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10 Homeschooling Reasons May Be Right for Your Family BY KERRIE MCLOUGHLIN If you're questioning whether homeschooling is the right choice for your family, check out some of these unique benefits and then decide! Of course, you'll have challenging days, but you'll have a whole lot of fun alongside your kids, too! 1. FREE TIME. If it seems like your child is coming home with endless hours of homework in addition to being in school 35 hours a week, free time is a big benefit of homeschooling. You can teach what is necessary and once your child "gets it" you can move on to something else. 2. GREAT EDUCATION. You can offer an education comparable to that of a costly private school, even if you don't have a college degree. Your child won't be bored while the other kids in her class are learning things she already knows, according to Tom Kliethermes, homeschooling dad of one. 3. TEACHING FREEDOM. Do you want to homeschool lightly year-round, or would it suit your family better to take off the summer? Are you a curriculumloving person or an unschooler (check out unit studies if this is you!)? 4. FOCUS ON SOMETHING COOL. Homeschooled kids have time and freedom to pursue their passions, like music, writing, acting, sports and more. 5. WORKS GREAT WITH ANY SCHEDULE. Forget about the vision of a homeschooling mom teaching her kids at the dining room table. Sometimes it's Dad teaching English when he gets home from work and Mom teaching other basics in the morning, leaving the afternoon/early evening free for other activities. If Dad travels, the whole family can tag along. If you're night owls, you can stay up late talking, reading or watching educational shows. 14 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • September 2013 6. SOCIALIZATION ACROSS THE BOARD. Homeschooled kids in urban communities these days have friends who are homeschooled, friends who are unschooled, friends who attend public school and friends who attend private school. 7. HEALTHY KIDS. Kliethermes says one benefit of homeschooling is that your child won't be sitting at a desk 6 hours a day. As a result, your kids may be healthier because they are likely getting more regular exercise, more fresh air and more sleep. 8. YOU LEARN, TOO! This one might be a little selfish, but one unique benefit to homeschooling is that you learn as much as your kids do. Now that you don't have that pressure to memorize and perform on a test, you'll soak up what you pre-read and read to your own kids and can really teach it to them in a relatable manner. 9. DO WHAT YOU WANT, WHEN YOU WANT. Field trips, parks and other kid venues are by far not as crazy on a weekday as they would be on a Saturday. 10. TRICKLE-DOWN LEARNING. Think about how much easier your younger children will be to teach since they are learning already from what you are teaching their older sibling(s). Learning truly does filter down in a homeschooling household! Kerrie McLoughlin is a homeschooling writer mom of five.