Pros and Cons of Homeschooling
If you are trying to decide whether homeschooling your children is the right thing to do for you and your family, then you’ll need to have a good understanding of what the advantages and disadvantages are. There are many pros and cons to help you make your mind up but at the end of the day it is down to you to choose what option you think will benefit your family the most.
Advantages of Homeschooling
No schedule
You can pick and choose when it suits you and your children to learn. You could decide to venture out for day trips whenever you want and take a day off when it suits you all too.
Flexible learning
The children can look at a subject in more detail than they would usually have time for in schools. You can give your child the dedicated time to receiving one-to-one tuition; you can also spend extra time on subjects that the children find difficult.
No pressure
The kids are likely to feel less pressured by their parents, making them feel more confident in themselves. The children have more freedom which naturally makes them inquisitive, creative and resourceful.
No bullying
Homeschooled children are less likely to come across the typical school bullies because you have better control over who they hang around with and where they spend their time.
Less bad influences
Because you have more control over the people your children meet, they will have less bad influences and you don’t have to worry so much about them falling into bad crowds.
Fewer illnesses
The children don’t catch as many illnesses as they would at school with several hundred kids around them everyday.
More time as a family
You will be able to spend much more time together during education and actives, therefore strengthening relationships between parents, siblings and other family members.
Religion
If you are religious then you can focus on religion learning if you choose to and if you are not, then you won’t have any religion forced upon your children like it sometimes is in schools.
Learning takes less time
Because a lot of the education is based on one-to-one learning, the children learn things quicker; this leaves more fun time once education has finished for the day.
No school uniform to buy
Most of the money you would usually spend on school shoes and uniform will go a good way to covering the expenses of your home education resources instead
Cheaper holidays
You can take holidays during normal school terms for a fraction of the price, whether you go for education purposes or just for a fun packed family holiday.
Broader socialisation skills
Children will not have to be placed into year groups and will grow up being use to spending time with all age groups if you socialise well.
New skills for you
You will also learn lots of new skills along the way with the children too.
Genuine education
Children are taught through a genuine willingness of the parent and not by a teacher that is sometimes only teaching for the sake of the wage and therefore your children will be treated with more respect.
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Disadvantages of homeschooling
Expenses
The cost of materials, activities and outings could work out quite expensive if you are not very resourceful at keeping your costs down.
Less time for yourself
You will have less time for yourself because you will be spending a lot of your time with the children and helping them with their educational needs.
No full time job
It is unlikely that you be able to work in a full time job and do homeschooling because your attention would be much more needed at home so this may mean you have less money coming in.
Social skills
Children may lack social skills if you do not spend enough time helping your children to socialise with other people.
All your responsibility
No matter what way you look at it, if you are homeschooling then the children’s education is entirely you’re responsibly, so if you fail then you fail them too.
Lack of skills
You probably won’t have all the necessary skills needed to teach everything so you may need to bring in some extra help or be extremely good at finding out about what they will need to learn.
Figuring out what works
It could take a while for you to figure out what learning methods are better suited your children. There may be a lot of trial and error so you will need to be persistent. Rarely will you ever face a dull moment in home educating your children, its hard work and takes an awful lot of determination.
Organisation
You will need to be incredibly organised when juggling the home, partner, kids and education.
Authorities
You might need to show the authorities the ways that you plan on teaching the children and what you hope to achieve from it.
Dealing with other people
Lots of people are against homeschooling and question why someone would want to do such a thing, so you will need to be ready to face this on a possible regular basis.
College, university and work
The children may find it more difficult to get into college, university or get a job. Many people think home educated children do not get a fulfilled education but in actual fact they often do better. That said, there is also a number of colleges and jobs that are looking for more diversity and it may just be about finding the right placement.
