When we set out to homeschool our children, we have so many goals in mind. We want a DIY, child-centered education rather than a cookie cutter approach that leaves so many children behind. We want a bully-free environment. We want to raise our kids with our values (obviously, progressive in my home) rather than those absorbed from a curriculum. We want to foster our kids’ passions and dreams, cut down on homework, up the playtime and time spent as a kid in general… The list goes on. I’m sure it does for your family, too.
But there are surprise benefits of homeschooling that I did not expect when I started out on this journey. For example, I always thought that I’d have to work really hard to make my child available to play with other kids. I didn’t realize that the homeschooling community is so much bigger, or that my daughter would have not only more friends than I had as a child, but often more time to play with them as well.
When you eat in a cafeteria every day, you get used to processed foods, soda machines and junk food surrounding you, and if you bring your lunch you feel like a weirdo. When you eat in a co-op cafeteria, however, there are so many varieties of foods that you don’t feel weird bringing your own lunch. Everyone brings a lunch! And every dietary need is considered. Gluten-free, vegetarian or simply not into chicken patties on a bun? No problem—you are in good company.
Although I expected my daughter to remain creative, intuitive and a critical thinker by staying home from school, I did not expect for her to become better at communicating and more confident than I have ever been in my life.
What unexpected, positive surprises did you experience by homeschooling?
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
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