People have often asked me what school I go to. My answer? Homeschool!
I believe one of the greatest blessings I’ve had is the opportunity to be homeschooled my whole life. Today, I want to share with you some of my favourite things about home-education.
Homeschool Brings Freedom
Freedom to learn at your own pace, to choose your topics, to set your schedule, to go outside and do something you enjoy.
Sometimes traditional school gets too rigid. Bell rings? DO THIS! Bell rings? DO THAT! This is just unnatural for kids, and they get overwhelmed. So many school-kids are tired and bored all the time, because they never get to decide anything for themselves. It’s no wonder everybody dreads school-work!
But with homeschool, everything is very individualised. With the advice of his parents, a child or teen gets to decide things for himself, developing critical thinking skills.
Parents Can Teach
Parents know and care about their children a lot more than anyone else does. A school will try to teach every student the same thing with the same method; but that doesn’t work very well for anybody! Kids are people, not machines that can be moved along a factory conveyor belt. Not everyone can be taught the exact same thing in the exact same way.
And really, who knows what they’re teaching in school? With homeschool, parents can teach their own kids to live by the standards they value, encourage them to follow their interests, and to take responsibility. Parents can also seek to understand the methods of learning their kid really thrives on, and use more of them.
Individual Interests and Abilities
The traditional classroom setting has a One-Size-Fits-All approach, meaning each individual’s unique interests and abilities may go unnoticed or underdeveloped. But when you homeschool, you can personalise education!
Click here to learn more about personalised learning.
Of course, this makes learning a lot more exciting and enjoyable. We can explore various subjects until we discover what really sparks our curiosity. That might look like delving into the mysteries of outer space, immersing yourself in the captivating world of literature, unraveling the secrets of the past, or starting a business! Far from being a chore, education becomes an adventure filled with passion and enthusiasm.
I’ve always loved drama. My family was able to incorporate drama classes into our homeschool week, so we could spend more time honing our artistic skills. It helped me and my siblings gain confidence, make friends, and explore what we actually enjoy. By embracing our interests and learning new skills, we saw incredible growth and achievement.
Learn at Your Own Pace
It happens all the time in school: some kids learn quickly and get bored, while other kids learn more slowly and feel dumb. But one of the key benefits of personalised learning, which is what homeschool really is, is the ability to learn at your own pace. No more rushing through lessons or feeling left behind. Students have the freedom to set the rhythm that suits them best.
Most kids know exactly what they’re “good at” and what they’re “bad at”, because they compare their own level of knowledge to the level of the other kids in their class. All I can compare myself with is where I was before to where I am now. No miserable feeling of failure, no bloated feeling of success, just the satisfaction of completing a challenge I know I could never have done last year.
If Belle enjoys learning science, she can dive deeper and challenge herself further with homeschooling than she ever could in school. But if she can’t stand maths, that’s fine too. She can take her time, break it down into manageable parts, and approach it in a way that makes sense to her. With personalised learning, Belle can take charge of her own education and nurture her growth in a way that feels comfortable and fulfilling.
Learn Beyond the Classroom Walls
Imagine learning math while baking cookies, conducting science experiments in the backyard, or visiting the local museum. With the flexibility of homeschooling, the world becomes a classroom, and the possibilities for educational adventures are endless!
My family used to go on all sorts of adventures, such as canyoning, which involves bush walking, abseiling, swimming, clambering, sliding, and jumping through a natural playground of a canyon. It’s the best thing ever! And the best part? Even something like that can be educational in many different ways.
“Learning” doesn’t mean sitting down with a textbook and a teacher. In fact, it’s not something you should have to DO at all! There are endless ways to learn. Although it can be very helpful, you don’t always need an online course, a teacher, or even a textbook! Learning should come naturally.
Design Your Own Schedule
With homeschool, one of the incredible perks is the flexibility and freedom to create a schedule that aligns with your unique lifestyle. No more rigid bells dictating every move or rushing to catch the school bus every day. Students can design their own day.
I used to sometimes get up early and finish all my schoolwork before 8:00 a.m! A school day shouldn’t have to take thirty hours per week. Most of us can actually finish the day’s work in less than three hours! So why do kids have to sit at a desk hour after hour?
