Guest Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 I've read a lot of lovely comments about what draws people to homeschool, and how they feel their lives are deeply touched, even transformed, by its power. What about more superficial, unexpected benefits? What was been a bonus you never could have foreseen about choosing this life? For me, one of the best is that I never, ever have to drive during rush hour on 10-lane freeway systems full of cars at a complete stop. Another is that I only sometimes remember to wear my watch -- usually on days we have appointments. Time means something very different to me now than how many minutes I have to do this, that, or the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer in MI Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Travelling!!! Our family loves to travel and it's SO nice to be able to do it during the slow times and get the best prices. We're currently planning our European adventure for 2011. Fun, fun!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in Austin Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Here's one: We are saving $800 by going to the beach the week *before* Memorial Day instead of the week after. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snickerdoodle Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 I love being on our own schedule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Travelling!!! Our family loves to travel and it's SO nice to be able to do it during the slow times and get the best prices. We're currently planning our European adventure for 2011. Fun, fun!!! :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mesa Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Traveling whenever we want to. Hitting amusement parks when they are nearly empty. Sleeping in late several times a week. No worrying about missing too much school due to illness, or a dr's apt. (our schools are VERY strict.) My kids can recuperate fully before they start their studies back up. We school at the park on really nice days. More family time.. they see their dad on his lunch break everyday. They also see their nana (the only grandparent they have) much more frequently than they would if they were in school. It sounds funny, but their diets are healthier. If I was packing a lunch off to school, I KNOW I'd be packing a pb&j several times a week. Here at home we have nice healthy lunches. A really important one is I get to tailor my curric and teaching to each kid. My oldest NEEDS this individual attention. I've dumped more curric than I care to admit, but my son is doing well and liking school. Thats all that matters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
at the beach Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Going to the movies in the middle of the day. We have the whole theatre to ourselves because everyone else is in school. Taking the kids sledding in the morning when other kids are in school and they get the whole hill to themselves. Not having a clue about school snow days anymore. Now, every day is a snow day. :D:001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarlaS Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Getting an improvement (a vast one) on my own education in the process. My kids doing things together (My dd just read a chapter from a book to her little brother--without being asked) because they actually like each other. They don't seem to know they're not supposed to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarlaS Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Not having a clue about school snow days anymore. Now, every day is a snow day. :D:001_huh: :iagree: You know you've been homeschooling a long time when people, seeing you out with your kids in the daytime, ask if there's school today. My recent reply? "I don't know". A minute later, I realized why she looked so bewildered (I honestly wasn't trying to be a smart @$$). I was just looking for our usual brand of bread in an unfamiliar store. Ooops!. :lol: I guess I might be one of those linear people... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Just getting to know my children on a deeper level. I know this seems obvious, but it wasn't something I really thought about and I thought I knew them pretty well anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionfamily1999 Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Today. We called school for spring. The weather was so great that we just could not open the school today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomsintheGarden Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Actually learning something about history - for the first time! Learning how children (at least my children) learn. GardenMom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leanna Tomlinson Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Going to museums when nobody is there. Going skiing in the middle of the week when it's cheaper. Having a discount at the dentist because you can bring everyone before 2:00 for a cleaning. Not having kids that are overly concerned about clothing brands....I know I mourned when I didn't have that little alligator on MY shirt. My kids couldn't care less. Getting haircuts when you don't have to wait in line. In fact, becoming a line snob and never going anywhere when you have to wait a long time. Letting kids travel with grandparents. Letting kids recover from an illness at their own pace. Leanna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snickerdoodle Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 In fact, becoming a line snob and never going