
Children often say they don’t like school, but you might not ever hear your children make that statement if you homeschool. Homeschooling has many benefits over sending your child to public school. Besides being able to attend school in your pajamas, your child will have much more freedom to learn than their public school counterparts will have.
One of the things that can make homeschooling fun for children is the ability to take multiple field trips throughout the year. Whereas most public school students are lucky to take one field trip a year, if they even get to take that, homeschool students have the freedom to go on as many as their parent or support group can plan.
Field trip possibilities are endless, limited only to by the imagination of the planner, and funds you’re willing to see leave your wallet. Some common field trips are museums, zoos, and botanical gardens. Did you know you can also make a field trip out of a trip to a Krispy Kreme Donut store? Yep, you sure can. You can also visit police departments, fire departments, and local newspapers. In fact, if you can find someone willing to allow it, you can make a field trip out of almost any business you can think of.
Besides taking several field trips a year, another thing that makes homeschooling fun for kids is the ability to learn what interests them and in a way that suits their learning style. While they will still have to learn the basics of reading, writing, and mathematics, they may choose to concentrate on robots, dinosaurs, or some composer or artist. And one of the benefits of homeschooling is that you can combine coursework into Unit Studies that enable the student to cover the basics all while concentrating on that one subject.
It seems that art and music are all but missing from public schools as educational budgets are slashed each year. If you homeschool, and your child likes either art or music, you can spend as much time on those subjects as you’d like. In fact, you can combine art and music appreciation with many other subjects. Allow your child to try something they’ve never done before. You have that option if you homeschool, and you don’t have to get permission from the principal to do so.
Many children learn best by handling items, whether math manipulatives, building blocks, or cooking utensils. If you homeschool, you can allow your child to use those manipulatives if doing so will help them to learn. In public schools, children’s learning styles often aren’t taken into consideration since teachers have to teach to a whole group and can’t address students individually. By allowing your child to learn in the way that is easiest for them, homeschooling will be much more fun for them.
While it’s unlikely that your homeschooled children will say they “love” school, there are things that you can do to help them enjoy it more. By allowing them to learn to their strengths, concentrating on subjects that interest them, and taking them on field trips, your child will enjoy going to “school” much better.
Watch the video related to homeschooling benefits
www.globalvillageschool.org Caleen Sisk-Franco talks about the benefits of homeschooling for Native American students. Caleen is the tribal and spiritual leader of the Winnemem Wintu tribe, as well as a Global Village School parent and board member. She discusses how homeschooling has enabled several children from the Wintu tribe to express their tribal values, carry on their spiritual traditions (songs, ceremonies, visiting and protecting sacred places, etc.) and prepare them for life as …
Help answer the question about homeschooling benefits
Question about North Carolina high school homeschooling?I would like to start home schooling in the fall; I'll be starting my junior year. My main question is:
Will I have required courses?
One of the reasons I would like to try homeschool is to get the benefit of choosing my own classes. I'm aware that I'll have to take the state tests, but is there a requirement on the other courses I have to take?
One more question:
Is it possible for me to make up my own course?
About Author
Jane Saeman runs an In-Home Tutoring service called Aim High Tutors. Find out about how to help your student reach their full potential at http://www.aimhightutors.com/blog
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Research shows that homeschoolers do well on all the standardized testing, socialization, etc. http://www.nheri.org/content/view/176/53/
I think one huge advantage of homeschooling is that you can tailor the curriculum to the interests of the child: when you are in the school system you often are boring a child because out of 30 children at least some are going to be bored by a topic or have already learned a topic. You can avoid that in homeschooling.
I do think though, obviously, as you mentioned, that homeschooling is wonderful for special needs children. You didn't mention but homeschooling is also great for gifted children who are easily bored by public school. My brother and I are both gifted and were bored through all of our schooling, both private and public, until I hit grad school, where I finally met others who were really enjoying the learning process as well. I think schooling is kind of aimed towards teaching that theoretical "average" child of which there really are so few. Most children, really, may have some deficits and/or gifted areas and so really will benefit from homeschooling in my opinion.
Of course, the reality is not every parent may have the personality, desire, financial situation, or willingness to homeschool so homeschool may not be an option for that reason. And then public and private schools are other options to be considered in that case.