Teaching And Learning: A Benefit Of Home Schooling
Would you find it unusual for your 10-year old girl to walk up to you after lunch and ask you to buy Homer's Odyssey for her the next time you go to the bookstore? Her reason, of course, being that she had just finished reading her copy of The Iliad earlier that day. No? Then chances are you're already familiar with one of the many benefits of home schooling.
Which one? That would be the unleashing of your child's insatiable thirst for knowledge.
It's no surprise that kids tend to respond to learning better if the lessons they are taught aren't forced upon them. So it's to be expected that your little girl would enjoy reading the classics a whole lot more if she was simply encouraged to read them, as opposed to having to study them as a class requirement (although reading Homer at 10 is a bit of a stretch).
Many benefits of home schooling are directly related to it's unique approach to education. This one-of-a-kind style of home schooling imparts a certain craving for thoughts, ideas, and general learning to the children/students, making them look forward to hitting the books – which is more than any academic institution could say about their methodical teaching approach.
A multitude of differences can be seen between school and home school. In home school, for instance, thoughts and ideas aren't imposed on a child – they are taught. Home-schooled kids are allowed to make their own conclusions based on the facts that are presented to them. They are not stifled by their teachers, and their questions are not dismissed but answered to the best of their parents' ability.
Instead of being told to finish a book at a certain time, or to memorize names, quotes, and passages to be able to answer specific, objective test questions, home-schoolers are asked to understand the book, to enjoy it, and think about how it is relevant – where it fits in the grand scheme of things.
The style of home schooling values discussions over essays, where both student and teacher alike can benefit from an intellectual exchange of opinions and perspectives, and where the student can avoid mindlessly regurgitating memorized information without a shred of understanding.
In home schooling, grades and performance don't carry as much weight as effort and comprehension. And kids are not obliged to express some interest; they just do, without being asked. They learn not because they have to, but because they want to. If that's not a benefit of home schooling, then what is?
A sincere desire to learn is something that can't be taught in any school, yet it's something that can be acquired through home education. Once kids have it, it'll carry them for life. And this passion for learning is but one benefit of home schooling. There are a whole lot more.