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Are you considering it?
It’s almost the end of this school year and a new school year is just around the corner.
There are so many great reasons and benefits of homeschooling. It may not be right for every child and every family. But for my family, homeschooling our oldest C was the right thing to do. I’m very glad that I am a stay at home mom and was able to take on this challenge. You can read our story here.
As I started writing about this topic I looked into some statistics of homeschooling.
These are homeschool statistics based on theNational Home Education Research Institute
Updated January 2019
-There are over 2.3 million homeschool students in the United States. That is, there were an estimated 2.3 million in spring 2016.
-It may be the fastest-growing form of education in the United States.
-The home-educated typically score 15 to 30 percentile points above public-school students on standardized academic achievement tests.
-Home-educated students typically score above average on the SAT and ACT tests that colleges consider for admissions.
-Homeschooled students go to and succeed at college at an equal or higher rate than the general population.
These are pretty great statistics!
As a parent of an autistic child that also has ADHD and learning difficulties, I love that with homeschooling I can challenge him to reach his full potential. Even though I don’t know if
10 Reasons To Homeschool Your Child
1. You create your own schedule
If you’re a busy mom (and what mom isn’t?) as a homeschooling mom you can choose the schedule that best suits your lifestyle. And that best suits your child’s personality, activity level, and therapy schedule.
2. You teach your child at their own pace
Does your child get bored easily? Or maybe they need things slowed down and repeated more than once? Homeschooling gives you the freedom to follow your child, your student, at their pace.
3. You teach your child at their level
With our special kiddos it’s not always perfectly black and white. Sometimes even though they may be in the 5th grade, they are still at the
4. They can have as many breaks as they need
This is so important especially to a child that CANNOT STAY STILL. This doesn’t mean they get to get up and run around whenever they want to. But you can establish a routine and a schedule that fits your child’s needs.
5. You can monitor their food intake
This is a very important reason especially if you have a child that struggles with eating. My C is on ADHD medication and is almost never hungry. It was difficult to make sure he was eating when he was in public school. At
6. There are no other kids around to bring out behaviors from your child
This can make such a difference in your child life. This doesn’t mean you seclude them and never let them near other kids, but there is something about the public school environment and the other kids that bring on anxiety and unwanted behaviors from our kids.
7. You can choose the curriculum to teach your child
This can be overwhelming as I’m learning. But you can also try something and then change it if it’s not working for your family. Each subject can be learned
8. You have more time to teach your child life skills
Instead of staying in a classroom for 6 plus hours a day you can teach your child life skills!
9. The teacher to student ratio is 1:1
Or if you’re homeschooling more than one child it’s 1:2 or 1:3… it’s not 1:29 like it can be in a public school setting. You’re able to give your child the attention that they deserve. This attention will give them the push and the
10. You can teach your children YOUR values and beliefs
You have direct influence over your child. They will learn from YOU! You will get to teach them what matters and what is important to YOU and your FAMILY.
Do you homeschool? If so what reasons do you have?
If not, what’s holding you back?
You got this, mama!
“She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.” – Proverbs 31:26
We’re seriously considering homeschooling our 4 year old non-verbal autistic son. I have no idea where to start or how to actually teach him about letters and numbers etc. Where do I start?
Hi! Thank you for the question. Have you started homeschooling? At this age I recommend just getting down to their level and playing with them. There are so many educational games out there. You can also take the standards that are required or expected at that age or grade level and then adapt them to your sons ability. My son is now 14 and in the 9th grade. I know what is expected and what is required and we alter and make accommodations for my son to be able to reach those standards and goals. Good luck on your homeschooling!
Thank you so much for your posts! Our nine-year-old has autism and ADHD as well. Do you have any tips on how to balance homeschool, housework, and therapies? We are about to start OT/Speech and I’m working on figuring out what that will look like for our other son.
Hi! Thanks for reaching out. How has this fall been going for you guys? One of the best parts of homeschooling in my opinion is the flexibility. My son has therapies throughout the week and my other kids have activities as well and I just take them where they need to go and we homeschool during the hours that we are home. If we happen to be our for a longer period of time I make sure there are books, videos or workbooks they can do in the car or wherever we are. That way no one is missing out on schoolwork and learning. Good luck!