Blogging Through the Alphabet; X is for X-tras
There are not many words that start with x.. so I cheated a bit and made x-tra my word for x. I hope you'll forgive me for taking the easy way out.
I love that homeschooling has given us so many extras!
Extra time
Ever since we started homeschooling we have had a lot more time to explore the world around us. We aren't punching a clock for the start and end of a school day and we are not bogged down with hours of homework in the evenings. We get to visit with family members, go out to lunch or the movies during the week and take advantage of last minute trips with my husband. We spent so much more time together as a family and that has just been amazing.
Extra fun
With all that extra time we have lots of fun! Splatter painting, silly string fights, water balloon fights, Nerf gun wars and mid- week trips to the movies... we have time for so much fun.
Extra activities
My boys have so much time to experience new activities; many of which take place during the school day and often with other homeschooling families. We have tried out such fun activities like rock climbing, glass fusion, trampoline classes, karate classes, zoology classes and oceanography trips.
Extra vacations and field trips
We always tried to take a family vacation each year and we found that with homeschooling it was so much easier to plan trips. We could vacation in the off season and save so much money as well as time; enjoying the sights we were seeing without lots of crowds along. Our first few years we went on field trips at least twice a week and really got to explore our region in depth. So many local business offer homeschool days and rates that we just could not pass up!
Extra memories
How could we not have more memories involving each other and our daily lives when we spend so much more time together and get to enjoy so many more trips, activities, and vacations?! I know my kids are going to have so many wonderful memories to choose from when looking back on their childhood.
Extra resources
I know many people assume homeschooling can be limiting but I have found that there are so many resources available to us; many more than the local schools can choose from. It is not unheard of for us to use three math programs (per student!) in one year. We switch up our books, materials, and subjects when we start getting bored or feel like we have exhausted a topic. We enjoying seeing all that is offered and having our pick of whatever we need.
Extra books and audiobooks
We have lots of time to read and enjoy reading books together. It isn't unusual for us to read upwards of 10 books a week! My boys each have a book that they read from each day, we have a family read aloud book, we typically listen to a book on Cd in the car and then we read 2-3 picture (or chapter) books a week on various science, history, or "fun" topics. Even my two reluctant readers end up listening to or reading a lot of books in just one year; far more than the average listed for children their age.
Extra friends and socialization!
I know so many people assume that homeschoolers are unsocialized but I have found that homeschooling has led us to make so many more friends and meet so many more people! We have many opportunities to meet up with other families during the week and if my boys find a new friend it's so much easier to get together. Usually us moms just exchange information or set up a time and place to meet the following week. When my kids were in public school it often took over a year before we (as parents) knew more than just one of the kids' friends name. Our school did not share information like names, addresses and phone numbers with parents so it made it quite difficult to ever get the kids together with classmates and peers.
Extra learning
My boys are not hampered by a traditional school schedule. If we are learning about a topic they are interested in we can spend weeks or months diving as deeply into that topic as much as they like. If we are getting immersed in one subject on a particular day we can choose to skip the other subjects we have planned and capitalize on that immersion. We have no bells ringing to interrupt us and we don't have to just skim the surface when learning.
Homeschooling has brought a lot of priceless "extras" into our lives.
Homeschooling Through the Alphabet:I love that homeschooling has given us so many extras!
Extra time
Ever since we started homeschooling we have had a lot more time to explore the world around us. We aren't punching a clock for the start and end of a school day and we are not bogged down with hours of homework in the evenings. We get to visit with family members, go out to lunch or the movies during the week and take advantage of last minute trips with my husband. We spent so much more time together as a family and that has just been amazing.
Extra fun
With all that extra time we have lots of fun! Splatter painting, silly string fights, water balloon fights, Nerf gun wars and mid- week trips to the movies... we have time for so much fun.
Extra activities
My boys have so much time to experience new activities; many of which take place during the school day and often with other homeschooling families. We have tried out such fun activities like rock climbing, glass fusion, trampoline classes, karate classes, zoology classes and oceanography trips.
Extra vacations and field trips
We always tried to take a family vacation each year and we found that with homeschooling it was so much easier to plan trips. We could vacation in the off season and save so much money as well as time; enjoying the sights we were seeing without lots of crowds along. Our first few years we went on field trips at least twice a week and really got to explore our region in depth. So many local business offer homeschool days and rates that we just could not pass up!
Extra memories
How could we not have more memories involving each other and our daily lives when we spend so much more time together and get to enjoy so many more trips, activities, and vacations?! I know my kids are going to have so many wonderful memories to choose from when looking back on their childhood.
Extra resources
I know many people assume homeschooling can be limiting but I have found that there are so many resources available to us; many more than the local schools can choose from. It is not unheard of for us to use three math programs (per student!) in one year. We switch up our books, materials, and subjects when we start getting bored or feel like we have exhausted a topic. We enjoying seeing all that is offered and having our pick of whatever we need.
Extra books and audiobooks
We have lots of time to read and enjoy reading books together. It isn't unusual for us to read upwards of 10 books a week! My boys each have a book that they read from each day, we have a family read aloud book, we typically listen to a book on Cd in the car and then we read 2-3 picture (or chapter) books a week on various science, history, or "fun" topics. Even my two reluctant readers end up listening to or reading a lot of books in just one year; far more than the average listed for children their age.
Extra friends and socialization!
I know so many people assume that homeschoolers are unsocialized but I have found that homeschooling has led us to make so many more friends and meet so many more people! We have many opportunities to meet up with other families during the week and if my boys find a new friend it's so much easier to get together. Usually us moms just exchange information or set up a time and place to meet the following week. When my kids were in public school it often took over a year before we (as parents) knew more than just one of the kids' friends name. Our school did not share information like names, addresses and phone numbers with parents so it made it quite difficult to ever get the kids together with classmates and peers.
Extra learning
My boys are not hampered by a traditional school schedule. If we are learning about a topic they are interested in we can spend weeks or months diving as deeply into that topic as much as they like. If we are getting immersed in one subject on a particular day we can choose to skip the other subjects we have planned and capitalize on that immersion. We have no bells ringing to interrupt us and we don't have to just skim the surface when learning.
Homeschooling has brought a lot of priceless "extras" into our lives.
A is for Awe
B is for Boisterous
C is for Creativity
D is for Determination
E is for Expectations
F is for Fun
G is for Games
H is for Heart
I is for Independence
J is for Journey
K is for Kitchen
L is for Longevity
M is for Moments
N is for Nature
O is for Options
P is for Personalized
Q is for Quicker
R is for Recreation
S is for Simple
T is for Trends
U is for Unexpected
V is for Variety
W is for Waiting
I agree with all your x-tras! But especially all the xtra friends my kids have made. It is wonderful to see them comfortably making new friends with young children or adults or kids in between. Homeschooling has allowed my kids to develop the friend-making skills that were so hard for me growing up in public school with its cliques and social rules that restricted friend making in many ways.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your post!
Yeah I love that my kids are friends with kids of all ages! I find in general the attitude of most homeschooling kids is much more open with far fewer cliques and social rules.
DeleteThose are wonderful,extras. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! We sure think so.
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