By April L.
Are you thinking about homeschooling your teen? If so, you are not alone. More and more parents today are taking on the role as instructor to their teenagers and are reaping the many rewards. Some of these benefits are listed below:
Individualized Attention
Schools today are overcrowded and with the student to teacher ratio growing, some parents worry that their teen is not getting the attention and help they need. This is a very valid concern, however, with homeschooling, the learning is one-on-one and the pace can be fast or slow, depending on the student’s needs. This could be the reason homeschoolers consistently score at or above average in almost every subject area on standardized tests. Schoolteachers are wonderful at their jobs, but no one has a desire to a child succeed more than his or her parents.
Morals and Values
One of the top benefits parents cite as why they choose to homeschool is their desire to instill certain moral and religious values in their children. These parents want to teach their faith in depth to their teens while developing character and morality traits they find important.
Safety
With so many rumors of death threats and shootings in schools, many parents feel that homeschooling their teen is the safest choice. Teens who are homeschooled are also safe from being bullied and are a lot less likely to be introduced to drugs. Parents of homeschoolers can also feel more confident of their children’s safety if a severe weather event was to occur during the day.
Flexibility and Freedom
These days many adults with children also have the added responsibility of caring for their aging parents. This often demands a flexible schedule, which homeschooling can accommodate. Although this is not the case for everyone, homeschooling still offers convenience for a family on the go, with customized lessons and learning that cannot be found in the public school system.
Creativity and Imagination
Most homeschool curricula allow parents the freedom to customize their children’s education to cater to their special talents and needs. This maximizes learning and offers the parent the opportunity to incorporate many interests into the curriculum with learning activities. This can be as simple as purchasing a small affordable microscope for a day of fun research to teaching them how to manage money with a grocery shopping trip. These and other real-life projects and interactions are possible, whereas his or her schoolhouse peers are more limited to classroom and group-only activities.
Homeschooling your teen is a personal decision and one not to be taken lightly. It is a huge commitment, but as you can see, homeschooling can be very rewarding and beneficial for both you and your teen.
April Labarron is a native of Southern California. She has her BA in English/Literature from MSJC in Menifee, Ca. She views her freelance writing not only as a career, but as her passion. Other areas of interest include: movies, food, singing, soccer, traveling, shopping and a continuous desire for learning. She lives on her own and is accompanied by her Pomeranian named Elvis. She currently resides in Temecula, CA.