Homeschooling and Its Pros and Cons

In recent years parents have started to home school their children. There are many reasons why they have chosen to do this. Some of the reasons may be that they feel that their child might get a better education at home or they feel that their child has some special educational needs that can be addressed better with home studies. Whatever the reasons may be that the parents have for having their children learn at home there are always pros and cons to doing this. Today I'd like to talk about some of the pros and cons to home schooling.

Pros

One of the pros to teaching your child at home is that you can be sure that your child is getting individual attention. In the schools today it is hard for students to get individual attention because there are too many students. The problem with this is that many students get lost along the way. These students do not learn some of the basics and are unable to catch up later on. When it comes time to graduate they are unable to pass the required tests because they do not know what they are doing.

A second pro to teaching your child at home is that you can control the peers in your child's life. You get to decide who their friends will be. The problem with sending them to regular school is that you cannot know who they are choosing to hang out with. You will not know what values they are picking up from the other students or staff. At least this way you can give them the values that you want instilled in them.

A third pro to teaching your child at home is that you know that your child is safe. In today's society with all of the violence in the schools it can be scary to send your children to school. If you decide to teach your child at home then you can alleviate this worry for yourself. You can also know that they are safe from any adult predators that may harm them. Again it is a shame because as parents we do not know what may happen to our children when we send them off to school. Any adult can harm them. At least this way you can control who is in their lives.

A fourth pro to teaching your child at home is curriculum. You get to choose the curriculum. If you want your child to learn about evolution or same sex relationships then you can teach them yourself. If you choose to go the other direction and teach them religion and that same sex relationship are wrong then you can do that too. You are the boss. You get to decide what is in their curriculum. You also get to choose how much of religion you want in the books. If you want God in every subject then you can choose that.

Cons

Just as there are pros to teaching your child at home there will be cons. You will need to make a decision of which is best for you. The first con of teaching your child at home is that your child may not get the social activity that he needs. Sometimes it is best to put your child around a variety of people so that they can understand what the world is about. They may not have a real grasp of the world if they are taught at home. I'm not saying that this is always the case but you will have to help them out when it comes to these matters. You will have to supplement their activities to give them a real view of what is going on.

The second con to teaching your child at home is that they may not understand how to play with their peers. When children are with their peers they learn how to play. They learn how to be in relationships and what it is to give and take. This helps them in their identity too. They learn their own value. Again they learn how the world works because they are learning about social status and hierarchy. This can help them later on in their adult life.

A third con that may happen when you teach your child at home is that he may become lonely and bored. If there is not enough variety or different people to play with then he can become lonely. You will have to supplement his friendships with ones that you approve of. You will have to get him involved with other groups of children that might be taught at home. You may want to establish some play days outside of the home.

A fourth con to teaching your child at home is that it can cost a substantial amount. Many times you will have to buy the curriculum yourself. If you cannot borrow it from a friend or find the correct curriculum at the library then you will need to purchase it. The state will require that you are teaching your child certain subjects and that you are teaching the appropriate levels of that subject. You will need to keep documentation of what you are doing in case you are ever inspected. You need to be sure that the curriculum that you get is appropriate otherwise it is best to invest your money.

I hope that this article has helped you and giving you some things to think about if you are considering teaching your child at home. This is something to really think about before you act on it. Be sure that you are up to the task too. Make sure that you can afford it as well. Also ask yourself if the pros out way the cons and if it is worth the extra effort that it is going to take on your part. This way you can be sure that you have made the proper decision.