Does Home Schooling Have Its Rewards?

It has been a few years since my last child graduated from home education, and I can truthfully say I miss home schooling. You may say that you can’t imagine such a day coming. I know that is what I felt each year as the school year was winding down and we were ready for a vacation from formal studies. But all too soon the day came when my daughter graduated from university and my son left for college. Home schooling was a thing of the past and that day comes for all of us.

Home schooling your children has many rewards, the chief of which is the time you can spend together. You aren’t limited to hours at the end of the day when everyone is tired and cranky. Instead, you are with them through all their ups and downs, learning together, and building strong family relationships. Lasting memories are made when the whole family works together , plays together, and travels together. I particularly cherished the moments when I, as their teacher, got to see their “ah-ha” moments – those moments when they finally caught a concept they had been struggling with.

Another reward of home schooling was the knowledge I acquired on the journey. In my own years of schooling, I paid little attention to “boring” history and classical literature. However, I learned to love both as my children developed an interest in those subjects. And, by the time I had gone through school for the third time I had lots of lost data and concepts forever ingrained in my mind. Watching my children learn to love acquiring new knowledge rubbed off on me and the mentor became the mentored. Shhh -don’t tell my kids!