anywhere when you have to wait a long time. Oh, I agree with this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Sleeping in past 7am. DS getting to go to work with dh, on a school day. Tangents and being able to follow them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bookfiend Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Time to just be family Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mammaruss Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 In fact, becoming a line snob and never going anywhere when you have to wait a long time. Leanna :iagree: Ds used to go to PS--this is our 2nd year of hs. Ds likes that he no longer has to go to bed so early....he has always been a night owl!! We no longer have to rush, rush, rush in an attempt to get to school on time--rush some more after school to complete homework, rush to eat supper, shower and get to bed!! It is a lot more relaxed around here which makes the whole family a lot happier! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlovebaker Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 hair cuts during the middle of the day - same with ortho and dentist. SPORTS ... this spring, my three kids will be on 7 different sports teams and we are not stressed about it. I think I might win some converts right there with all the parents frothing at the bits with getting their kids here and there and getting HOMEWORK done. No commuting or getting up early in cold weather ... and snow days are fantastic but guess what???? My kids got their work done early in the day and still have time to sled - no loss for them as far as education. Still get the books done and time for play - no need for make up in June. NO HOMEWORK or PROJECTS (at least none on someone else's schedule!!!). What do I miss? Chat time with just moms ... pedicures while kids at school and picking up the house and having it stay clean for a few hours. But this is greatly outweighed by field trips that take an hour or two to watch an amazing play and then have a lunch at the Kennedy Performing Arts Center overlooking the Potomac. Not quite the same to load hundreds of kids on a bus to watch some medioocre play and return by the end of school exhausted - and hungry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lllll Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 One of the best fringe benefits for our family has been being home. We have been blessed to live in a gorgeous area for the past 12 years. We are surrounded by forest and have many wild critters. We watch bears, feed a variety of birds, hear all kinds of strange calls, and so on. We've raised 2 raccoons and watched as they returned to the forest to live. We've had a big male black bear peering ominously in the window at us during the bear's mating season as his female lazily ate birdseed at our backyard birdfeeder. Dd's regularly race outside to rescue their chickens from hawks. We regularly see snakes in our yard, on our long gravel road, and, sometimes, even in our house. We've touched a newborn baby deer nestled in the blueberry bushes after the mother ran off. (She came back to get him when we left.) We hear flying squirrels calling each other or fussing at one of our cats who is stalking it at dusk. I sit at my desk and watch a group of wild turkeys pick their way through the field below my slider. We hear ravens calling on our walks. Whiporwills sit on our roof and call in the spring. Great Blue Herons land in the stream behind our house. Otters also play there. And much more. We've been able to share so much just by staying home - and looking. And that's something I never could have predicted would be a fringe benefit of hs'ing. :) Kathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathmom Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Not having to get up at the crack of dawn and drag everyone out of the house! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5KidzRUs Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 My 'have always been HSed' 14 year olds are in PS for the first time - just for 3 months of this year. They said the worst thing so far is that they have to hold in their gas! So, for my boys - flagellating freely is a good thing about HSing! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 My children's relationship with each other. I truly think it couldn't be as deep if they had to spend most of their waking hours apart. I certainly expected that our mother-child relationships would benefit from the amount of time we're able to spend together. I didn't realize how much that would extend to sibling relationships... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfunnybunch Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Sleeping in when we're sick or stay up too late. No rush to get out of the house early in the morning. A child doesn't miss a day or more of lessons when s/he is ill. NO HOMEWORK. (Homework was the bane of our dds' elementary school lives, and of ours.) Lunch with Dad. My dh works at home, so we get to see him off and on during the day. Playing cards games together in the middle of the day. Reading lessons on the couch. Cat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilymax Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 :iagree: Ds used to go to PS--this is our 2nd year of hs. Ds likes that he no longer has to go to bed so early....he has always been a night owl!! We no longer have to rush, rush, rush in an attempt to get to school on time--rush some more after school to complete homework, rush to eat supper, shower and get to bed!! It is a lot more relaxed around here which makes the