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Homeschooling
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 There
are many positive aspects of homeschooling, as well as some that
are less positive. Let us go through the pros and cons of homeschooling,
to see if it would be something you would consider for your own
kids.
Pros:
Colleges and major Universities are actually more compelled to
accept students who have been homeschooled. This is for the simple
fact that one-on–one learning is better. If the teacher (i.e.
the parent) has no other children (or perhaps just a sibling or
two) to distract him or her from his or her teaching, the student
will receive the utmost attention. There will be no shyness—like
when a child is afraid to ask a question in class but feels that
the other kids will think he or she is stupid—or because the
teacher moves on with the lesson to quickly because it seems to
him or her that the class has pretty much caught on. When you are
homeschooling, your child will be less likely to be timid about
asking questions—and even if the child is not asking questions,
because you are working with the child one-on-one, you will know
if the lesson has been learned or if the child must work a little
harder in order to “get it”.
As far as the actual education of your child is concerned, homeschooling
definitely takes the cake. The student(s) will often finish all
of their work many hours earlier than a child who is not homeschooled.
And, they will have a better understanding of the material that
they are being taught. Homeschooling curriculums that the parents
choose allow the child to work at his or her own pace. Quite often,
parents are afraid that their children will be behind in their learning
and because of that fear they actually teach them more than is necessary.
If and when a child returns to regular school after homeschooling
he or she will find the classes less challenging and are often moved
up to more advanced classes right away.
Cons:
The negative side of homeschooling is the lack of social interaction,
which is very important for child development. When homeschooling,
lots of kids will play with kids in the neighborhood—if there
are kids in the neighborhood to play with and the neighborhood is
safe. But one cannot count on that. And even if you can, is that
enough?
When I was homeschooled for a period of time, my mothers solution
to this problem was to get me involved in activities with other
children. For instance: I took dance lessons and became friends
with some of the girls in my class—I even attended some of
their school events like school picnics and dances in Junior High.
I was part of a swim team and stayed involved with that throughout
the summer to maintain relationships with the other kids I met there.
Creative extracurricular activities like piano, for example—will
not serve the purpose of exposing your kids to other kids. Art classes,
maybe, or community sports teams are other good ideas. If you are
considering homeschooling, the most important hurdle will be to
make sure you child has enough social interaction with other kids
his or her age. Other than that homeschooling is one of the best
and most beneficial ways to educate any child.
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