Benefits of Homeschooling #2: Real Life Training

See previous posts:
Benefit of Homeschooling #1: Character Training

My husband is currently in school. He's finishing up his degree for HVAC (Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning). 

He finished his first 3 years of schooling without having a job as an HVAC. In his last year of school now, he is working for one of the best HVAC companies there is. He keeps expressing to me the difference between learning things in school and then learning them in the actual field, actually doing what it is you're studying.

Funny, I hear from many people who graduated college that it didn't do them much good for real life experiences. Schooling gave them the head knowledge, but not the hands-on experience that wisdom is crafted from.

What a different opportunity we have as home educators! 

Unfortunately, many from my generation in America have lost a lot of culture. 

Very few can cook their own food let alone grow or preserve their own food. Many don't know how to wash laundry or care for their homes or possessions. And even more sad, many from my generation can't hold a conversation or look at someone in the eyes while talking! Many can't listen and comprehend. Many can't stay focused on one thing at a time. And, unless it's a celebrity tweeting about something, many can't read anything and understand (or care about) what they read!

Homeschooling our children gives us the opportunity to teach our children REAL LIFE skills they will need to succeed in life. 

Budgeting.

Planning.

Cleaning.

Cooking.

Building.

Managing.

Organizing.

Listening.

Reading.

Working Hard.

Gardening.

Canning.

Keeping Emotions Under Control.

Having a Mature Conversation.

To name a few...

Every daily situation gives us the opportunity to this this!

We may not put to much thought into these things, but if we look at things in a new perspective, every situation can be used as a teaching moment. Reminds me of how Jesus used so many commonplace situations to teach his disciples. 

For example, we decided to switch the rooms up in our house last week. We had to purge, pack, clean, reassemble and reorganize the whole house. The kids participated in decided what was important and benefited our family and what was a burden. They got to help us figure out a plan on what order the rooms should be switched. They got to use their natural-given skills and things they were interested in to help. They got to see the whole process through from beginning to end. Fun parts, and not so fun parts. 

They got to help problem solve and figure out how to move the beds to get them our of one room and into the other. 

No real learning here... just some good old fashion fun!

We got to figure out how to keep the most amount of livable space while still having everything we needed in a room.

We got to label and organize a family dresser.

Alecia has always loved putting things together and building so she helped Alex for hours on the bunk beds.

Even Elias got to use his little tools.

Watching the inauguration was another awesome learning experience!

We got to talk all about how elections work, why people we protesting the inauguration,  what the very first election was like compared to how they are now, the different branches of the military and so many other topics. 

Donald Trump getting sworn in

Even eating out at restaurants is a great opportunity to home educate! Proper manners, keeping voices at a level to respect those around you, realizing you have $30 in gift card money to spend and how everyone can get ice cream with that amount, even teaching the kids to remember where they parked, or how they drove somewhere (which praise the Lord my husband has been teaching my kids! They're better at directions then I am!). 

....Also remembering to STOP eating when you feel sick....

The Real Life Experiences are ENDLESS!!!

This is just the last week at our house...

If I went back over the last month, I'm sure this post would be longer then any sane person would want to read anyway.

But the point is, Home Educating our children allows us to teach our children SO MANY REAL LIFE SKILLS!

Have your kids learn how to put together a meal plan, a grocery list, a grocery budget, follow a recipe, measure out what goes into the recipe, figure out how to double (or triple) a recipe, how long to bake or cook, to freeze or preserve some to give away to someone in need.

Have the kids take on the task of changing the car oil with daddy or switching out lightbulbs.

Put a child in charge of delegating the others in a task and teach them how to properly "rule" over others. 

I hope you're as inspired as I am! 

Homeschooling is AWESOME!!!