Home Schooling: Is It The Right Choice?

Home schooling is the education of the children at home, typically by parents or guardian, rather than in a public or private schools. It is an option for parents who wish to provide their children with a different learning environment that exists in public schools. It is also an alternative for those families who are unable, for practical or personal reasons, to comply with regulations of a public or private schools.

The concept of home school is based on personalized teaching for inculcating greater efficiency in a child. The efficiency is successfully proved by many children who are being taught at home schools and has shown enormous skills and knowledge compared to the children taught at public schools. While exact numbers are hard to come by, recent estimates by the US Department of Education place the home schooled population at more than one million, or about two percent of the school age population.

An increasing number of parents are deciding that home schooling is the best option for their children. They are unhappy with the quality of education offered at the schools or have other reasons why they feel that traditional schools are not suitable for their children. One reason is concern about the quality of schools available. Public schools are often under funded and staffed by teachers without sufficient knowledge of what they are teaching. Other parents may disagree with the aims for the school curriculum, social or cultural reasons to keep their children separate.

There are also negative effects for home school children. One of which is deficiency in social interaction. In a home school, the child or children is taught in a secluded atmosphere of a home, which hinders his or her social development. The child grows up without learning how to interact with other people in the society. Social communication is an important part of any individual’s life and childhood is the building stage of it. Another negative effect is time constrictions. In a home school, the parents have to teach their child various subjects per requirements. Parents have to postpone or leave their work to teach the child fully. The parents have to be with the child throughout his or her lessons and they have to spend more time correcting worksheets or making visuals. Money matters are also another negative effect for doing home school. At first, it will look like your saving money because you don’t have to pay any tuition fees unlike if your child is enrolled in a private school or miscellaneous fees if you are in a public school. However, since one the partner has to stay at home to teach the child, families will be relying on one income which can be hard most of the time not unless you are earning a huge amount of money. But if you are doing home school and your income is just an average income, budget will be tight. To sum it up the most significant disadvantage is the amount of sacrifice it takes physically, emotionally and financially. Time is needed to prepare and teach each lesson, organize outside activities and field trips and schedule opportunities for the home schooled child to nurture his friendship and develop his interest. Homeschooling parents do not have the luxury of having time for themselves while their children are at school

Another issue is that the child will not be sufficiently prepared for further education. Many parents prefer to home school their child through high school, but then want them to go to a traditional college or universities. However, children that are not used to classroom setting sometimes have trouble adjusting to college life. Parents may not be as strict as the teacher.

The next thing that needs to be considered is the distraction factor. If a child is schooled at home, the result can be that the child does not take their studies seriously, especially when their parents are their teacher. This behavior could result in poor grade. Parents are not well equipped as a teacher. You should consider how well equipped you are to teach your children.

There are many arguments in favor of sending children to conventional schools. The first is that the children will be exposed to other children which will help them to develop social skills. A second point is that the children will learn to function outside the family. They will not be dependent on their parents for their educational, emotional and social needs. A third point is that the children will find it easier to integrate when they finish school and start venturing out.

While many parents work hard to teach their children at home, regular schools are still the right choice for most children. Schools are not perfect, but it is a proven way of preparing our children for the real world.

And certainly, home schooling is not for me.