With all the time parents spend helping their kids do homework, they may as well be homeschooling.
Because homeschooling is much easier and more rewarding for many reasons. What follows are a few of the reasons; there are many more!
You are the Teacher
You are the teacher of your children. You will never find yourself in the demeaning position of trying to figure out what the teacher wants your child to do, especially on those nights when you fail to figure it out.
Your child might look at you with a hint of disappointment—in you. In a subtle way, there's even a tiny speck of your parental authority being nicked, ever so slightly. And your parental authority is one of your essential strengths that you cannot afford to lose.
While it will take up some of your time to homeschool your children, you will have zero homework to help them with. And the time you spend homeschooling is about equal to the time you’ll spend helping them with their homework.
No Time for Other Pursuits of Family
Your Children will be in school all day, and then they have to come home and sometimes do hours of homework, much of which you’ll be expected to help with. And doing the homework assignments can extends into the weekends and even family vacations.
Where is the time for pursuing personal interests or family time?
As one student participating in a Stanford study on homework put it (Galloway, Conner & Pope, 2013):
“I don’t have time to be with my friends and family. Also, I don’t have time to get enough exercise and build my other talents.”
And another child:
"There is hardly any time for me to enjoy being a kid when I have to go to school all day and then go home and do homework all night."
I know when I have to work nights and weekends to meet a deadline, I can feel overwhelmed and low-spirited. I’m sure you do, too, so why should we expect our children to feel differently?
Especially when studies show that too much homework is counterproductive academically, not to mention the ill effects it can have on children's physical and emotional health.
One hundred and fifty years ago parents and educators thought children developed nervous conditions because of the lack of sunshine and fresh air from too much homework.
And they were right.
The Glue That Holds Us Together
But the saddest thing is the loss of family bonding time. Family bonds are the glue that hold us together, and without this glue we are at risk for becoming another family that fails to stick together after the kids are grown.
“Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.”
I’m not sure I agree entirely with Da Vinci, but he makes a good point. No child enjoys homework when he could be doing other things, such as riding his bike or enjoying playing a board game with his family.
How Does School and Homework Compare to a Homeschooler’s Day?
A homeschooled child wakes up peacefully, gets dressed, eats breakfast, does his daily chores, and he's ready to study.
No stressful rush to get out the door
No mom yelling at him to hurry up
No missed school buses
No forgotten lunches
No forgotten school books
A homeschooled child’s day can last anywhere from 1 hour to 4 or 5 hours, depending upon his age and abilities. No stress, no yelling mom, no missed buses, no forgotten lunches, no forgotten school books.
Not bad, right?
Why Do Homeschooled Children Have so Much Free Time?
Your average schoolchild spends 3 hours doing homework, on average. Plus 8 hours in school, and one hour getting to and fro school, that’s 12 hours out of his 16 waking hours devoted to school.
Your homeschooled child has anywhere from 11 to 7 more free hours in his day. That’s enough free time to develop a lot of skills, interests, bonds, and even a sense of self.
You have to remember that homeschooling is one-on-one tutoring. Your children will learn much faster at home than they do in a classroom of 30 students with a teacher who’s teaching to the average of the classroom.
You, on the other hand, are teaching only your children and you're standard for them is not the below-average standard of public schools, but the standard of excellence.
How much higher your children can soar!
“There is no school equal to a decent home and no teacher equal to a virtuous parent. ”
Your teaching time is never more than 1 - 3 hours, equal to the time it takes for your child to complete his homework.
The rest of the time, you’re children will learn to work independently, which, incidentally, will build much-needed skills in life, such as diligence, motivation, self-direction, and the ability to teach oneself.
Instead of putting your children into school, won’t you serve them better by homeschooling them and giving them all of the advantages that come with a private education tailored to the child?
A home education has always been the education of the aristocracy; the education of leaders. We can give our children the same kind too.
Let your home be the schoolhouse and help your children rise as high as they can.
Next time you're feeling overwhelmed by the homework your kids bring home, the next time you witness their stress levels climbing, the next time you're wondering what happened to the happy family time you used to enjoy, you might consider homeschooling.
And, yes, studies have shown that your homeschooled children can get into good colleges!
Download the free in-field report: 6 Reasons Why Homeschooled Kids Have Better Social Skills.
When you join the Smart Homeschooler Academy online course for parents, Liz will share her 6-step framework for homeschooling the "whole" child for brighter, happier, engaged kids who can get into the top-20 colleges and excel in their personal and professional lives.
Too many homeschooled kids are not reaching their full potential because parents are struggling with how to raise and educate a "whole" child—a child who is well-developed physically, emotionally, socially, and intellectually—so that their children receive a first-rate education and are well prepared to blossom and succeed in their life's journey.
The Smart Homeschooler Academy, with Liz as your guide, is the answer.
Teach your child to read before sending him to school! Learn more about Elizabeth's unique course, How to Teach Your Child to Read and Raise a Child Who Loves to Read.
For parents of children under age seven who would like to prepare their child for social and academic success, please begin with Elizabeth’s singular online course, Raise Your Child to Thrive in Life and Excel in Learning.
Elizabeth Y. Hanson is a homeschooling thought-leader and the founder of Smart Homeschooler.
As an Educator, Homeschool Emerita, Writer, and Love and Leadership Certified Parenting Coach, she has 22+ years of experience working in education.
Developing a comprehensive understanding of how to raise and educate a child, based on tradition and modern research, and she devotes her time to helping parents to get it right.
Elizabeth is available for one-on-one consultations as needed.
"I know Elizabeth Y. Hanson as a remarkably intelligent, highly sensitive woman with a moral nature and deep insight into differences between schooling and education. Elizabeth's mastery of current educational difficulties is a testimony to her comprehensive understanding of the competing worlds of schooling and education. She has a good heart and a good head. What more can I say?”
—John Taylor Gatto Distinguished educator, public speaker, and best-selling author of Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling
