Making the decision to homeschool your children, should not be taken lightly. I know, because I am the parent of a homeschooled child. We made the decision to homeschool our children for a variety of reasons. Here I will delve into some of these reasons. Perhaps this will help you in any decision you may have about homeschooling your own child.

Safety

Where we live, there is a concern over the safety of children in our local schools. We are often hearing of school lock downs in the news for a variety of reasons. Crimes such as stabbings, drugs being found in school lockers and bullying are just a few of the reasons why we do not feel comfortable sending our young child out into a school environment where he cannot be protected. The student to teacher ratio is just not conducive to keeping all the children safe, either while in school or in the playground. Not only that, but this ratio makes it more difficult for learning in a classroom environment, which we will discuss in our next point.

Accelerated Learning

As stated in the previous paragraph, it is difficult for a child to learn and be educated when they are one of approximately 30 students in a classroom assigned to 1 teacher. It is particularly challenging for the teacher to give one-on-one attention to each student, assess their needs, and provide them with the tools necessary for each one to excel. Students who are gifted are not challenged and waiting around for the other students to catch up. Students who are slow, are not getting the attention they require to catch up to the other students.

Providing a homeschool environment for the student allows the child to learn at their own pace. It does not force them to go on to the next section if they have not fully understood the previous one. One-on-one attention by a parent/teacher allows the student to ask all the questions he or she feels are necessary in order to understand and learn. In addition, the waiting time of a teacher working with 29 other students is not there and so the homeschooled student has the opportunity to excel at a more accelerated pace. You will often find homeschooled students are further ahead in their learning than their regular schooled peers.

Learning Environment

The learning environment of a homeschool is such that the child feels safe and free to learn at their own pace. The location being flexible is also a great benefit. If it's a nice sunny and warm day, the parent can move learning time to out in the back yard. Or, if the family is on a camping trip, school goes along with them. Being a homeschooled family allows you to be flexible in the location of study and as such frees up the family to travel and spend time away from their home. All while learning. You will often find homeschooled children in families that are on the road on an extended vacation. These children will most likely have education surrounding their current locale included in their schooling. Breaking up the monotony makes things more interesting. If a child is interested, they will learn and remember.

Course of Study Control

Having control over the course of study of my homeschooled child is very important. We are free to choose the cirriculum that we wish to use. We can mix and match different areas and customize it to our child's specific needs. Having the ability to teach our families' values to our children, and not someone else's, is important to us as well.

More Family Time

Homeschooling allows us to have more family time together. Our children are always with us and we take them pretty much everywhere. They have the benefit of knowing that they are in a secure and safe place. Spending time together as a family gives a security to children. One that they will value and learn from as they grow older and go out into the work force.

I could probably go into other reasons why we homeschool our children, but for now I thought I'd give you a little insight into my perspective as a mother who homeschools. If you are thinking of homeschooling your children, maybe some of the reasons I've discussed above will help you make your decision.