The joys of home-schooling cannot be underestimated! I have home-schooled my kids since my daughter was in grade 2 and my son was in kindergarten. It’s hard to believe it’s been 9 years so far! This will be my last year as my son’s academic teacher, as he will be going online for grades 10-12. As daunting as it seemed at first, it’s actually been more fun than you can imagine! It’s been amazing watching them develop a love for learning, and discovering their own unique learning styles. If you’ve been considering home-schooling your children, here are some reasons why you should go for it!!!
Benefits of home-schooling:
- Developing a life-long love of learning.
- Family Values
- Location
- Safety
- Tailoring their education for their interests
Developing a life-long love of learning
From the time my daughter was a baby, God convicted me that I was to raise my children for Him. That included being a stay at home mom, so I could give them a firm foundation. If Mary was Jesus’ main teacher, then with my university degree I was more than capable of education my own kids. My husband and I were both convicted that we wanted to home-school our kids to give them the best education possible.
The main goal I have had from the beginning was to develop in them a life-long love of learning. This concept was huge in my family from my grandfather down. I didn’t want my kids to never want to open a book again after high school. Learning is a life-long endeavour for me, so providing my kids with that same love was essential. I knew too many kids that were shut down by teachers because their learning style was different from what was offered. Home-schooling has allowed me to cater to their learning styles.
There are so many options out there for home-schooling curriculum these days that it can be overwhelming at times. In Canada you can get funding for school supplies when you join a registered home-schooling provider. These providers are connected to schools, and send facilitators to help you choose curriculum and make sure everything is going smoothly. I have had some amazing facilitators over the years, and some not so great. You can always switch providers until you find the right fit, so you never need to feel stuck.
Family Values
As Christians, we were not happy with the cultural shift that was happening in our school systems when our kids were babies. We could see the writing on the wall, and recognized that our kids would not be able to maintain our values if they spent 6 hours a day hearing a different message. With my decision to be a stay-at-home mom, we didn’t have the income necessary to send them to an Adventist school, or any Christian school for that matter. That is why home-schooling was such an alluring option for us.
It was also surprising to me that our culture wants us to send our kids off to pre-school at age 4 or younger, just as our kids are becoming so independent and interesting. I was 36 when I had my daughter, so I had waited a long time to have the family I’d always dreamed of. Handing my precious children off to someone else to enjoy, didn’t sit well with me. We looked at a number of options as our kids got to school age, but we decided that having them at home was the best option. An extraordinary outcome of this decision is the close relationship we have with our kids.
Location:
Another amazing benefit of home-schooling is that you can do it from wherever you are. Whether you live on a farm, or just in an area that is far from the school you’d like them to go to, homeschooling takes care of it. You can take a year off traveling, and still homeschool your kids so they don’t fall behind. You can do it from your kitchen table, a park, zoo, or library. It allows you the freedom to move.
One of the joys of home-schooling that struck me most was that learning never stops. Our classes may have been done for the day, but the lessons we had learned continued to be strengthened until they went to bed. This often happened through an educational TV program, YouTube video or an unexpected encounter. I continue to be amazed at all the teachable moments that arise when you are in charge of their English, math, science, and history lessons.
We also accomplished more days of learning then their peers, as we never had to stop for snow days, or other School holidays. We were often done by noon in the early days, as we could get down to work and get everything done. You’d be amazed how much filler stuff kids do in the classroom that are just busy work. When you home-school, you set the hours, pace, location, and subjects to be done. The flexibility it has provided our family over the years has been beyond incredible.
The joys of home-schooling and ensuring their safety:
I think it goes beyond saying that safety is a huge concern for families in North America when they send their kids to school. By having my kids at a later age, I got to watch my nieces and nephew go through school. I got to watch the bullying on the playgrounds, and what the TV news reports as the latest school shootings were splashed across the screens. Statistics may say that having your child experience a school shooting is very rare, but if it’s your child it doesn’t matter what those reports may say.
When we moved for my husband’s new position, we had the opportunity for our kids to go to a church school for free. The teachers at the time were amazing, and we decided to give it a chance. It was very hard for me to drop my daughter off for her first day of kindergarten, no matter how excited she was! What I didn’t realize as the years went on, was that my daughter was being ruthlessly bullied by her classmates. When she was bitten by a classmate, we pulled both of our kids. That’s when our home-schooling journey began.
Tailoring to their interests:
One of the greatest joys of home-schooling was being able to tailor their classes to their learning styles and interests. We loved watching the Kratt Brothers, Jonathan Bird’s Blue World, National Geographic, and many other nature and natural history programs. I could do some of their classes together, and some would be done for their level. Choosing their curriculum was both challenging and fun! Some programs we continued with for years, while others we did not.
My son loved nature and sports, but didn’t like to read. This was a bit challenging for me, as our daughter was a book worm from a very young age. Going to the library every week was a necessity just to find new books for her to read. I helped my son read by choosing nature and sports books for him. We would take turns reading a sentence each, just to get him reading. He would not have done well in a school room that would have made him read what was assigned.
We also tailored their math by letting them move on once the concept was mastered. My son would melt down seeing a sheet with tons of questions on them. By giving them sheets with only 10 questions on them at a time, he was willing to work through them. If he had the concept mastered, we would move on. If he didn’t, I’d create a sheet with 10 more questions for the next day. It really made life easier for both of us.
In Conclusion:
This is really only the tip of the iceberg for why home-schooling was such a joy for us. Watching them learn, being able to introduce subjects I really loved like piano, singing, and nature made things so much fun! We studied Spanish instead of French, because my husband and his family speak Spanish. We were able to study so many different things, and incorporated a variety of YouTube videos and library movies as well. When the kids developed their own interests, we would check those out too!
The joys of home-schooling are truly endless, and you can do it too! If you are debating home-schooling for your kids, go for it!!! With all the resources out there, you are only limited by your imagination. The bond I have with my kids is something no amount of money can buy. It has been the best thing for our family, and I can’t recommend it enough. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at andrea@nopainallgain.ca and I’ll be happy to chat with you!
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