The Top 3 Homeschooling Benefits for Both You and Your Child

It takes a lot of courage and dedication to homeschool, but the results can be astonishing, and I don't just mean academically, when you spend time teaching and learning with your child, all aspects of your family life will become more enriched and emotionally rewarding. If you don't believe me, then just take a look at the top 3 reasons why I think homeschooling works.

1. You will have a more fulfilling family life

Spending more time with your child as they grow and mature into adulthood is every parents dream, but work and school can often get in the way of that desire. Well, homeschooling means you get to spend all those precious hours with your child that you'd otherwise have given over to a classroom teacher you hardly know.

Families that spend a lot of time together form strong and close bonds with each other--rather than having a simple parent-child relationship, much deeper friendships are forged through shared experiences, beliefs and values.

Being able to timetable lessons and focus on areas of the curriculum to suit your child and your home-life can be of enormous benefit. If your child is struggling with a subject then you can dedicate more time to it but not necessarily all in one chunk, you can schedule short bursts of the subject throughout the day, or week, so that your child does not become bored or stressed by it.

You wouldn't be able to do this if your child was being taught in class, a one-on-one teaching situation is far better for learning than being in a class of 30 or so children, all of varying abilities, and having to compete individually for the attention of the teacher.

2. Your child will shine academically

Home schooled children perform better academically than those in mainstream education. They achieve higher grades and receive a much more rounded education. Being able to take the lesson out into everyday situations, rather than keeping it inside a stale classroom, can allow your child to see how math works in real life down at the store, or how science can explain why bread dough rises.

To me, this is one of the major homeschooling benefits. Learning and reinforcing through visual and practical experience rather than just through rote is far more interesting, and much more likely to be understood and remembered.

The public school system does not allow for gifted, or less able kids to develop. Classes are made up of age-sets not grade-sets. In class your child is just one small voice among 30, and the lessons are taught at the level and pace of the mid-ability students. A gifted child is not stimulated intellectually and a less able child can soon fall behind. Homeschooling addresses these imbalances, and nurtures your child's academic ability.

3. The social side of homeschooling

Let's face it. Not all public schools have great reputations; bullying, violence in the classroom, drugs. These are all issues that modern schools have to face on a daily basis.

Removing your child from these bad influences and bringing him or her up in a loving and caring environment is far more beneficial both for your family and for the social well-being of your child.

But this doesn't mean a home schooled child never gets to meet anyone and socialize. Far from it, they are far more likely to interact with people of all ages, not just their peers. They are often more confident and outgoing than public schooled children of the same age, and can talk with much greater maturity to adults and people they do not know. It's not at all uncommon for home schooled children to socialize with others in the same position.

Homeschool support networks set up by parents mean that group socializing often happens, and like-minded individuals can play or even study together.

The homeschooling benefits for both you and your child by far outweigh any negative aspects people may throw at you. There is nothing that can not be overcome within a family, and any worries or self-doubt you may have can easily be put right through the support and encouragement of other homeschoolers, either online or in a network group. You'd be missing out on so much of your child's life if you didn't give homeschooling a go!