Are you looking for the top homeschool benefits? I got you covered. Homeschooling is becoming increasingly popular and more mainstream each year. Many people are considering home education as an alternative to traditional school.
We’ve just completed our third year of homeschooling, and I am so excited to share with you what I believe to be the 8 top benefits of homeschooling.
1. Individualized Education
Individualized education is a tremendous plus when homeschooling. When choosing educational materials, there is very little wiggle room within the public school setting. Curriculums are set by and for an entire school district. Children have to adapt their style of learning to fit the material.
For some children, this is easy, but it is incredibly difficult for others. When you factor in children with special needs, it’s easy to see the obstacle to having one curriculum for hundreds of children.
I experienced the value of individualized curriculums when my daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia and dyscalculia mid-year. I had the freedom and ability to change everything she used to better fit with how her brain naturally learns.
2. School on the Go
Do you ever wish you had more time to travel with your family? Maybe your partner travels for work to cool places you would also like to see. Well, guess what? With homeschooling, you can do just that! Pack up your school books and hit the open road.
Additionally, there’s the perk of traveling while homeschooling is visiting your favorite destinations when crowds are low. We like to take our big family beach vacation at the beginning of May each year. After spring break and before summer break equals nearly empty beaches.
3. Encouraging Passions
Homeschooling children can explore their passions to the fullest. Time constraints aren’t an issue. Homeschooling parents can schedule their school work around whatever topic, activity, or sport their child is passionate about.
Additionally, it is easy to incorporate kids’ interests into schoolwork. If your child likes bugs, they can learn as much as their little hearts desire about ladybugs, roly-polys, or roaches (even though they might give you the heebie-jeebies).
4. Easily Implement Special Needs Accommodations
As a mom to neurodivergent children with learning disabilities, I see parents constantly having to negotiate, advocate, and fight for accommodations for their kids within the public school setting.
Accommodations that can be a massive deal in the classroom are a non-issue when homeschooling. They become part of regular everyday life.
Do you need lots of breaks during the day? Easy. Do you need to change your environment? No problem. Do you benefit from a slower-paced schedule? Piece of cake. Creating an environment that aids our special needs kids’ learning is a game changer.
Furthermore, accessing specialized therapies is easier for homeschoolers. Whether it’s speech, occupational, physical, etc., therapy centers usually have less of a waiting period if you have morning availability. It alleviates so much stress when you can quickly get your child the help they need.
5. You are in Charge of Your Time
Seven hours. 8:00 am to 3:00 pm is a long day! And a lot of that day is filler. For example, taking a class to the bathroom can take ten minutes. Five minutes to line up and transition to another class. It adds up quickly!
All of that filler is eliminated when homeschooling. This means shorter school days! Most homeschooling families finish their school day in about two to four hours, depending on the kids’ age. Think of all the possibilities with that extra time! What would you do?
6. Encourages Sibling Bonding
I have three kids, and I deeply desire them to be best friends. As an only child, I have an acute appreciation for sibling relationships. They are extraordinary, and I never want my children to take each other for granted.
When you homeschool, siblings are together a lot each day. Squabbles are worked out immediately instead of festering. Also, it is precious seeing older kids get excited about teaching the younger kids something. My ten-year-old was so excited her brother started Pre-K this year because she wanted to do school with him. I mean, how can this not be one of the top homeschool benefits?
7. Flexibility
Homeschoolers aren’t just in control of their daily schedule but also their school calendar (this can vary depending on your state’s regulations). For example, our first day of school is the first Monday after the 4th of July. People think we are crazy! But this allows our last day of school to be sometime during the first week of April. Then people think we are geniuses, ha.
Additionally, school breaks happen whenever you’d like them as well. Some days we just aren’t feeling it, and we need a day off. You can do that when homeschooling, even if it’s only a random Tuesday.
8. Develop Unique Social Skills
Social skills! What about social skills?! This is people’s go-to concern when they don’t know or are newly learning about homeschooling. But talk to any veteran homeschool mom, and you’ll quickly find out homeschooled kids have a plethora of opportunities to socialize.
Furthermore, not only are there plenty of opportunities but unique ones as well. In a traditional school, kids are only around kids their age. Homeschooled kids are around kids of all ages. They must adapt and learn to play with big kids, little kids, and everyone in between.
There you have it! My 8 top homeschool benefits. What do you think? Did I miss anything? Let me know what your top benefits are in the comments below. And if you’ve been on the fence about homeschooling, I hope this post encourages you to take the leap!