whole family a lot happier! :iagree::iagree::iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternalknot Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 The best fringe benefit for us is the simple efficiency of the whole gig. It leaves us so much time to persue the things that are important or fun, whether that's time as a family to travel or just an afternoon free to finally deep clean the house. The point is we're not wasting time on stupid stuff, we're making the most of our 24 hours :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 (edited) These are my unexpected fringe benefits: A larger pool of shared experiences with kiddo. This is number one. A challenge later on in my life (I never thought I'd be a mommy let alone a homeschooler). Having something in common with wide variety of interesting people. A conversation piece at work. Friends from college all telling me they admire me for it. I've never had so many people tell me they admire me.:lol: Edited March 9, 2010 by kalanamak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 I love spending some days just reading to my boys. Right now my dh is not working. We've had lots of extra family time we wouldn't have had with the boys in ps. Plus, he's really gotten to know his boys. He's much more patient and understanding with them. It's the only plus to the lay off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 A motivation to better educate and re-educate myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alphabetika Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 (edited) Two really big bonuses (boni?): My two big dd's get to have a hands-on, hearts-on, day-to-day relationship with their baby sister (I did expect close relationships, just didn't know I'd be having a baby when my other two were 15 and 11 ;)) Allowing my children to follow their natural rhythms, for lack of a better term; that is, they eat when they're hungry (within reason), sleep as they need to (again, within reason), and go to the bathroom when they need to go! My older dd went to school for two years; in the private school she attended in first grade, students were allowed to use the bathroom only at the end of recess and lunch. If they had to go during class, they had to pay "classroom bucks" they'd earned, as a penalty for not going during the prescribed times. My dd used to boast to me that she could go the whole six-hour schoool day without using the bathroom so she didn't have to spend her money. I found lots to dislike about the school experience, but for some reason this part was the most degrading. Edited March 9, 2010 by Alphabetika Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplebrooklyn Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 My 8yo daughter got 2 best friends bracelets for her birthday. Guess who she gave the 2nd one to? ME!!! I almost cried. That never would have happened if she were in PS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in CA Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 There are tons of *deep* benefits to homeschooling, but I've gotta tell you, three of the best things about homeschooling are: #1. School in our jammies #2. Never having to please a school administrator or teacher that I barely respect #3. Not having to fill and sign 25 different pieces of paper in order to register for a new school year. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Not having to wake up the baby... Not having to plan the baby's nap around "when I gotta be at the bus stop" and getting hysterical if she falls asleep earlier... No more screaming for an hour every morning while we frantically shower, get dressed, eat and gather homework, fundraisers, permission slips, etc... No more dragging the baby and the preschooler all over Creation looking for brand-specific safety scissors or taupe 10"x8" brand-specific poster board. :glare: Thanks for showing me a glimpse of our former lives...:ack2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Taking field trips most school kids can not go on. DH had a display at a technology fair and asked me to bring the boys up to see it. They were not only able to get into the Technology Fair and look around, just about everyone who had a booth took time to talk to my boys and show them what they make. They also were given something at every booth from flashlights to airplanes. DH also brought each of the boys to the Saturn plant for a tour which is only given during the week days. Being able to still visit mother in Florida in February was also nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riceballmommy Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 One of the big ones I'm looking at is, we can go to Disney World in May, our in-laws have to wait until June, so Hubby's twin sisters will be out of school (It's too crowded in June). I also love that with us, Monday is not a school day. Two days of the week we make sure to do school early so we can go to my grandparents for the day. I know I wouldn't be able to do that with her in public Pre-K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriedClams Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 The best real benefit - Being with my kids and growing together as a family. The kids growing together as best friends. Being close to guide their hearts and help them grow in Christ. TIME. Being able to travel to see family and nurture those relationships. The really great fringe benefits... (:001_smile:)... TRAVEL. Like camping in Zion on the river with barely no notice and no crowds becuase school had started. :) Never waiting in line. The field trips. The bike rides. Finding what neat, fun, silly things we can do and call "school". Going to museums and my kids enjoying it for more than just not having to be in school for the day. Eating real food for lunch. No peer pressure. TIME. Picking great reads for my kids and them being receptive and enjoying them. Having the time to raise READERS. Relationships. Picking what they learn and ENJOYING it. All the extra things we can do because we have time and flexibility - like piano, scouts, AWANA, bible study, refuge programs, etc. Sure PS families do them - but if we were on a schedule I'd have to cut back. Flexibility in everything from assignments to schedule to travel. Wide variety of friends - not just age specific. Did I mention TIME and TRAVEL!