So, last week I decided to start updating these old posts from 2009, as I am publishing my friends’ reasons for homeschooling in my ABC’s of Why We Homeschool series going on right now on my blog as well. Many of my reasons for homeschooling are still the same, although it’s six years and two additional children later. My youngest child is almost the age Laynie was when I first wrote these reasons for homeschooling. I hope you enjoy getting to know me a little bit more.
Reason #2: It’s Personal
When I homeschool Laynie, she receives individualized instruction catering to her and her only. Her needs are met according to her specific learning style and her interests.
Laynie loves reading and writing Science and Math activities, and gets a kick out of workbooks (believe it or not!). She likes knowing exactly what the expectations are, and can meet them with the least bit of effort possible in order to check the task off of her list and move on to more important things, like doing cartwheels and handstands. Truthfully, I think she’d get on a teacher’s last nerve! She’d be the kid who was finished in five minutes and then got in trouble for talking or getting out of her seat because she was bored.
In a regular school classroom, she’d be one of 20-28 children. Her teacher would be bogged down with the needs of each student, and he/she would be simply unable to completely meet the needs of each and every one. I’ve been a teacher… I know what it’s like to try to balance the necessity of helping the struggling students, loving the emotionally fragile ones, challenging the bored over-achievers, while also attempting to keep the rest of the class engaged in their education, in an environment that doesn’t provide the resources or support needed to do so. It’s really impossible – it all looks good on paper, but it’s just not humanly possible. Teachers are overwhelmed. The education system expects teachers to have the ability take care of each and every one, yet it doesn’t give them what they need to do it. But that’s just my soapbox… I digress… I need to get back to my main point… I believe that my child would lose her love for Science and Math in an environment where her personal needs and interests are not met.
As Laynie’s teacher, one-on-one, I know her exact needs and likes, and I can come up with educational activities that she will excel in and enjoy, and perhaps fly through. She has a private, one-on-one teacher, and everything is geared for her and her only. In doing so, I hope to create a lifelong love for learning, and she will enjoy more successes than frustrations and limitations. She won’t be neglected when she desires more stimulating material, or when she needs assistance with a difficult concept. She won’t be assigned busy work to pass the time while other kids are getting help from the teacher. Rather than waste 6-7 hours of her day in a classroom chair, instead when she’s done with her lessons, she’s free to play and enjoy her childhood, doing as many cartwheels and handstands as she pleases after her few hours of work are completed.
Do you make your homeschool lessons personal? Does it make learning more effective for your child?
