With back-to-school season here in full force, many parents may be considering if public schools are right for their children as opposed to homeschooling. We believe that homeschooling can be extremely beneficial for adolescents. The main benefits include learning core life skills, increased flexibility, stronger parent/child relationships, and advanced independence. A majority of these skills and benefits are not prominent in a public-school setting; therefore, many parents have begun to lean toward wanting to homeschool their children.

Learning Life Skills

Common life skills are typically not taught in public schools on the basic core curriculum. It’s extremely important that adolescents are taught these basic life skills at an early age so they can be prepared for what’s to come. Did you know that homeschooled children are more likely to have better social skills? Believe it or not, it’s because they’re around adults more often than teens and have built their skills off what they see at home. Parents are able to teach their children more than just the core curriculum, including faith, personal finance, and household responsibilities.

Teaching the importance of financial skills should be a primary focus for children. This is extremely important as we know that learning about financial responsibility at an early age can set kids up for success. Teaching adolescents how to budget their money, save for the future, and better their credit can put them in a great place once they’re ready to step into the real world. Want your child to be prepared to buy a house at an early age? Teach them about saving for a home and what credit score is needed to buy a house. The ability to be taught financial literacy is much more common in homeschooling than in public schools.

Increased Flexibility

Of course, homeschooling comes with an abundance of flexibility as compared to the traditional school day. The day can start and end whenever, as long as the curriculum requirements are met. Growing adolescents thrive off more sleep so having them wake up as early as 6 a.m. for school can be a challenge. Consider letting them sleep in a bit; it’s okay to shift the school day a few hours.

A flexible schedule also gives your child the ability to build their own routine, as opposed to someone choosing it for them. Fortunately, flexible work schedules are becoming more and more common so this isn’t a bad idea to let your child create a schedule at an early age. Encourage them to figure out when they’re most motivated to do their schoolwork, when they want time for exercise, and when they want to work on chores around the house.

Another benefit of the flexibility of homeschooling is being able to accommodate sick days. Many public schools provide a limited number of sick days your child can take. With homeschooling, you can work around these sick days by doing work on weekends or nights since schoolwork doesn’t need to be completed during regular school hours.

Stronger Parent/Children Relationships

It’s been determined that many homeschooled adolescents have a better relationship with their parents. In most cases, this is because they’re with their parents more in the day-to-day than if they were at public school. This leads them to become more understanding of each other. Finding ways to manage the daily struggles of life with a parent can increase that bond.

Being both a parent and a teacher can be tricky, but it also provides the ability to teach your kids more about their family’s faith and culture. The parents are allowed to choose their own path to teaching their children as long as the basic curriculum is met. The more personalized the teachings can get, the more of a connection the child will have with their parent/teacher.

Advanced Independence

Independence is key for when your adolescent steps into adulthood. This is not typically taught in a traditional school setting as kids are encouraged to lean on their teachers and classmates for help with almost everything. Learning how to be independent at an early age can be extremely beneficial as it’s a difficult skill to build.

Start by teaching your kids how to develop time management skills. This way, they can master their own routine and start a daily to-do list. Provide them with a planner so they can write down what needs to be done each day of the week and they can cross it off once it’s complete. Their time management skills will go a long way with this method and set them up for success in college and real life.

Another skill to be taught along with independence is self-motivation. They may need a little push at first, and many kids struggle with this skill more than others. Self-motivation can significantly help your adolescent with creative thinking. Not just creatively thinking about things like arts and crafts but how to get through a tough situation or handle busy days. Work with your child to find what motivates them that way they will be comfortable using this skill once they’re on their own.

Final Thoughts

If you’re struggling with what educational route you’d like to take, consider these main benefits of homeschooling and see if it feels like a path you’d like. Teaching your child at home has been proven to help them develop basic life skills quicker and learn at a pace that fits their needs.