This blog is to share some of the learning adventure my kids have begun by embarking in the homeschooling journey. We are happy to share and hope some of it will encourage you, some of it will be helpful. I will continue to work on each post as time allows. Please be patient. (Picture above "let them be little" borrowed for my collage from the fantastic site Simple Homeschooling). My kids are happy to be working on this blog and specially happy to share with you some of their joy of homeschooling!
Now to our topic, why homeschool?! Well I was one of those people that at first thought: homeschooling? What in the world is that? See I am from Costa Rica and although I grew up moving from one country to the next I never met a home-schooler and never heard about it. So the first thing that passed my mind was, the kids would not meet anyone they probably
turn into weirdos. I know, very open minded of me! Yeah right!
But at this time in my life, when i started hearing about homeschooling, I was living in Canada. British Columbia to be exact and it so happens that in BC there are many families that homeschool. So, as time passed and I met more homeshooling families. And the more I met the more impressed I was. The kids were friendly and outgoing, they actually were so nice, that they made me and my classmates (when I was in school) look like the weirdos.
I was so impressed my heart stared opening and warming up to the idea. Then one day my husband came home and told me about a great scandal that happened in Vancouver that involved about four Private schools, two of which we had been seriously considering for our oldest girl that was fast approaching kindergarden age. I will not tell you details because they are truly horrible, but it involved some kids filming a special needs girl in a very personal and embarrassing way and sharing that on the internet. Passing it to the other schools, where this became so bad the police had to come and take the computers and everything. It was terrible!
So this got me seriously thinking that homeschooling could be an option for us. My husband and I t down and weighed the pros and cons and let me tell you the pros won by a mile. For us the list was like this:
Why homeschool?
- you get to chose the curriculum that fits your child best. If they are advanced there is no limit as to how fast you can advance. If they are special needs or they just do not get concepts that fast you can go slow,a s slow as they need without the teacher pressuring them or classmates making fun of them.
- no bullies. You can really find a great group of friends that fit well with your family. There are many great homeschooling families, some religious some not at all. But for sure even if there are not many homeschoolers in your area you will help your small child find friends that are worth having.
- better chance they will be protected from drugs. Drugs, sex, alcohol will be addressed by at home lovingly but not glamorized or misrepresented. Who knows more your kid, you or a teacher that has twenty others? Who cares more for your kid? You or that same teacher?
- the time kids spend at school now days is way too long. Homeschooling allows your kids to be kids. They get to play and enjoy while learning. For K-1. We homeschooled four times a week maximum of 1 hour a day. And my girl's official grades were mostly exceeding expectations. They
learn at home next to you their favorite person! They learn more and faster! There is no wasting time, this means more time to play, more time to go to field trips, more time to be a kid!
- There are many different styles of learning and many easy curriculums you can select from. You can investigate until you find the style that fits you and your child. There is no limit to what you can do! These awesome, complete and easy to follow curriculums take you by the hand and guide you step by step explaining in great detail what to do. There is all the help you need out there, if you want it. If you are confident and you want to go a different way, there is room for that to. You will find a curriculum, or a style that fits your kid and your family well.
- There is a supportive homeschooling community out there. . We all share info and encourage each other.
- and as of turning into weirdos that is far from the truth. They turn into confident friendly kids that reach out to meet people because they have to make an effort if they are going to have friends. And kids do want to have friends, so they try harder and they use all their charm. They stop caring about ages, no a homeschooler does not discriminate based on age! Anyone is game! If you are friendly and nice you are a candidate for a friend. A homeschooler does not live in a box, literally like school kids are. A homeschooler sees people for who they are, they do not judge based on size or age. They great kids to be around!
I will continue my list in a future post because, yes there are more reasons to homeschool!
Have fun and remember : Homeschool, it will always be worth your effort!!
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