Saskatoon parent touts benefits of home schooling
-
Share on Facebook
-
Share on Twitter
- Copy Link
A growing number of Canadian families are choosing to home-school their children.
A Fraser Institute report released Tuesday said, 21,662 kids were being taught at home in 2012, an increase of 29 per cent over a five-year period. In Saskatchewan, home schooling enrollment increased by 67 per cent over the same period.
Greg Benson and his wife decided to home school their children seven years ago. His job as a camp director was causing their oldest son to miss school and they were looking for an alternative to better suit their family.
“We like being together as a family. I’m a camp director at Ranger Lake Bible Camp. The fall usually goes late for us and we start summer a little earlier. It’s disruptive for the child, disruptive for the class, disruptive for the teacher,” Benson said Wednesday on John Gormley Live.
“That was the lynchpin for us.”
Three of their four children are now home schooled. Benson said his kids receive more one-on-one time than they would get in a classroom setting.
“When you home school you’re able to sit down with your child and talk about areas of interest and even work through problem areas.”
He said that focused learning approach has benefited their oldest son who is learning about different computer languages and programming skills.
“He loves computers so being able to focus in those areas has been good,” Benson said.
Benson said the argument that kids who are home schooled lose out on learning to socialize with other children is a misconception.
“Two 15-minute recesses and half hour lunch time really isn’t much socializing at all in comparison to being at home with your family.”
Benson likened home schooling to becoming a parent.
“There’s no resume required no education program,” Benson said.
“As you move along from stage-to-stage we find that you kind of learn with your child. What happens as well as your older children get older, they end up helping the younger children.”
Research by the Fraser Institute found that home-schooled students in Canada and the U.S. consistently preformed better in math and reading, compared to kids in public schools.
panews@jpbg.ca
