When we started homeschooling 13 years ago, my goal was to offer my son an education at his level. He was ahead of his peers in school, but our district didn’t test for the gifted program until third grade. So, in second grade, he had the “privilege” of being teacher’s helper. He got to help his classmates finish their math pages. He got to read lots of books when he finished his work before everyone else. He got to do extra worksheets to keep him busy. He doodled a ton. He.was.so.bored! I knew that I could do a better job at meeting his needs than his teacher was doing at the time. Not only was I able to meet his needs, I discovered many more benefits of homeschooling.

 
One of the main benefits of homeschooling for us is the freedom it offers. I have now homeschooled all three of my kids at some point along the way. As I mentioned, I have the freedom to customize their education. When my middle one needed to slow down on his math curriculum we did. I was able to ditch the phonics program for my daughter who could read easy-reader chapter books in kindergarten. We can go at their pace so that they are able to succeed.

We have the freedom to set our own schedule. We can start and end our day at times that work best for us. When I had three at home, we started our days by 9AM and finished by 3PM if they worked diligently. When it was just my oldest {3rd grade}, we could be done by lunch if he worked hard. We can take holidays and vacations when it works best for us. We’ve taken off a week or so in September to go to Disney World when the crowds thin out, because everyone else is back in school. If my daughter has a dance performance during the week, we can do just the basics so she can rest up for or recover from her performance. We can take time off to visit out-of-town family that comes to visit. We can be flexible.

We can choose our own curriculum. I have the freedom to choose Bible-based curriculum. I can choose an advanced spelling program for my natural speller while choosing a more traditional one for my struggling speller. I can choose books that I can use with multiple children at the same time, because the curriculum is designed to teach multiple ages. I can choose what works best for each individual child and their individual learning styles.

My kids have the freedom to learn about things they are interested in. My animal-loving daughter spent three years {K-2} studying biology, because she wanted to focus on animals. We were able to incorporate Legos and pirates into our day when my son was into those things. Today, there are learning pages based on any number of popular topics like Minecraft and Frozen to keep your little one engaged.

I am so thankful for the freedom that homeschooling has given my family!

Your turn: 

What freedoms have you discovered since starting your homeschool journey?