Over the last decades, homeschooling has been on the rise in the United States. More and more American families are shifting away from the conventional education system, choosing to homeschool their kids.
Parents genuinely want their children to thrive both in school and in life. The problem is that both traditional schools and private schools don’t allow kids to pursue their passions, hobbies, to travel or learn at their own pace. Students may feel anxious, stressed, bullied, or even depressed.
Homeschooling has numerous benefits, so the following are top 8 reasons why parents choose homeschooling over traditional schooling and what exactly prompts parents to take such a decision.
Why Homeschool?
1. Protecting Kids From a Negative School Environment
In recent years, homeschooling parents consider that bullying, peer pressure, and school violence are important reasons for their kids to leave traditional school environment.
In most cases, children are embarrassed to admit to their parents about being bullied at school. Also, some parents may perceive that school teachers don’t deal with bullying in the right way.
Bullying lowers children’s self-esteem, affects their grades, and may lead to depression and social anxiety. Hence, homeschooling seems to be a great option for a child’s education since it eliminates the possibility of psychological or physical torment.
Most importantly, there is an increase in school shootings and gun violence internationally in high school years. That is an important reason and now, more than ever, parents are thinking about the benefits of homeschooling to protect their kids from unpredictable shootings.
Your Children Are Well Protected
2. Affording Quality Education and Flexible Curriculum
Unfortunately, state education budgets have declined and student enrolment has increased a lot. Hence, parents are unsatisfied with the quality of education being provided at school district. Also, parents don’t like the way that teachers teach at schools.
As a result, some parents opt for homeschooling to have more control over what their children are actually learning.
Parents decide the subjects and methods they want to expose their child to. In addition to that, parents in homeschool families are able to choose educational curriculums of high quality.
Clearly, homeschooling offers flexibility for kids and their parents. It allows families to maintain a perfect balance between their personal life and education: parents can schedule lessons around family visits, holidays, and days out.
Also, kids choose their own preferred time for studying, be it in the morning or in the afternoon. That’s why one of the benefits of homeschooling is a flexible homeschool curriculum. It suits child’s interests and the needs of each family individually.
4. Homeschooling Kids with Special Needs
Some American families choose to homeschool because their child has special needs or a rare health condition. So, parents want to be able to focus on their child’s education in a more controlled environment. Parents consider that a traditional classroom setting is frustrating, and private schools are too expensive.
For example, children with learning disabilities or physical handicaps do not thrive in public schools. Attention paid to them is minimal. Also, it is difficult for these kids to get specialized curriculum and educational tools they need for a successful learning.
That’s why homeschooling is one of the top reasons when it comes to educating children with special needs.
Parents are able to carefully choose the right curriculum to teach such kids. They want to make sure these children receive the proper attention and care along with better education in the best way possible.
5. Preserving Religion of the Family
Religious reasons often lead many families to homeschool their children. State or public schools don’t promote faith-based lifestyle into educational curriculums.
That’s why some families choose to teach their personal and religious beliefs to their children. No matter what the religion is, parents want to raise their children in a more moral and religious environment, following a faithful lifestyle.
Parent-Directed Education
6. Improving Children’s Social Interactions
Homeschooling parents want less exposure of their kids to peer pressure in the public school system, and prefer more social interactions that support their family values and traditions.
Nowadays there are a lot of community education groups (co-ops), homeschool support groups, and various activities for homeschooled children. Availability of plenty of options in every educational field allows students to spend as many hours as they want for socialization.
Homeschool students are able to have more activities that take place outside of their house. With a flexible homeschool curriculum, families are better able to go to parks, theatres, museums, other historical sites, and participate in community service activities.
Most importantly, homeschooling is the main reason for improving children’s emotional and psychological development. It also strengthens family connections when kids are homeschooled with their siblings.
In addition, homeschooled children gain a greater awareness of the world around them.
7. Educating Children of Relocating Parents
Some families choose homeschooling because they relocate frequently. For example, military families and families with diplomatic positions are required to move often for a better job.
Such parents feel that the better option is to integrate homeschooling into their life routine rather than their children frequently changing schools.
In the United States government, young children and their American families are the highest percentage to often move, and especially to move the longest distances.
Public school system doesn’t allow any excuses for not following the schedule. Hence, children get low grades and are way behind the curriculum.
One of the benefits of homeschooling is that children can follow the curriculum and do lessons from any location. Most importantly, homeschooling is a right choice that gives such children an undisrupted education.
Cons of homeschooling is that it provides kids with a proper and interesting education. And it makes sure kids do not take any steps backwards when moving from one place to another.
8. Following Unique and Effective Learning Styles
All children are different, and each child is a unique individual. Some children find it easy to study scientific information in a little time because they have tendency to it. Some prefer art instead of academic instruction, and others prefer video lessons, and the list goes on.
In a traditional state school children’s individual needs are not met, and private schools can rarely be afforded by families. However, homeschooling allows parents to choose the right type of academic instruction to suit their child that provides real benefits.
Children learn effectively when they are following homeschool curriculums adapted to their individual needs. In such a learning environment, kids are continuously encouraged to learn new things. Extracurricular activities really help children to add to their knowledge. In addition to that, kids show the best results in mental development and life skills.
Hands-on Activities
If you are a homeschooling parent and like to travel with your children, then don’t forget to check out this blog: Las Vegas to Zion National Park: A Family Road Trip!
Leave a Reply