You asked for it, so here it is! Today I am happy kick off a new series on homeschooling with a guest post from Milehimama (a.k.a. Lisa). I’m a first gen homeschooling mom with zero experience, which is, um, intimidating to say the least. So before we get into academics let’s wiggle out our pre-homeschooling jitters with a lighthearted look at a serious topic. See, I’m talking like a kindergarten teacher already. 🙂
Secret Perks
Homeschooling has many benefits, including spending more time with your children, learning and discovering about the world with them, and providing a solid education. In fact, it’s not hard to find hundreds of inspirational essays extolling the virtues of homeschooling.
I’ve been at this for a few years, and let me tell you, there are also some great, secret benefits of homeschooling that get taken for granted. Here are my top ten unexpected benefits of homeschooling;
1. You can sleep late, because there’s no bus to catch or lunch to pack. You make your own schedule, so you don’t have to anything before noon unless you want to. And if you decide to have family movie night but it’s a Wednesday, it’s no problem because the kids don’t have to be in bed by 8.
2. You get a nifty cyber-tan from surfing all of the homeschool mommy blogs for hours each night after the kids are in bed. You’ll look just like all the young, cool kids and no one will know your eerie glow doesn’t come from managing your friends on Facebook or creating viral videos.
3. You can teach kids to make chocolate cupcakes and bacon, and call it Home Ec. And then someone else can make you bacon every single day. Win-win!
4. You’ll be in on all the radio jockey’s inside jokes because you spend hours listening as you ferry your progeny from Nature Journaling to Science Co-Op to the library. If you use your cell phone for the call in shows, they’ll become old friends!
5. Your kids get plenty of fresh air as you throw them outside every afternoon for a mental health break. Since all the other kids are still in school, they’ll be forced to ride their bikes, built tree forts, or dig a hole to China instead of battling their BFF on the PS3.
6. You know more about the War of 1812 than anyone else you’ll ever come in contact with. Impress at dinner parties with your knowledge of where lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner came from, and then look really smart as you seamlessly segue into an analogy featuring the classical personality Icarus and his ill-fated wings.
7. You know thirteen different ways to fix or jerry rig a printer. And you’ve taught the kids, so they already have a marketable job skill.
8. You get to go to the amusement park when there are no lines. And hanging out at the children’s museum all morning drinking a latte while you explore with your five year old? Totally counts as school. It sure beats waiting in the pick-up lane at the local elementary.
9. You learn how to handle humiliation and embarrassment with enviable grace and poise, because practice makes perfect. Next time your goofy third grader tells his grandmother -a professional, licensed teacher- that he doesn’t know how to spell his name because he thinks it’s funny, just imagine how much more gracious and like Jackie O you’re becoming!
10. More time for Twitter! Homeschooling often means you have to be physically present but not really mentally engaged, as you wait for the kids to finish a worksheet, silently read a chapter before a quiz, or practice their multiplication tables. This is the perfect time to catch up on the latest social media fail and find out what all your friends are having for lunch.
Is something missing? Name your fave homeschooling benefit below!!
About Milehimama: Lisa is the disorganized, discombobulated mother of nine children in Houston, desperately trying to get her act together before they all graduate high school. You can catch up on her latest frugal tips, real food recipes, and big family adventures on her website, Mama Says.
