by: Joshua White

Have you been considering homeschooling?  Are you trying to figure out whether or not it’s for you?  Have you been wondering, “what exactly are the benefits of homeschooling?”  Today, I’d like to attempt to answer that question for you.  I realize that you might also wonder about the negatives.  That’s a great topic as well, but I’m going to save that for another time.  Today, let’s just focus on the benefits.

To me, the number one benefit is closer family relationships.  Our family is able to spend considerably more time together than the average family.  In that time, we are able to help shape the values of our children, nurture their growth, and grow closer as a family.  We can get to know each other more, and just enjoy life together.  In a time when families are falling apart at a stunning rate, we place a high premium on growing closer together, not further apart.

I also love the academic benefits that homeschooling affords.  In Texas, where we live, it seems a lot of time is spent teaching children how to pass the TAKS test.  My concern for my kids is not that they learn the ability to pass a standardized test, but that they learn to be responsible, caring, loving adults and productive members of society.  Knowing how to pass a test is not nearly as important to me as fostering a love of reading, teaching the ability to solve everyday math problems, and ensuring that they know how to communicate effectively.  Student teacher ratios are generally much better at home, allowing for more effective teaching interactions.  We can pace our teaching to our children.  In public schools, at some point, a teacher just has to move on, whether or not your child understands.  In our home, there is no busywork or teaching of material that the children are just not yet ready to learn.  Likewise, there is no moving on to multiplication when adding has not been mastered.

Scheduling flexibility is also a major benefit.  If a parent does shift work, school can be scheduled in such a way that the parent still has plenty of time with the kids.  You can plan vacations during slower times, so, for example, you don’t end up at Disney World during Spring Break when everyone else is there.  You can have class on days when the weather is entirely too bad to be out enjoying it, to free you up when you do want to be out there.  For example, we do a lot of school during the summer months when it is consistently over 100 degrees outside.  This allows us to take more time off during the fall, when it is beautiful outdoors, and there is so much to do.  If a major life change occurs, you can work around it.  In the event of the birth of a child, the death of a friend or family member, moving across town or across the country, or the hospitalization of a loved one, school can temporarily be put on hold or even just slowed down, and resumed when life stabilizes.

The last benefit I’d like to cover is that it gives you the ability to help guide the social interactions of your children.  Children who are homeschooled are often placed in more natural social settings.  They interact with children and adults of various ages instead of a room full of people who are exactly the same age.  After all, when your children land their first job, are they going to work with only 16, 18, or 22 year-olds, or is it more likely that they will be expected to interact with people who are both younger and much older than them?  You can also protect them, to an extent, from unnecessary social pressure until they have learned the skills to handle such pressures.  There are typically no bullies in a homeschool setting, nor is there someone pressuring them to do things they are not old enough to be thinking about.

Well, there you have it.  While this list is in no way exhaustive, to me it represents so much of who we are.  There are other benefits, but these are personal.  If you are considering homeschooling, I would encourage you to give it a try, you may just find that you can’t imagine life any other way!

We were warmly welcomed at the door, and were taken into their “living room” for a demonstration of putting on the gear.  They also gave a presentation, including things like changing out the batteries in your smoke detectors twice per year, each time you change the time on your clock.  They talked with the kids about not being scared if a firefighter should enter their home during a fire, and mentioned that in all of that smoke, firefighters are not good at playing hide and seek.  They talked about how to stop, drop, and roll, and what to do if you hear a smoke detector go off.  We were encouraged to come up with and practice an evacuation plan, which happens to be another badge requirement.  They suggested that you have a predetermined outdoor meeting place in case of a fire, such as your mailbox.  They were great with the kids, and the kids really listened and enjoyed this part of the presentation.

Kyle and I enjoying the presentation

Megan enjoying the presentation

Demonstrating the firesuit…dark room + camera flash + reflective strips = glow in the dark suit!

Giving Kyle 5!

After the presentation in the living room, they showed us their bedrooms, which were individual bedrooms, instead of the old bunk rooms!  Afterwards, we went out to learn about the firetruck and take lots of pictures.  One of the firefighters told the kids that if a fire truck is driving down the road with it’s lights on, and a car will not move out of it’s way, they have a special button they can push.  If they push this button, the front bumper opens up and a robot comes out, and turns off the car so that it has to stop.  Another firefighter told us that the one telling the story was not much older than our 6 – 7 year olds, so we would have to excuse him.  We were also told that the story teller was particularly excited when he was told the age of our group.  He said that at this age, kids believe anything.  He was right, Kyle told me all about the robot and is having a hard time with the fact that it is not true!

Kyle climbing into the fire truck!

Kyle driving the fire truck.  While he was behind the wheel, one of the firefighters asked Kyle if he had his drivers license yet.  When Kyle told him no, he acted surprised and said he thought for sure Kyle was at least 18 years old, and that he was about to let Kyle take the fire truck for a spin around the block!!  Kyle loved that.

Kyle standing in front of the side of the truck!

Megan doing the same

The Tiger Cub den and their siblings standing beside the Fire Truck!

The whole Tiger Cub Den in front of the Fire Truck!

At the end, they gave each kid a firefighter hat, a coloring book, an activity book, and a fire chief badge sticker!  These were well liked by all of the kids.

Overall, this was an awesome trip! If you have never taken your kids to tour a fire station, you should definitely do so!  They learn a lot, and it helps prompt you to do some planning and preparing that you might not think of otherwise.  You also get tips on doing this sprinkled throughout the presentations.  The firefighters were great to the kids and the kids all really seemed to love the experience.

We purchased one tri-fold display board, the kind you would use for a science fair, and cut it in half horizontally.  We used paints that we already had and allowed the kids to paint the background.  The kids asked Melissa to help out with this part.  They were smart not to ask me, as it would probably look better if they did it without me!  We let them each pick out some stickers to decorate them with.  Kyle, of course, chose farm stickers, and Megan chose dance stickers.  Lastly, the kids went to work putting the stickers on! 

Now, when those times come where one lacks the ability to focus, we pull one or both boards out, put them up, and go on in peace!  The first time or two that we put them up, the boards were a new distraction themselves.  About the third or fourth time however, the boards were already old news, and the kids were able to focus on their work without paying attention to the boards or their sibling…

So what do they look like you ask?  Here they are…