The Benefits of Home Schooling

Dear friends,

I'm starting a new little series that I hope to add to every now and then.  For today, just a little excerpt from the first chapter of my first book The Real Life Home School Mom, which is available for free download or on-line reading in the sidebar of this blog, www.startwellhomeschool.blogspot.com.  I have another book, Common Sense Excellence: Faith-Filled Home Education for Preschool to 5th Grade, which is available for purchase.  You can e-mail me at virginiaknowles@gmail.com for more information on ordering that.  I also invite you to visit my middle school blog, www.ContinueWellHomeSchool.blogspot.com, my high school blog at www.FinishWellHomeSchool.blogspot.com, my blog of inspiration and practical tips for mothers, www.ComeWearyMoms.blogspot.com, and my regular blog, www.VirginiaKnowles.blogspot.com.

Next time, I'll share about how our family, which now has six school age children and four young adults, got involved in the home schooling movement over 20 years ago.

The Benefits of Home Schooling

Sometimes to keep ourselves on track, we need to go back to the beginning and remind ourselves why we chose to home school in the first place. Let's focus for a few minutes on the visions we had at the start. If I were writing a pro-con list about home schooling, the “pro” side might be like this. Home schooling allows us to:

• nurture a lifetime love of learning in a natural, affirming atmosphere
• grow in unity as we spend time learning with and about each other
• watch our children blossom and know that we played a major role
• refresh our own knowledge of school subjects
• direct the education and upbringing of our children (Deuteronomy 6:4-7)
• present issues in the context of our family's values and beliefs
• select and customize effective methods and curriculum for each child
• give individual attention so each child can work at his or her own level
• weave school subjects together logically and creatively
• delve deeper into fascinating topics, while cutting out busy work
• let our children pursue personally motivating interests and projects
• find out what truly works for our children with learning disabilities
• protect our children from physical dangers rampant on school campuses
• reduce peer pressure and competition, while offering positive training and opportunities for socialization
• set our own daily and yearly schedules
• train our children in the work ethic and responsible living
• stay in touch with our child's environment
• deal with problems promptly in accordance with family policies
• teach children to make wise choices and set solid standards for excellence using the Bible, good literature, and mature adults as resources.

It sounds exciting, and what's more, statistical research on home schooling shows success. As a whole, home schooled children far surpass the national norm in scores on standardized academic tests and have also excelled on psychological profiles measuring self-concept and leadership aptitude. According to studies by Dr. Brian Ray of the National Home Education Research Institute, the academic scores are not even very dependent on the socioeconomic status, education level, or professional certification of the parents. It appears that the key factor to success is the commitment of the parents to making sure their children receive an excellent education.