Why homeschool?
What is home education?
Home education is a tutorial method of education in which one or both parents assume the entire responsibility of schooling their own children. While many people think of home education as a relatively new concept, in truth, it has been the predominate form of education during 6,000 years of recorded history. Famous home schoolers include Benjamin Franklin, Daniel Webster, Winston Churchill, Alexander Graham Bell, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Pearl Buck, Agatha Christie, C.S. Lewis, Franklin D. Roosevelt ... to name only a few!
What are the benefits of home education?
One major benefit of home education is its academic advantages. Research shows that home educated children perform at a 75-90% average on nationally-recognized achievement tests. This can be attributed in part to the fact that in the home, the quality of learning is held constant (until mastered) and the lesson time varied as needed from child to child.
Conversely, in a classroom, the lesson time is usually held constant and the quality of learning varies from child to child. In addition, the home educator can specifically design a program of study that will meet the needs of each child and allow for individual strengths and weaknesses. Each child can work at his or her own pace without wasting time for other students to finish their work. Due to this economy of time, the extremely low student-teacher ratio, and an environment that is relatively free from distraction, home schooling is a very efficient and productive form of education.
The second major benefit of home education is in the area of character development. The home-schooled child is educated in a multi-age group setting which is a more accurate reflection of the world in which we live. This encourages the adoption of parental values as opposed to peer group values and teaches the child to relate to people of all ages. A loving home environment builds a child's self-esteem, thus enabling him or her to make decisions based on what is right instead of what peers dictate. Home-educated children typically get plenty of social interaction through their family, church, neighborhood, and friends. Instead of producing children who are peer-dependent and lacking self-esteem, home education usually results in self-confident, independent thinkers with strong family roots and the ability to relate to people of all ages.
Encouragement
Below are some encouraging videos from HSLDA to motivate you on your journey.
Home education is a tutorial method of education in which one or both parents assume the entire responsibility of schooling their own children. While many people think of home education as a relatively new concept, in truth, it has been the predominate form of education during 6,000 years of recorded history. Famous home schoolers include Benjamin Franklin, Daniel Webster, Winston Churchill, Alexander Graham Bell, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Pearl Buck, Agatha Christie, C.S. Lewis, Franklin D. Roosevelt ... to name only a few!
What are the benefits of home education?
One major benefit of home education is its academic advantages. Research shows that home educated children perform at a 75-90% average on nationally-recognized achievement tests. This can be attributed in part to the fact that in the home, the quality of learning is held constant (until mastered) and the lesson time varied as needed from child to child.
Conversely, in a classroom, the lesson time is usually held constant and the quality of learning varies from child to child. In addition, the home educator can specifically design a program of study that will meet the needs of each child and allow for individual strengths and weaknesses. Each child can work at his or her own pace without wasting time for other students to finish their work. Due to this economy of time, the extremely low student-teacher ratio, and an environment that is relatively free from distraction, home schooling is a very efficient and productive form of education.
The second major benefit of home education is in the area of character development. The home-schooled child is educated in a multi-age group setting which is a more accurate reflection of the world in which we live. This encourages the adoption of parental values as opposed to peer group values and teaches the child to relate to people of all ages. A loving home environment builds a child's self-esteem, thus enabling him or her to make decisions based on what is right instead of what peers dictate. Home-educated children typically get plenty of social interaction through their family, church, neighborhood, and friends. Instead of producing children who are peer-dependent and lacking self-esteem, home education usually results in self-confident, independent thinkers with strong family roots and the ability to relate to people of all ages.
Encouragement
Below are some encouraging videos from HSLDA to motivate you on your journey.