Hi! I’m so glad you’re here!
Are you new to homeschooling? Or are you a seasoned homeschooler looking for new resources to enrich what you’re already doing?
Whether you’ve been homeschooling for awhile or you haven’t made the leap yet, this blog will provide information about homeschooling techniques, tried-and-true curricula reviews, and book recommendations.
How it All Started
At the beginning of the Covid pandemic, schools started closing and people were forced to change the way their kids were being educated. Some opted for distance learning while many became frustrated with it and made the decision to pursue homeschooling.
Nothing really changed for my family (in terms of education, at least). I had been homeschooling my 4 kids since my youngest was preschool age.
What did change, though, was that friends, family members, neighbors, and acquaintances started bombarding me for advice. And when they followed my advice, they would come back telling me how much it had helped them.
I love homeschooling and I could talk about it all day. I also love helping people. I realized that a lot of the things I’ve learned through trial and error can benefit those who are just starting out or who are having issues in their own homeschool.
Hence, Alpha Unbound was born so that I could help more people create the learning environment that they want for their children.
Why ‘Alpha Unbound’?
My kids are all elementary age and under (currently 5th, 3rd, Kindergarten, and Pre-K). This means they are all part of Generation Alpha, the newest generation of school age kids. Basically, they are kids of Millennials born in 2010 and later.
If you have a child under 11, then you are raising Generation Alpha, too!
Social researcher and demographer Mark McCrindle coined the name Generation Alpha and wrote about its characteristics here. The information is geared toward Australians but can be applied to Gen Alpha globally. I highly recommend checking it out, especially for its great infographics that compare Gen Alpha to its predecessors.
To sum it up, Generation Alpha will be marked by technology- from A.I. becoming more commonplace to automation causing massive changes to the job market. It will give the newest generation an incredible advantage and while also forcing them to adapt.
But while technology is rapidly changing our lives, the public school system is slow to evolve.
This article from Phi Delta Kappan, a professional journal for educators, offers a critical look at the need for education reform, stating that the public education of today looks a lot like the education of 100 years ago. In a word: outdated.
I strongly believe that homeschooling can be the best method of education to help kids navigate and thrive in a rapidly changing world.
Benefits of Homeschooling
The benefits of homeschooling are many. These will be different depending on each family’s values and their reasons for homeschooling. The universal benefits, though, are adaptability, flexibility, and independence.
Homeschooling allows you to adapt your teaching methods to suit the needs of each child. Education becomes customized, rather than expecting each child to learn in the same way.
This can help all kids reach their full potential but especially benefits kids with learning disabilities like dyslexia or ADHD. And because about 1 in 5 kids is affected with some type of learning disability, chances are that you have a child who could benefit from a customized, one-on-one learning environment.
Flexibility is another massive benefit of homeschooling. Is a curriculum or teaching method not working? Throw it out! Are schools not focusing on areas that might be important, like personal finance, coding, or public speaking? You can give your child a leg up in life by teaching things that should be taught in school but aren’t.
Last but not least, homeschooling has the ability to instill a certain amount of intellectual curiosity in kids. They tend to take more control of what they want to learn. They are allowed to explore, in depth, the topics they’re passionate about. This independence leads to what I feel is the ultimate benefit of homeschooling: becoming a lifelong learner. Because if you’re a lifelong learner, you can adapt to anything.
Now What?
Want to learn more about homeschooling? Feel free to browse through my posts. For even more homeschool inspiration, follow me on Pinterest.
If you have questions or want me to cover a specific topic, please get in touch!