What parents gain from homeschooling

When parents make the decision to homeschool their children, the decision is almost always framed around the benefits to the student.

Homeschooling definitely benefits students, particularly those with special needs who don't thrive in an institutional environment or struggle to learn from traditional instruction methods.

However, homeschooling your student can bring YOU myriad benefits, as well. Here are five ways you'll experience personal growth and gain new skills as a result of homeschooling.

1. Self confidence
When your friends and family learn you've decided to homeschool your student, you'll get an earful of opinions, and many of them will be critical. However, once you muscle past the unsolicited advice and start seeing your child make academic progress, you'll develop better trust in yourself. Your intuition will be validated and you'll gain confidence in your ability to learn something new and be successful.

2. Self discipline
You can be flexible about when you homeschool, but you can't be flaky. Consistency is a must to be successful. Once you get into the groove and develop the self discipline to prepare for each week's lesson and teach a couple of hours each day, you'll feel strong and unstoppable.

3. Improved parenting skills
Many autistic students who have been isolated in special day classes have never been required to perform academically. In order to convince them to transform into serious students, you'll need to develop an increased ability to be firm while also being loving. You'll also build ninja-level patience that you can apply to other parenting situations. Homeschoolers have better parenting skills!

4. A closer bond with your child
Adjusting to homeschooling requires blood, sweat and tears - some days, literally. But people who face challenges and overcome them together develop a deep, unbreakable bond. The homeschooling experience will create trust between you and your student that will serve you well throughout their lives.

5. Reawaken your love of learning
I'm having so much fun filling the gaps in my own education as I homeschool my son. Who doesn't enjoy science experiments, field trips and historical movies? I'm also reteaching myself subjects I struggled with as a kid by (ahem, math) by applying the tips and tricks I've learned to support my autistic student. 

When considering whether or not to homeschool your student, don't forget the benefits you'll gain from it, too. After all, a growth mindset applies to all ages!