Why would you let your children learn at home rather than send them to school? Well, there is a lot of concern among parents these days about the safety and the quality of the public and/or private schools. In addition, every parent has anxiety when they send their children out of their sight, especially for a long six or seven hour day. Parents put a great amount of trust in schools, teachers and administration, and sometimes (rarely, but it does happen) this trust is broken.

Homeschooling your children gives you more control over the what influences your children. It’s no secret that children come home with ideas and phrases that may not be in line with what you want them to know and/or understand. And certainly the influences of other children, who may not have the same upbringing is sometimes an unwanted side effect of not homeschooling. If your children are homeschool, you can decide what yoruchilnd needs to do or learn. Furthermore, you can tailor the homeschooling curriculum to suit both the interests and needs of the child.

A homeschooled child reaps the benefits of individualized attention, which does not often happen in a school setting. If your child excels in mathematics, then you can give him/her more advanced work to keep that mind busy whereas in a classroom setting, that same child may become fidgety and antsy because the work is too easy. If your child needs more assistance in a particular subject, then you can give him/her the remediation that is needed quickly. The pressure either learn quickly or to sit still when the work is too easy eliminated. The child’s abilities become the focus of instruction.

A homechooling family often grows closer as a result of homeschooling. The family is much more involved with the entire process of education rather that just being a vehicle to complete homework or assigned school projects. Families learn about and use teachable moments, in the grocery store, toy store, playground, etc. to expand the children’s understanding of the world around them.

A larger concern besides academic education is the moral and/or religious upbringing of the child. Homeschooled children may be more closely supervised by their parents and thus parents have more control over the moral and
religious learning of the child. In addition, parents have the flexibility to
incorporate their beliefs and ideologies into the child’s curriculum.
In this way, parents don’t have to “unteach” anything that is learned in school.

If you have the time, patience and resources, homeschooling is the best way to teach a child. Be aware that this endeavor may take a lot of time, preparation and understanding of state law, curriculum standards etc. You also must think ahead about the child’s socialization, participation in sports and college preparation, if this is your goal. Whatever your decision, you are still your child’s first teacher.

My son especially loves the mazes!