Some of us are early birds who love starting the day with a burst of energy. Some of us are night owls who thrive during the quiet hours. In traditional schools, you may have experienced the frustration of trying to concentrate during hours that didn’t match your peak productivity. But with homeschool, kids have the freedom to learn during the times when we’re most alert and focused, allowing them to to absorb information and retain knowledge so much better!
Learning As a Family
Homeschool really brings a family together while nurturing a love for learning. Kids don’t have to go their separate ways, but the whole family can learn together. My parents used to read, both fiction and nonfiction, to four of us at once! My brothers were a bit older, so they’d have an extra challenge, such as writing a short summary of each chapter, but I’d just tag along and find myself learning what they were learning, despite being very young.
Learning with the family really makes it fun! I was the fifth child after four brothers, so as you can imagine, I was born into a circus. Perhaps more like a zoo! Plenty of entertainment anyway. Some of my favourite family memories include having our hobby farm with five acres, on which we had a veggie patch, a sandpit, a trampoline, chooks, and a house cow! I remember breeding birds and hand-raising the chicks. I remember our family business, which we all helped with. I have memories of going on lots of outdoor adventures. And I also remember us reading aloud to one another. Beautiful memories like these are something I am infinitely grateful for. And if it wasn’t for homeschooling, we could never have done all we did.
Not only does learning with the family make it fun, it builds important lifelong skills, such as collaboration, teamwork, communication, problem-solving, responsibility, and the appreciation of different people’s perspectives. It also teaches kids to be more resilient.
Because of all this, we can be closely bonded as a family. And I believe strengthening the family unit is very important for everybody.
How Do You Make Friends?
I’d like to know how anyone makes friends at school! Any good ones, I mean. At school, you might make friends with the other kids in your class, right? Really that seems quite a small pool of potential mates. I have the option of absolutely anybody! It shouldn’t be weird to have friends of all different ages, skills and knowledge. In fact it’s often more rewarding to speak with people older than you, who can teach you something, or younger, who can learn from you.
Homeschool groups are an excellent way to meet people in the same boat as you. All the kids can play together, while the parents can pass on useful tips. I think you often make better, more lasting friendships at a homeschool group than you would in school. After all, not a lot of schoolmates really stay in touch after leaving or graduating, but I have friends I’ve known for eleven years! And we still get on very well.
How Do You Get a Job?
Most people assume you need to complete year 12 at high school in order to go to university or get a job, but in fact you don’t. A high school certificate signals that you are ‘normal’ and that you can put up with drudgery and following orders for 13 years – that is about it. Employers are looking to recruit people who stand out as being capable, interested in their field, mature and responsible. Homeschooling gives you the opportunity to start developing your interests and working towards your career at a much earlier age. By the time their institutionally schooled friends graduate at age 17 or 18, a home educated student may already have several years head start, gaining real work experience demonstrating their skills.
It’s similar with university. Colleges and Universities are no longer tied to the school system, but instead they provide numerous pathways to gain entry without year 12. Some of my brothers started uni at around 15 and 16 years old and were finished by the age many school kids would be starting. Typically home educated kids also do better at uni, as they are already experienced at self directed learning, which university requires.
To Sum Up
With personalised learning in homeschool, students can be the architect of their own education. They can tailor their learning journey to match their interests, abilities, and learning style. Homeschool, really, encourages kids to unlock their true potential in a way school just never can.
Homeschool allows you to design your schedule to fit your lifestyle, interests, and optimal learning times. You can craft a schedule that works for you.
The family unit becomes a team, learning and growing together. Through collaborative learning, you foster stronger bonds, create cherished memories, and develop lifelong skills.
In the realm of homeschooling, exploration and curiosity take center stage, empowering you to pursue your passions and delve into deep learning. Follow your curiosity, nurture your interests, and go beyond the surface to develop a comprehensive understanding of the subjects that captivate you.
With homeschool, education becomes a joyful and fulfilling adventure that brings out the best!
Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out my other articles to learn more about these topics:
What I’ve Learned From Reading Stories
3 thoughts on “Homeschool: Why I Love Being Home-Educated”
When I started homeschool, I too was under the impression that the kids would be anti-social… Oh boy was I wrong; In fact I found they are more social than all the kids at the school I went to.
Yes, this topic is so often misunderstood, but home-educated students are usually at no disadvantage at all!
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