by Robin Tidwell

Created on: August 08, 2011

There are a lot of obvious benefits to homeschooling, such as setting your own schedule, choosing your own curriculum, and ensuring that your children learn the things you believe are important. But there are a few benefits that you might not be aware of at first glance.

In addition to setting a daily schedule, you can control the timing of your school calendar. You can work around vacation plans, holidays, even the so-called summer break. And, if something unexpected presents itself, you can take a day or so off from homeschooling without the kids missing out on anything important.

Depending on your choices, and your curriculum, your kids may not have additional homework – after all, their schooling is done at home so is “homework”, in the traditional sense, even necessary? That’s your call, not that of an anonymous school board.

If your children need to visit the doctor or dentist, you don’t have to let the teachers know ahead of time, you don’t have to worry about them missing tests or other important school day events. As a bonus, you don’t even have to obtain a note for an excused absence!

Many parents of traditionally educated kids bemoan the loss of “family time.” It’s tough to work all day while the kids are in school and still have time for family activities, down time for everyone, extracurricular sports or clubs, and yes, homework too. But for homeschooling families, education itself is a family activity, homework isn’t always assigned, and schedules are much more flexible.

Another great benefit you might not have considered is the time-honored tradition of kids and chores. Kids are assigned chores for a variety of reasons: it’s part of being in a family; there’s work to be done; skills must be mastered because, after all, a big part of raising kids is to foster independence; or perhaps these chores are tied into an allowance or pocket money. Not only is there more time for this when you’re homeschooling, but many things can be tied directly into the curriculum, such as home economics, personal finance, agriculture, child care, and so forth.

Let’s take a look at a few examples:

Your spouse announces that the family vacation this year will be in October; if you’re homeschooling, this “problem” doesn’t even register. You simply take off that week and add a week somewhere else to make up the difference. No notes, no gathering homework, no

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