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Enjoying the Benefits of Homeschooling – More Family Time

Homeschooling is an educational option that is widely debated when compared and contrasted with public school. There are always two sides to every story, and there are many themes that always seem to come up in these discussions. This article will focus on one of the popular topics, sharing our family’s experience in regards to it.

 

Debunking the myth: homeschooling takes a long time

The public schools where we live begin around 8:00 am and end around 3:00 pm. That is 7 hours each day that the child is away from home and in the public school building. When you add time to and from school, it is closer to 8 to 9 hours a day. This equates to someone who works full time. Also, the children we know go to public schools have homework almost every night. This adds another hour. Then there are the extracurricular activities in which they can choose to stay up late to participate.

Our experience has been that we spend more and more time at “school” as the child grows. One hour a day is enough for kindergarten, two hours a day for grades 1-4, and about four to six hours for middle and high school grades. This includes all research assignments and papers, etc.

Our children have done well on standardized tests and their annual assessments with this approach. So I’m sure we cover everything you need and more. This has allowed time for other priorities such as housework, helping with the family business, helping a friend, and free time.

Homeschooling does not take as much time for the student as the public education system does. This is one more benefit to homeschooling your child. Then there is the perspective of the teacher or the parents. As a homeschool parent, you will need to spend the aforementioned time with your child every day, plus another 30-60 minutes a day to prepare, review, plan, etc. When you have clear goals and work as a team, you don’t need that much time. Once a grade is passed with one child, even less time is spent on the next.

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