Homeschooling Pros and Cons: A Parent's Guide to Weighing the Options

Homeschooling can be a great option to really focus on your child’s interests.

Homeschooling has become increasingly popular in the past few decades, with families opting to educate their children at home rather than sending them to public schools. While there are many benefits to homeschooling, it is not without its drawbacks. This guide will help parents weigh the pros and cons of homeschooling before making a decision.

Homeschooling is when you take control of your child's education and choose what's taught instead of relying on a school for it. Beginners will feel overwhelmed at the thought of homeschooling, but fortunately, modern technologies have made everything easier. A bachelor's degree, or masters in some cases, isn't necessary to homeschool -- all you need is a willingness to learn about putting together lesson plans and resources for your child.

A large number of parents pick home-schooling as a reaction to the assembly line method currently in use within the educational system. These parents claim that nitty-gritty teaching does not build children's interest in learning, while proponents homeschool so they can give their children the opportunity to live their lives like they wish alongside completing their studies.

Among the most widespread reasons parents decide to homeschool their child is the extensive care they take raising their children. There are non-traditional methods that some families choose to follow for their curricula while other families follow the traditional K-12 model.

Pros

You are in charge of your child’s education.

You can place your child's individual learning style first. You identify your child's various strengths and areas for improvement. You have more chances to advocate for values that are relevant to you, since you have a much better understanding of your child both in and out of school.

Your child can learn at their own pace.

Your child will have a stress-free learning environment at home. They can study on a more accelerated pace on their own without competing with anyone. They can take more time on concepts that they need more work on. Your home environment will be more relaxed without the hustle and bustle of a strict daily schedule that you don’t control.

Your child will have freedom that they never could have in a traditional school setting.

Your child will not need to stay within a designated space to learn, they can learn whenever and wherever they desire. The world will be their classroom because you can take your children on trips and reinforce the information that they are learning with real world experiences.

Cons

Homeschooling requires a large amount of planning.

Considering that your child’s educational future largely depends on what you plan for them, this can be a large time commitment. You may need to pull information from a variety of sites, books and do continual research as you plan lessons.

Your child may miss out on making friendships with other children their age.

You can join homeschooling associations in order to have your child meet other children who are homeschooled. This will help them to have some association with other children, but it will be unlikely that it would be the same kind of friendship that they would experience as if they were in school each day.

You may have to purchase additional resources in order to fill in the gaps of your child’s education.

Unlike a classroom, your home may not possess all of the amenities or equipment like an ultra-modern science lab or school classroom. You might need to look for other options to include in these places which can be time-consuming and costly. You may not have most recent devices and gizmos similar to a school, but you can take your child to reasonably priced activities or find free classes for them to enjoy.

Results

Though there are pros and cons the important thing to remember is that research has proven that children who are homeschooled perform well in comparison to children who are in a standard school setting. According to a 2010 American study published in the online journal Academic Leadership the homeschooled children score up to 30% more than public school children in academic tests.

Ultimately, you have to determine your child’s needs and what your capabilities are. If you can handle the commitment of educating your child and believe that your child would benefit from this approach, then it is something worth pursuing. Take the time to research the different homeschooling methods and schedules to find the right fit for your family. Then find some homeschooling associations or cooperatives to join so that you can get ideas from other parents who are homeschooling their children. If done well this experience can be extremely rewarding for you and your child.