Home Schooling: Choices & Strategies for a Home School Education
Home schooling is a popular alternative for parents who don’t want to send their children into the public school system or who cannot afford private schooling. Parents who school their children have the flexibility of creating their own curriculum and lessons based upon their child’s needs, but they must adhere to certain state guidelines and requirements.
Pros and Cons of Home Schooling
According to a report in the Journal of Academic Leadership, home schooling in the United States is once again increasing. However, there are advantages and disadvantages to parent-led education.
>Some advantages of home schooling include:
Home schooled children, according to reports from the Home School Legal Defense Association, exhibit academic excellence on national averages for college admissions tests when compared to some public school students.
Children can learn in a less threatening environment. Home schooling can keep children away from corruptive influences of certain kinds of students in the school system.
A more personalized schedule that fits parent and child needs is advantageous. If parents feel that their children work better at certain times of the day, they can schedule schooling to fit maximum work proficiency.
Though parents must adhere to certain subjects in their home curriculum, home schooling allows for flexibility to stress certain subjects they deem more important for their child’s needs
Home schooling parents really get to know their children – their strengths and weaknesses. Home schooling provides bonding opportunities as parents are able to witness their children grow and learn.
Some disadvantages of home schooling include:
Home schooling provides fewer opportunities for children to develop socialization skills.
Parents implementing an educational plan are taking on serious responsibility for their children’s education. Some parents aren’t qualified as teachers and may not fully understand how to access a proper curriculum.
Parents who do a thorough and proficient home schooling job may find time management very challenging. Home schooling, if done properly, is a full-time job. Parents must research topics, plan curriculum, lessons, projects, and field trips. They must evaluate work and progress. Such schooling tasks leave little time for other things parents need or want to do.
Home schooling is a lot of pressure on parents. Home schooling parents have their own unique educational methods. Home schooling parents can easily fall into the trap of comparing their style and progress with that of other home schooling parents. Such comparison or competition can be stressful.
Some home schooling parents soon discover their children just don’t want to listen. Some parents lack the disciplinary strategies and the support system that trained teachers in the school system have. As a consequence, they find themselves feeling very much overwhelmed.