>!> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommee & Baba Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 (edited) WOW I wish I could quote you all and insert this :iagree:...You all have made it so easy to see WHY it's best for our family to homeschool! For me though on top of the ones you listed...I would have to point out a few of my BEST fringe benefits.. I never HAVE to learn to trust someone else with the care and well being of my children. I don't HAVE to worry about them. Whom they are dealing with, if they are getting bullied or if they are learning how to bully someone else. I KNOW they are eating lunch instead of fruit snacks and chocolate milk for lunch. They don't have to follow "trends" in order to feel as though they "fit in". This bothered me alot when I was in school. We all can sleep in and aren't forcing our bodies to wake up before they are ready. I don't HAVE to put trust in someone's driving skills while they transport my children to and from school and school events. We get to be relaxed. Our homelife isn't scheduled by anyone else but us. My children can bathe in the middle of the afternoon if they want! We can go to public places without a bunch of unattended children. NO homework or school projects that have me & my dh spending hours upon hours helping with in the evening hours to only find out our children got a B..:lol:. We can do our school work and projects at OUR pace and do it well enough to get an A together! I'm learning. I'm enjoying it. Our children are best friends and have an extremely close bond with each other and to us as their parents. They can ask as many questions as they want. They can freely get a drink, snack and use the bathroom. If they don't get the lesson they don't have to stay after school to get additional help. It's available all hours in the comfort of their home! They can learn about WHATEVER they want! Sometimes our daily scheduled lesson plan will get deeper because we ALLOW questions to be asked and we'll get the RIGHT or BEST answer for the question..even if that means spending an addition 3 hours researching! :p We get to pick the teaching materials that best suites our children. Edited March 9, 2010 by mamaofblessings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 I don't have to rush unless I want to. I can blow off the day and do something fun. I don't have to see long, exhausted faces at the breakfast table. I'm not worried about where they are or if they need an advocate at the time. Going off on tangents. Which is where the good stuff is, anyway, right? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oak Knoll Mom Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Today. We called school for spring. The weather was so great that we just could not open the school today. :iagree:We did the same thing. Let the schools have their snow days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionfamily1999 Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 :iagree:We did the same thing. Let the schools have their snow days! :lol: No kidding, we'll take the "it's too beautiful to work today day" ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6packofun Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Agree! Also, that my children don't know that they're not "supposed" to be buddies or that they should tear down their parents/siblings in front of peers. lol My kids are stinkers, but they love their family and aren't afraid to show it. My own renewed interest in self-education and a NEW interest in history is another big one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellifera Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 I love being on our own schedule. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyatHome Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Lots of great answers here. One big one for me is filling in the gaps in my own education. I love learning with the kids! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlktwins Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 I haven't officially started HSing yet (will be doing K next year with my twins), but I'm looking forward to: 1. Not rushing in the morning (doing that 3 days a week now for preschool). 2. I've already scheduled a vacation for late September this year :-) and am planning to go to Disney next year the week AFTER Thanksgiving!! 3. The boys' grandparents will still get to spend lots of time with them. 4. Spending tons of time with my boys. 5. Watching the boys learn. 6. I'm learning too! 7. School in our jammies! I'm so excited to begin this journey! Mendy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaterbabs Posted March 10, 2010 Share Posted March 10, 2010 I called a "Spring Break Day" for tomorrow - it's supposed to be 70 and sunny. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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