Deciding to homeschool your kids is a big commitment. It means that you must give up part of your day to be directly responsible for your child’s education. Naturally, you wonder if homeschooling is worth it. Fortunately, the answer is ‘yes.’ Homeschooling offers your kids plenty of advantages. Here’s a look at four of them.
Better Test Scores
According to many parents, kids who have been homeschooled enjoy higher test scores than kids who weren’t homeschooled. For example, the SAT scores of those who were homeschooled were around 60+ points higher than those who had not been homeschooled.
School Time Is Worked Around Family Time
Most of family life is structured around the school year when kids attend traditional schools. Vacations happen during spring, summer, fall, and winter breaks because that’s when the kids are out of school. However, for homeschooled kids, that isn’t the case. Families can pack up and go on vacation anytime they want.
Additionally, these vacations can be educational. For example, a trip to Seattle might include a trip through Seattle’s underground tunnels. Part of this tour includes lectures on plumbing and sanitation from the city’s early days.
Can be Cleaner
It is common for children to get sick while attending school due to many children playing together even when they are carrying a sickness such as the common cold. Even though schools tend to take great care to encourage the kids to wash their hands, it is challenging, if not impossible to keep surfaces clean. When it comes to homeschooling, you have complete control over the sanitation process.
In addition to keeping surfaces clean, you also have control over the sanitation cleaning equipment used. This will ensure that whatever products you use are safe for your child as well as avoid anything that may cause an allergic reaction.
Homeschooling Fosters Independence in Kids
Homeschooling gives kids a chance to make their own connections between the disciplines and to work on their schoolwork at a pace that works for them. For many, this means working ahead if they need to. Being able to steer their own course becomes a matter of course. It’s a habit that remains with many homeschooled kids into adulthood.
Less Pressure to Fit In
Peer pressure comes from a kid’s peers. While homeschooled kids can have plenty of opportunities to interact with other kids through after-school programs, like soccer teams or art clubs, most of the time, their peers are secondary. Because they don’t have as much contact with their peers, peer pressure, and its sometimes negative influences, on them is a lot less.
Although homeschooling requires a commitment from the whole family, this post shows that this commitment comes with many advantages. Homeschooled kids are often more self-directed, more curious, and do better on tests than their traditionally educated peers. This makes homeschooling an ideal educational option for those who choose to embrace it.
