7 Reasons Many Parents are Deciding to Start Homeschooling

Recently, homeschooling has grown in popularity among families across diverse backgrounds. Nowadays, more and more parents prefer to personally educate their children at home instead of sending them to traditional school. According to NHERI, around 3.7 million students were homeschooled in the USA between 2021 and 2022. Several factors contribute to this trend of deciding to start homeschooling, including dissatisfaction with traditional schools, the desire for more family time, and the flexibility homeschooling provides.

While homeschooling requires a strong commitment from parents, it offers numerous benefits, making it an appealing option for many parents.

Why So Many are Deciding to Start Homeschooling

1. Stronger Family Bonds

I would have to say the most rewarding aspect of deciding to start homeschooling is the opportunity to strengthen family relationships. I mean really, this is every mom’s dream. Mom’s and dad’s get to spend more quality time with their kids through homeschooling activities. Children receive more one-on-one attention academically, and parents have more opportunities for meaningful connections with their kids. It’s a win-win!

Most importantly, the home environment fosters open and honest communication between parents and kids. Parents now have extra time to disciple their kids because they aren’t rushing them off to school only seeing them for a couple hours a day.  And, without the social pressures of school peer groups, children often feel more comfortable confiding in their parents about difficulties they may be facing emotionally or socially. This way, parents may provide better advice and academic guidance. Parents gain more insight into their children’s heart, gifts, interests, strengths, and weaknesses.

2. Flexibility in Scheduling

Homeschooling offers significant flexibility when it comes to scheduling. Unlike the rigid schedules of traditional public and private schools, homeschooling offers better adaptability and room to breathe. Parents can decide when the school day starts and ends, adjusting schedules around family needs. Kids might start lessons later in the morning if they struggle with early rising or finish lessons earlier in the afternoon if they focus better during those hours. According to research, flexible learning offers students more autonomy in shaping their learning experiences. Homeschooling with a routine instead of a rigid schedule is a game-changer!

Flexible learning has become a game-changer in today’s transforming academic landscape, especially for adult learners. Since most adult students are employed, managing studies alongside work becomes challenging for them. That’s where they can benefit from flexible online learning programs to attain higher education and enhance their skill set. Besides, nowadays, online degrees are available for almost every field, whether accounting, healthcare, or social work. Professionals belonging to any field can benefit from online higher education prospects.

For instance, social work aspirants can now pursue masters in social work online without compromising work responsibilities or family commitments. After earning higher academic credentials, they may qualify for senior leadership positions.

3. Enhanced One-on-One Interaction

In addition to offering personalized learning, homeschooling provides enhanced one-on-one interaction between parent and child. Unlike a school classroom where a single teacher must oversee 20+ students at once, homeschooling offers a much lower student-to-teacher ratio. Typically, parents are responsible for teaching one to three children at a time, allowing far more individual focus and care. At times, some hire tutors.

With fewer students to divide their time between, parents can better identify when their child is struggling with a concept and provide the support needed. This setting also allows children to ask as many questions as they want. This level of individual focus fosters their natural curiosity and love of learning. Kids receive more direct feedback, academic guidance, and increased support. One-on-one interactions enable parents to understand their child’s needs and tailor their teaching approach accordingly.

4. Safe and Positive Environment

For many parents, one of the top priorities in deciding to start homeschooling is ensuring a safe and positive learning environment. Homeschooling provides parents with higher control over their surroundings throughout the school day. At home, parents can minimize or eliminate negative influences and distractions.

Homeschooling reduces children’s exposure to bullying, peer pressure, negative social cliques, and destructive behaviors present in many school settings. It also eliminates safety concerns such as violence or drugs on school property. Parents don’t have to worry about who their child is socializing with throughout the day or what they may be exposed to at school. With homeschooling, parents can personally monitor the people and environments shaping their child’s life.

5. Ability to Dive Deeper into Subjects

The structured curricula of traditional education tend to cover topics at a surface level before moving quickly to the next topic. While this provides exposure to a broad range of concepts and ideas, it limits how thoroughly students can delve into and understand a particular concept. Homeschooling offers the flexibility to explore a narrower range of subjects but in greater detail and depth.

If a child develops a passion for a specific subject, homeschooling allows them to master it. For example, a child fascinated with astronomy can study space and the cosmos in detail over many weeks or months.

Homeschooling allows time for detailed investigation, analysis, research projects, and experiments to satisfy a child’s innate curiosity.

6. Homeschooling is Cheaper than Public School and Private School

Private and public education costs can skyrocket, from tuition to transportation, textbooks, meals, supplies, activities, and more. Homeschooling is relatively cheaper than public school for most families. While some expenses are associated with homeschooling, like curriculum materials, several quality homeschooling resources are available for free. Public libraries provide books, movies, and passes to local museums and parks. The wealth of information on the internet is free for students to access. Community centers, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies also offer free learning activities and events.

Parents may also receive tax credits, deductions, or exemptions for homeschooling costs, providing additional savings. Homeschooling co-ops allow families to share expenses through group classes and activities. Even with extracurricular services like tutoring or online classes, homeschooling is far more affordable than private schooling.

7. Enhanced Retention through Teaching

An incredible way for kids  to retain what they learn is by teaching or explaining the concepts to others. Homeschooling provides so many opportunities to put this in action. Younger siblings make ideal students for older kids to impart knowledge. Having to verbalize and demonstrate concepts cements them in their mind.

Parents can also invite other homeschooling families to group learning sessions where kids take turns teaching topics to their peers. This way, they may hone public speaking, communication, and leadership skills.

This experience also builds self-confidence. Additionally, parents may have their kids help in creating lessons, worksheets, games, or presentations to teach younger children. Through these teaching opportunities, homeschooled students enjoy enhanced knowledge retention.

Usually, one of the online downsides that could get in the way of retention would be the internet speed if your child is watching videos or doing their homeschool work on a platform (which is pretty common). So you might be wondering about internet services near me that are fast and reliable (which is honestly ideal if you only look for the best). So, with that all said, just make sure to have an internet provider that has fast speed, or else it’s going to get really challenging to keep your kid motivated and not frustrated. Again, retention rates can be great, but the circumstances depend, too.

As you can see, there are many benefits covered here. This further proves that deciding to start homeschooling can be an incredibly rewarding option for many families. It offers a personalized and flexible approach to education that allows children’s multiple gifts and talents to thrive. Homeschooling strengthens family bonds, provides a safe learning environment, expands social interactions, and immerses children in real-world experiences. Given these advantages, it’s no wonder more parents are deciding to start homeschooling these days.

What to Read Next:

How to Start Homeschooling Today: Homeschooling 101 Series

10 Simple Tips to Start Homeschooling Today

Huge List of Free Homeschooling Curriculum

Forest Rose

Forest Rose is a God Loving, Blessed Wife, &  Mama to 3 girls. She’s passionate about lifting moms out of the trenches that are discouraged, overwhelmed, or feeling alone or isolated. Her hope is to point them to Christ and equip them to rise up with a newfound hope and joy within, that He alone can provide. Besides blogging, she also loves to create printables!