homeschooling pros and cons
Pros
Homeschooling your children is a huge commitment. There are many things to consider before choosing to home school. Some pros include:
- Parents can choose an individual curriculum and instruction that meets the needs of their child.
- You can incorporate your child's interests into lesson to keep learning fun for children.
- Your child's needs are more easily met. In a traditional classroom, teachers only have a certain amount of time to spend with students individually. This can make it hard for teachers to challenge students who are excelling or to provide extra help to students who are struggling. Home school allows more time can go be spent on areas of struggle or you can go more in depth when a student is excelling in a subject.
- Homeschooling allows for more time with children. In a traditional school, students are gone for 6-8 hours a day, with many peer pressures and outside influences. Homeschooling allows you to spend the entire day with you children, with you being the primary influence.
- Parents can control (to some extent) what their student is learning. As long as the curriculum covers the required information set by individual states, you can control what, and how you teach the information..
- Homeschooling allows your schedule to be more flexible. Children don't have to be pulled out of school for appointments or vacations. The start and end of the day is also flexible. Parents can choose to have shorter school days during the normal school year, but to also have a shorter summer break.
- Parents can take their children on more "field trips." Basic errands can be turned into lessons, such as turning a trip to the grocery store into a math lessons on the percentage of sales tax of an item. The library is an important place for many home schooled families to find resources and for students to find books they are interested in. Museums, zoos and the theater could also be possible field trip ideas.
Cons
- It can be harder to get involved in extra curricular activities. Parents can sign their children up for lessons or sports teams.
- Some activities that can be done in a school, cannot be replicated easily at home- For example: parents probably won't have materials for chemistry or biology labs.
- It can be expensive to homeschool. Families are responsible for the curriculum and all other materials that are used. They schools are not required to provide any materials.
- Home owners are still responsible for paying property taxes that fund public schools. Even though parents choose not to send their children to public schools, they are still required to pay property tax.
- It can be stressful preparing lessons and activities for each day. Parents can find prepackaged curriculum's to help with planning, but many parents only use them as a guide while incorporate other activities.
Homeschooling Students with Special Needs
Homeschooling can also be a great option for students with special needs.
- A flexible Schedule allows students can use the bathroom or eat when needed, shortened school days etc.
- Adjustments can be made when needed For example changes can be made to the temperature or lighting etc.
- Pace of instruction can be altered. Children will be receiving the attention and extra help that they may need consistently. More and more students with special needs are being kept in the general classroom for most, or all of the day. Teachers are responsible for making sure the student understands the material and that they don't fall behind.
- Students are able to do activities to stay focused- Bounce on ball, chew gum, play with silly putty etc.
On the down side students will not be receiving special need services from the school and parents may not know how to properly handle their child's educational needs. Another downfall is that students may not have daily socialization with students their age.
Homeschooling Students with Gifted Students
- Students can progress at their own pace. They won't be held back by their classmates.
- Students can get ahead in the curriculum. School is often boring for gifted students because it is easier for them to retain information. Instead of covering the same information multiple times, they can just move on when the grasp a concept.
- Parents can challenge students. Gifted students are often overlooked in a general classroom. Teachers are more focused on helping struggling students then challenging gifted students.
- It allows students to advance in other areas as well such as music or sports.
- How to Start Homeschooling your Children
To retain responsibility for raising their children. Parents feel that they can provide a better education for their children then a public school can. They have a deeper understanding of their child’s educational process and what is best...