I hear a lot of people say that they could never homeschool. I can't imagine our lives without homeschooling. It blesses our family each and every year.
One of the reasons we homeschool is because we enjoy the freedom it gives us. In this article, I will explain five practical freedoms my family enjoys because we homeschool.
Image by toodlingstudio from Pixabay
#1 - Freedom to Customize the Learning Experience
I have never seen two people act, think, and speak precisely the same way. Everyone is different.
Due to limited resources, traditional learning institutions often have to teach to the majority. Traditional schools must find the largest common denominator among their population and put most (if not all) of their focus and energy into the "majority." But this causes problems!
If your learning style, life experience, or demeanor is not that of the majority, then you are in a world of hurt. If at any point you were considered above average or below average compared to the majority, you either felt bored or behind.
I am grateful that homeschooling provides my family with the freedom to make sure that the learning experience can be customized. If every child is different, why can't every learning experience be different?
I remember when we were told that one of my daughters had a learning condition that made retaining the information she just read challenging. Aphantasia is the inability to visualize. Most people imagine words in their minds when they read. This ability to visualize improves retention and comprehension tremendously. My oldest kiddo could read a book once and practically resight it back, but my other daughter had to read countless times and still sometimes struggled.
Guess what we did? We found a new curriculum (because we had the freedom to do so). In this example, we needed to make a change out of need. But we are also free to change things because we want to.
As home educators, we have such deep insight into our kiddos' learning experience that we can try new things (often better things) that increase learning and improve the learning experience.
Freedom to meet each child's need is a beautiful blessing!
#2 - Freedom to Prioritize Sleep, Rest, and Health
My children enjoy this one. There is something incredibly satisfying about not having to get my kiddos ready to wait for a bus in the dark.
Instead of spending time and effort preparing to leave each other, we enjoy getting a little extra sleep, which ends up making our day together much better. You may be thinking that my household is filled with a bunch of lazy bums. Far from it, but we are okay with letting our kids get the sleep they need. They are better prepared for a day of learning when everyone is well-rested.
Not having strict guidelines on when to wake up has additional benefits. When needed (or wanted), we can stay out later at night versus a family already thinking about having grumpy kids tomorrow morning. There is a big difference between abusing freedom and maximizing freedom. We opt for the latter, especially when given the chance to learn, grow, or recreate as a family.
A sick day away from our regular homeschool schedule is not as burdensome as it would be if my children attended a traditional school. We don't have to hustle and bustle to pick up "make-up" work. We can let our kids focus on the most important things at that moment - feeling better and resting up.
One more perk of homeschooling we enjoy is taking family fun days, mental health days, and "just because" days. We don't feel guilty for taking a day off because growing strong and feeling healthy is an asset to our children's learning experience.
#3 - Freedom to Spend More Time Around the Table Together
We firmly believe time spent around the table is profitable for our children.
Table time nourishes ...
- Physical Health - Great food is served at the table.
- Servanthood - Everyone in the family helps make the food we eat.
- Connectedness - We have great conversations around the table.
- Recreation - We play games at the table.
- Thinking about others - We are a part of other people's lives around the table.
If we sent our children to a traditional school, we would lose a lot of time together, especially around breakfast and lunch. Homeschooling gives us the freedom to protect our time together.
If an 18-year-old child moves out of the house and visits her parents once a month, she might have already experienced up to 96% of the in-person time she will ever spend with her parents. source Time together is time well spent.
#4 - Freedom to Explore the World Together
My wife works hard to make sure that our home is conducive to learning, but she works equally hard to find exciting and practical learning opportunities outside the walls of our home. We firmly believe that learning can occur anywhere and are doing our best to prove our theory.
We have learned at ...
- the science center
- a local farm
- a local bank
- nature centers
- area parks
- national parks
- grandparents houses
- friend houses
I think you get the point. Outdoors, indoors, at home, away from home. As we explore the world, we look for new opportunities to teach a new idea or reinforce an old one.
#5 - Freedom to Teach What Is Most Important To Us
Faith is important to our family. We find hope and peace in the example, teachings, and life of Jesus Christ. I realize people reading this article might disagree with my worldview, but I am pretty sure you appreciate how homeschooling allows you to instill the values and principles that mean the most to your family.
For our youngest, we help stand as a filter to help them process the world around them. For our oldest, we trust that what we have taught and how we have taught has equipped them to be ready to face the real world.
Homeschooling should never be weaponized to isolate children from other worldviews. On the contrary! We should actively discuss different cultures, ideologies, and opinions with our kiddos.
Although we teach and model today, our children must grow up and choose their way. For in that, true freedom is experienced and lived out.
Questions
Let's continue the conversation. Feel free to answer any of the following questions in the comments.
- Which of the above freedoms do you value most?
- What is one freedom I did not include that you think should have been included?
- What is one piece of advice you would give to someone who wants to start homeschooling?
Thanks for stopping by!
I hated the school run. That was one of my favourite freedoms when we homeschooled. 😁
Do you know, I never even realised that some people don't even have an internal monologue until recently. I wondered how this might affect reading. My youngest can only see images in her mind in flashes, she can't sustain them for long. I didn't even know that until we conversed about the internal monologue.
I had one either end of this spectrum. My eldest was bored to tears, my youngest got left behind by most (all bar one in fact) teachers who weren't flexible enough to teach in her learning style. She often still considers herself dumb due to this, even though she absolutely isn't. I loved how we could explore her learning together when we starting homeschooling. She's very hands on and visual.
This is actually a tough one, because it depends on the person. I'd probably say to trust yourself, because unless someone has been homeschooled themselves they don't always believe they are capable on taking on a "teaching" role.
A wonderful covering of this topic and I agree with all of it. I can't think of anything you might have missed.
@minismallholding - Thanks for continuing the conversation.
We were fortunate that we learned about aphantasia early on in our homeschooling journey. Personally, I had always taken for granted the ability to create pictures and "videos" in my mind. We were able to accelerate our second daughter's reading ability by changing to a specialized curriculum.
My heart breaks when I hear stories like the one your daughter experienced. Those labels are often carried for a long time. Great job taking the time to learn how she needed to explore the world.
TRUST YOURSELF! - I completely agree.
I think you have very important and interesting points, it's great to inform in that way about the subject!
@jsph - Thanks for reading my post and for the encouraging words!
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