Why should I consider?

How do you know if home-schooling is right for you and your family? HomeSchool Helpers interviewed several parents of home-schooled students in search of their reason for making that decision. What follows is a list of reasons each of these parents decided to home school.

Choice of curriculum: One huge benefit to home-schooling is the control parents have over the curriculum that a child will use. Parents aren’t confined to the one-size-fits-all curriculum that is used in public school systems. A wide variety is available for parents to decide from. Parents can even base a children’s education on what they are most interested in, focusing on what better suits their specific desires and goals. One parent said since both they and their child had control in the choice of material to cover, an unending “love for learning” was cultivated.

Tailored to each child: In the public school system, there’s really nothing parents can do within the classroom if a child is simply not keeping up or having problems in a subject area. If parents home school, they have the opportunity to tailor teaching methods to each child. If one excels in English but struggles with mathematics, parents can alter the lesson plans to accommodate for that. This method ensures each child will have enough time to fully grasp whatever subject matter is covered, not just rushing through it to finish at the same time as everyone else.

Also, parents can tailor the teaching methods to better fit different personalities or behavioral patterns. If a child has a hard time sitting still for hours at a time, parents can split up the school work to span over different parts of the day, or take a more hands-on approach. The possibilities are endless, and can be changed at any moment should parents notice the need for it.

Schedule flexibility: Freedom is one of the biggest reasons the interviewed parents mentioned for deciding to home school. Parents are no longer confined to the rigorous, fixed seven-hour schedule of the public school system. Parents can choose to do classwork at whatever time of day better suits the family. Another huge benefit is the freedom to take vacations or travel whenever without worrying about whether or not a child is out of school for too long.

Family bonding: Parents no longer have to force shallow conversation in between getting up in the morning and eating breakfast before it’s time to leave for school.

Meaningful conversations and discussions happen during lessons and throughout the whole day when homeschooling. Parents get to participate in more activities together and develop closer relationships than one would if one were gone for the majority of the day.

Creativity: The sky is the limit!

Parents can spend the day outside taking a hike and observing nature or visit a local museum to supplement a history lesson. Beautiful sunny days can be spent outside without deviating from lesson plans. Also, parents can choose the approach that is taken in facilitating the lessons for the day. Parents get to choose which path they are going to take to better fit their learning style based on whether a child thrives on a more hands-on approach, or traditional lecturing/reading.

Whether you are already a homeschooling parent, or are just starting to consider the idea, HomeSchool Helpers is a resource that provides support and advice. They offer help with curriculum selection, lesson planning, extracurricular activities, tutoring and mentoring.

For more information, call 671- 0310 or www.homeschoolhelpers. net or www.facebook.com/ homeschoolhelpersllc.