A common concern when it comes to homeschooling is whether kids will be ready to navigate the ‘real world’ when it comes time to enter it. People who are uninformed about homeschooling, as well as people who are interested in homeschool as an educational alternative, and even homeschoolers themselves might wonder how they can ensure their kids are ‘real-world ready after being schooled from home.
This is a real and smart question to ask if you are considering homeschooling your child.
“Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.”
We believe homeschool is great preparation for life as an adult and here are some of the reasons why:
They are Independent – Because homeschoolers need to become responsible for their education more than if they were in a traditional school they become able to take over their education more and more. They can decide which topics they want to pursue and which activities they want to engage in. Homeschooling prepares kids to work independently and gives them the ability to make decisions and work toward their own goals. Keep in mind, the evidence consistently shows that qualities employers desire (if the goal is to work for someone else) hardly ever include test scores or the ability to memorize facts, etc. It’s almost always about character, communication skills, and the ability to solve problems–all most easily learned in the real world, where children are free to satisfy their curiosities and find solutions, an amazing trait the Creator gave us all when we were born. Even most highly specialized jobs provide on-the-job training, requiring the capacity for learning, not a specific set of facts already learned (which most students forget anyway).
They have a better idea of what they want – Learning from home is so appealing as it provides children with the ability (and time) to explore all of the topics available to them. This is especially true when parents allow the curriculum to be guided by, or at least partially guided by their child’s interests. Homeschool allows for a greater amount of time to be spent on topics that your child is interested in as they can work from anywhere and at any time. Your child can dig deep into the subjects that they find fascinating. In a traditional school, this happens so much later. Homeschool students might be more confident about the direction they would like to take once they graduate from high school.
Developed Life Skills – Another amazing thing about homeschool is that since you and your child have more control over your own curriculum you can include subjects and activities that normally would not be offered in traditional schools. For example, you can teach them how to balance a checkbook, how to develop a budget, how to grow a garden, how to change a tire on their car, how to change the oil in their car, and even how to start a business. You could even have a curriculum that includes a specific focus on life skills. So not only does homeschooling offer more flexibility with curriculum, but homeschooling prepares kids for living on their own.
They are Highly Socialized – One common misconception is that homeschooled kids across the board lack socialization. This is untrue. Although it does depend a great deal on the parent and child, homeschoolers have a wide variety of opportunities to socialize. Homeschooled kids are not confined to a single classroom in a single building for 5-8 hours a day. Rather than being limited to interactions with children their own age and most often from their own neighborhood, homeschool children can spend part of their day meeting and interact with children and peers of all ages, through extracurricular and sports activities, as well as with adults. This environment is much more similar to “the real world” than a traditional school setting. So in reality, homeschooling prepares kids better for interacting with people of all ages and backgrounds.
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