As a homeschool graduate, I am often asked, “What are the benefits of homeschooling?” What did I get out of it, and do I wish I had gone to public or private school?
What Are the Benefits of Homeschooling?
There are three benefits of homeschooling that really helped me enjoy my K-12 experience, and made it so I can emphatically say I am grateful to have been homeschooled. It provided me with the flexibility to pursue my interests, it taught me how to study, and it taught me how to socialize with others.
1. You Can Pursue Your Interests
The first benefit of homeschooling is that it provides flexibility to pursue your interest. You want to be a scientist; you can find a local business to intern at when your friends are locked away in a school building. You want to go on vacation, you don’t have to ask the school principal if you can take your kids with you to see your family or a famous museum or just relax by the ocean. If you are struggling to learn a subject, you don’t have to move to another room when the bell rings. The biggest benefit of homeschooling is the freedom it gives you and your family.
2. You Learn How to Learn
The second benefit of homeschooling is that it taught me how to study. The nature of homeschooling is that you learn how to be self-taught. You learn how to look up terms, find more examples if you don’t understand something, or even search out an expert who does what you are researching for a living. After all, you aren’t being controlled by someone else’s clock. I think this eased my transition into college because I had already developed great study skills. This is also why anyone can homeschool their child through high school. The student learns how to study, and parents don’t have to be experts at everything…just encouragers of good study skills.
3. You Learn How to Socialize
The third benefit of homeschooling is that it teaches you how to socialize. Yes, the exact question everyone wonders about is actually a benefit of being homeschooled. Think about your interactions today, did you hang out with 30 people your exact same age and socio economic background? Homeschooling allows you to interact with adults and children of different ages, children their same age, and many other people of different ages, demographics and experiences. Since you aren’t forced into a room with 30 peers, you learn how to talk to new people, and how to interact with people of all types. Homeschool students actually look you in the eye when they talk to you. It is amazing.
What’s Your Favorite Benefit of Homeschooling?
Or, what do you think you will enjoy if you’re just starting with homeschooling? There are plenty of other benefits, but these three resonate with me and with many others. Live life to the fullest—you can’t do that sitting at a desk eight hours a day and only moving when a bell tells you to move. You can, however, achieve this through homeschooling!
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