When I started homeschooling my kids, I was mainly focused on two things: discipleship and better academic performance.
Along the way, I discovered that homeschooling offers a lot of wonderful benefits beyond what I originally intended.
Now, further along the way, I realized there are more benefits to it than I originally thought there were.
It offers some hard to beat conveniences that, now, on our 4th year of homeschooling, I actually couldn’t imagine getting my kids educated any other way.
So here I share the incidental benefits, or the perks, of homeschooling. They are incidental because I didn’t intentionally seek them out when I decided to homeschool. They are unexpected and, as such, I consider as just a bonus which I enjoy in educating my children at home.
So without further ado…
My kids can sleep as long as they need
I don’t need to wake my kids up very early. And this is something I really value because we all know that sleep is important, especially for growing kids.
Getting adequate sleep not only supports the physical development of kids but it also enhances their mental capacity and makes learning more effective and efficient. It’s a win-win.
Homeschooling has given my kids the luxury to sleep as long as they need to and leisurely wake up when they want to. So I am assured that my kids are well-rested and do not lack sleep.
When they become adults, I know they would need to learn the discipline of waking up early for work or other important tasks. But for now, I’ll let them be just kids.
We enjoy slow, peaceful mornings
We can take our time going through our morning routine because we are not in a rush to get out of the house.
Though I have to admit that I also nag my kids to hurry up because, well, they’re kids, and they could be slow in getting things done (e.g., changing from their pajamas, making their beds, etc).
They’re kids, I know. But if I just let them take their own sweet time, we might not be able to accomplish anything at all. So I put a little pressure on them to get them going.
But at least we enjoy slow, gentler, and peaceful mornings because we are not trying to get to another place all at the same time.
I don’t need to spend on or pack snacks and lunches
Saves me time, effort, and money :).
I also don’t need to spend on uniforms and definitely don’t need to iron uniforms.
We can eat fresh home-cooked meals for lunch and I can monitor their diet
I am not super strict anymore with what my kids eat.
But since all our mealtimes are spent together, I can at least still exercise some authority and control over junk foods and sweets.
My kids also help me cook, so they are also learning a very practical and important life skill.
We avoid the hassle of commuting
We do not need to beat the rush hour traffic twice in a day.
So we save time from traveling and traffic.
The accumulated time saved from commuting could then be used for more productive activities, like reading or sleeping, or any extra-curricular activity that interests your kids (e.g., crafts, sports, music, etc).
And we save up on fares.
My kids can play more
Because homeschooling is time-efficient (you can cover the same amount of school work at a fraction of a time), my kids do not need to spend long hours sitting in class.
This translates to better health, I believe, because movement is important for kids, too, like sleeping.
As a famous quote says, “play is the work of children”.
We don’t have to deal with homeworks, after-school tutoring, and exam weeks
I say this with all due respect to families of school children, but I honestly cannot imagine sending my kids to school for a whole day, and still needing to teach them again (or hire a private tutor) when they arrive back home.
It’s a duplication of resources (time, effort, and money) and it just seems inefficient.
I will just homeschool instead 😊.
I know of parents and whole families who refer to exam weeks as “hell week” because, well you know… exams are stressful experiences.
I am learning along my child and getting re-educated
When I graduated from college, I was afraid to face the real world because, to be honest, I felt like I didn’t learn anything from the years I spent in school. And to be honest, I’m not the only person who said this.
Also, I hate and am embarassed to admit that I am part of the Filipino population who does not know a thing about world history, or even our own local history for that matter.
And I haven’t read a lot of classic literature, either.
There are a lot of things that I am just learning right now, while homeschooling my kids. And there are a lot of famous and classic books that I am just reading right now, along with my kids.
I am actually envious of my kids because they are getting the kind of education I wish I had, which is way better than what I had. But I am very, very grateful for it.
I actually think my dear daughter (DD) is more intelligent than me when I was her age because she has read so many books now which I didn’t get to read then (hint: we follow AmblesideOnline).
But I am grateful because homeschooling is giving me a chance to redeem my flawed education.
We enjoy freedom and flexibility
I have already mentioned this in my previous post but it is too good of a benefit that it warrants to be mentioned again.
Freedom and flexibility means we can afford to take a vacation during off-peak seasons (when crowds are less and cost is cheaper), accommodate visitors and go on out-of-town day trips, meet up with fellow homeschoolers just because we want to, take time off from school when sick without actually missing school, and more, anytime we want to.
We can do school from Tuesdays to Saturdays so we can do errands on Mondays. Or even do a four-day school week if we want to. We can also choose to start school at the start of the year in January. The possibilities are endless.
I actually know of a family who’s number one reason for homeschooling is the freedom and flexibility is offers.
It is just unbeatable, in my opinion.
We save
Since we don’t spend for tuition fees, uniforms, snacks, transportation/fares, and miscellaneous school fees, we spend significantly less by homeschooling.
We do spend a lot on books, though. But even if we splurge on books (which I do not really consider as an expense, but as an investment), the amount we spend is still significantly cheaper than sending my children to a private school.
And even if they are costly, spending for books is still cost-efficient because books are non-consumables and will be re-used by my other child.
Not only that, books can be re-read again and again for the sheer pleasure of reading.
Featured image by Yan Krukau.