Many parents considering homeschooling with a private educator are intimidated by what feels like a huge commitment. However, the truth is that this decision could, quite possibly, offer your family more flexibility and freedom than any other single change you could make. From your child’s educational experience, to your ability to travel, to your everyday life – homeschooling offers flexibility and a private educator offers expertise and peace of mind.
Flexibility for Your Children’s Education
When homeschooling with a private educator, your children have access to the most personalized and individualized education possible. You are free to select the homeschooling style that works best for your family. Then, a private homeschooling teacher can lend their experience and knowledge to further personalize that style for the individual learning style of each child.
Have one child that’s a visual learner and another that’s more kinesthetic? A private educator can respect those differences and meet each child’s needs without compromising the quality of their education or making them feel like they learn “differently” from the rest of their class. In a homeschooling environment differences are the norm because each child can be addressed as a unique individual, rather than part of a system. You should expect that your homeschool teacher will flexibly adapt educational techniques and curriculum to provide each child with their optimal way of learning.
When homeschooling, children have the freedom to explore their interests and develop their talents – a benefit that is seldom available in a traditional school setting. In a supportive and effective home learning environment, there is no need to interrupt a child engrossed in a fascinating project just because the clock says it’s time for the class to move on.
A private educator will be adept at seeing the topics that spark your child’s interest and imagination and follow those rabbit trails, capitalizing on your child’s natural capacity to learn. If your child is enthralled with the solar system or Amelia Earhart, there is no reason why they can’t stay on those topics for as long as the learning process is served. With homeschooling you have the freedom to touch briefly on subjects that don’t ignite curiosity and dive deep on ones that do!
Another educational aspect in which homeschooling offers flexibility is differentiation of learning speeds. In a classroom, one of the main difficulties a teacher has is addressing children who are on different learning paths. With a private educator, however, this presents no issue at all. If you have a child that is exceptionally accelerated on a subject or needs more time to grasp concepts, a private educator can accommodate that effortlessly. There is no need for a child who could be racing ahead to stall waiting on the rest of the class, or for a one who needs additional time to feel like they aren’t keeping up.
Flexibility for Your Daily Life
Inevitably, life happens. With a private educator, your child’s education can fit seamlessly into your family’s life, instead of your family having to adapt to fit a school. Have a sick child or doctor’s appointments? Want to take a day off to explore the museums . . . or just because? Homeschooling affords you the ability to make your days whatever your family wants or needs them to be.
The flexibility homeschooling allows let’s you make every day the best day possible. If it’s particularly gorgeous outside – take learning out to the park for the day. If everyone wakes up on the wrong side of the bed – make it a “fun” learning day of educational board games and documentaries. When interviewing a private educator, look for the ability to be flexible and creative with a mindset for capitalizing on unexpected opportunities.
Families often find that homeschooling is so efficient and can be accomplished in so much less time than traditional school that they have much more time in the day for activities they want to do. Take the afternoon for extra extracurricular activities, spend more quality time as a family, or just relax and let your child enjoy more time being a kid.
Flexibility to Travel
Traveling and homeschooling go exceptionally well together and provide unique educational opportunities. In fact, many families homeschool simply to give them the flexibility to travel, and then travel to enhance their children’s education. There is even a name for it in the homeschooling community – roadschooling.
Whether you travel out of necessity, for travel’s own sake, or choose to do so specifically for the educational opportunities it provides, homeschooling with a private educator will make it an experience your child will always remember.
A private homeschool teacher can plan activities and studies that allow your child to “live” their lessons first-hand. They can visit architectural wonders and historical places that they just learned about that morning, see artistic masterpieces and geographic features with their own eyes, and immerse themselves in cultures and languages in the vernacular. Imagine being able to learn about the Colosseum over breakfast and then visit it later that day, walk in the footsteps of the Emperors, and see the art they commissioned first-hand.
This flexibility allows those who need to travel for work to take their families with them and not worry that their children’s education will suffer for it. Whether on an extended business trip, a world tour, or shooting on location, a private educator can ensure that your child’s education is actually enhanced by the experience.
Things to Look for When Hiring a Private Educator
Bringing in a teacher dedicated specifically to homeschooling your child or children can open up worlds of freedom and opportunities for your family in addition to providing superior educational services.
Since flexibility is such a major benefit to homeschooling, make sure you look for qualities in a private educator that will help maximize that benefit. Those may include:
- Having a flexible and easy going nature,
- A willingness to adapt and being open-minded to changing plans,
- Creativity when planning and an ability to tailor lessons to a child’s interests and talents, and
- Availability for travel.
To find out more about homeschooling with a private educator and the benefits it brings, please download our Homeschooling Gude here.
To find out more about homeschooling with a private educator and the benefits it brings, visit our Private Educator page or contact us to learn more.