Why do large families homeschool?
Why do large families homeschool? There are so many reasons why home education is often a perfect fit for a big family. Find many of the reasons and other Homeschool tips here to see if homeschooling might be the right choice for your large family.
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Home schooling is a type of education provided in the home instead of public or private schools. Usually, it is the parent who provides this education, but there are also cases where tutors are hired to teach children at home. Families decide to homeschool their children for different reasons, and homeschooling is often the educational choice of many large families.
Why do large families homeschool?
There are many reasons why parents of families of all sizes might choose to homeschool their children. Some parents feel that the public school system is not meeting their child’s needs. Others believe that they can provide a better quality of education at home. Still, others want to instill specific values or beliefs in their children that they feel are not being taught in traditional schools. These are just a few of the reasons why parents choose home education, but let’s focus specifically on why large families homeschool.
If you’re considering homeschooling but are worried about how you’ll manage with a large family, you’re not alone. Many moms of large families feel the same way. But the truth is, homeschooling can be a great option for large families. Here are 12 reasons why homeschooling is a good fit for families with 3 or more children.
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Quality Education
One of the main reasons why large families homeschool is because they want all of their children to receive a higher quality of education than they feel is provided in public schools. At home, a wider variety of subjects can be covered. Parents are also able to teach at each child’s own pace and insure that each child is grasping all of the material covered before moving on to the next concept. As a result, homeschooled students, in general, score significantly higher on standardized testing than public schooled students.
Individualized Education
Homeschooling allows the parent to tailor the educational experience to each individual child, making sure that their unique needs are being met. Parents do this by making curriculum choices based on each child’s learning style, strengths, and needs. Then they teach to the child’s strengths which allows the child to consume and retain the information much more efficiently.
Instill Faith and Family Values
Another reason why large families might opt for homeschooling is because they want to instill specific values in their children. Perhaps the family has strong religious beliefs or wants to raise their kids with a certain set of moral values. Parents can incorporate things like a bible curriculum into their homeschool day. Regardless of the faith, homeschooling provides an opportunity for parents to infuse their own beliefs and values into their child’s education.
Controlled Educational Environment
Some families choose to homeschool because they want more control over what their children are exposed to on a daily basis. With the rise of social media and the 24-hour news cycle, it can be difficult to protect young minds from negative influences. When you homeschool, you can choose the materials and resources that you feel are appropriate for your child and shield them from things that you feel might be harmful. Parents can also avoid issues like bullying that are prevalent in schools.
Control of the Homeschool Schedule
Many large families choose to homeschool because they can design a homeschool schedule that fits their life instead of building their life around a school schedule. This allows for many opportunities that traditional schooling eliminates. For instance, family vacations can be taken during the off season while other children are in school. Students can also specialize in various sports, career paths and educational pursuits by committing more time to training, practice, and apprenticeships that other students can.
For example, my family loves martial arts. Several of our children are competitive and even work as instructors. Homeschooling allows them to teach and take classes in the mornings, homeschool in the afternoons, and then teach and take class in the evenings again at the martial arts school.
Curriculum Tailored to Family Interest
Homeschooling allows a large family to tailor the curriculum to the family’s interests. For instance, as I mentioned before, our family is heavily involved in martial arts. The martial arts classes that my kids take and teach are our physical education credits. One of my daughters loves photography so, all of her time spent interning with photographers on location counts as arts credits and even business class when she is helping with the business aspects with those photographers. This same concept can be applied to almost any educational need.
Education can Happen Outside the Classroom
Large families are often very busy families. It helps to homeschool because “school” can happen almost anywhere such as:
- In the car known as “carschooling”
- On the road while traveling or “roadschooling”
- at the park
- at arts schools while other siblings are taking lessons
- in doctor’s offices which is especially helpful for parents of medically complex kids
- on location with field trips and internships
Homeschool Takes Less Time
Yes, it does take time from the homeschooling mom (or parent) to accomplish educating children each day, but it does not require eight hours in a classroom for 180 days per year to get a well rounded, quality education. In fact, most states count a four hour day for a homeschooled child as a whole school day. That is much less time than spending eight hours a day in a classroom and then three to five hours per night on homework. Because homeschooling takes less time, children have more free time to play, participate in sports and activities and to just be kids!
Homeschooling is More Economical
Large families often find that tuition and other associated costs with attending schools, public or private, can be a significant financial burden. Homeschooling can help to alleviate some of this burden by allowing you to avoid these costs such as:
- Uniforms and clothing
- School lunch and snacks
- School fees and classroom needs
- Transportation
- Before and afterschool care
Homeschooling Helps to Develop Better Social Skills
This may be a shock to some people since one of the biggest arguments against the idea of homeschooling is the socialization myth. By homeschooling, children of large families often have the opportunity to interact with a wider range of people, not just a classroom of children their own age, which can help them to develop strong social and emotional skills. Additionally, homeschooling can provide a more supportive and nurturing environment for kids, which can help children to thrive.
More Family Time
Families that homeschool, no matter the family size, spend more time together. Children who attend public or private school spend at least eight hours per day at school. If you include extracurriculars and time to sleep, the time children actually spend with their parents is minimal. Homeschooling allows the family to actually be a family the majority of the time. This creates a strong sense of safety, and an environment that allows a child to really thrive.
There are many reasons why families choose to homeschool their children, but large families have unique reasons for taking this path. Homeschooling allows large families to provide a tailored education for each child while still teaching them side-by-side. Additionally, families who opt for this type of schooling can infuse their own values and beliefs into the curriculum and have more control over what their children are exposed to on a daily basis. If you’re part of a large family considering homeschooling, know that you’re not alone—many other families have chosen this route for similar reasons!