. Realistically, you’ve been your child’s teacher since they were born. You know them best

As a homeschooling mom I get to learn with my daughter. I don’t need to know everything! What a huge weight being lifted off my shoulders. I love learning different subjects with my daughter. We have great conversations by sharing our point of view of what we learned. 

To be totally honest, I wasn’t what you say a scholar student. I was in the bottom half of my graduating class (64 students). I was also diagnosed with a learning disability at 3 years of age. So I never thought in a million years I could homeschool my kids. But with all the help and resources available now days, you can do it to. 

Get to witness the wins

One of my favorite parts of homeschooling is witnessing the wins. Every student has their points of time where they struggle with something. Whether it is memorizing their math facts, not understanding a science concept or just can’t remember that spelling word. By homeschooling, you get to witness first hand when this happens. It’s the most wonderful thing.

I remember one of the first times this with my daughter. It was our first year homeschooling and we were working on a spelling list. She got all the words right except for one. For whatever reason, she just struggled with this one particular word. We did a lot of techniques to help her memorize it. But when it came to writing it with the rest of her list, it just wasn’t quite right.

Then one day..it clicked. It was like a light bulb went off in her mind and her face just lit up. She finally got the word right. She was so happy and excited her hard work had finally paid off. To see that moment in real time and seeing the look on her face was priceless. I have the privilege of seeing these moments every year.

Every family has their own reasons for homeschooling their children. These are just a couple of our family's favorites. We get to create the curriculum and our own schedule, learn as a family, and see those wins. 

If this is something you would like to consider for your family. See what your homeschooling laws are in your state by going to the HSLDA website.