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Top 5 Pros and Cons of Homeschooling

Many people still believe that choosing home schooling is outdated. In fact, only 3 percent of the population in school age chose to be homeschooled in the years 2011-2012. This is a pretty small number, but the fact that it increases every year means that people begin to see the actual pros of this system.

Still, the debate remains one of the biggest when it comes to children’s development and learning. People debate whether homeschooling offers more advantages or disadvantages when compared to the traditional classroom.  So many times, people ask if they should homeschool. There is no decided answer that someone can provide you with. However, what they can provide you with is a detailed list of some of the grandest characteristics of homeschooling, combining both the pros and the cons of homeschooling.

Homeschooling is a huge decision that you shouldn't take lightly. Check out the 5 biggest pros and cons of homeschooling! #homeschool #homeschooling #prosandcons #shouldihomeschool

The Pros and the Cons of Homeschooling

Here are the most important things you need to know when making this important decision with your family.

Family Time

Homeschooling gives you an opportunity to enjoy more family time together. In a home where the parents go to work and kids go to school, there is hardly time to spend together. But, when a child is homeschooled, family time comes in abundance. Here are the pros and cons this characteristic offers:

Pros

  • Stronger relationships with your children as a result of the time spent together.
  • Direct impact and role on the daily learning and progress of the child.
  • Sharing the satisfaction that comes with every success of the child, including finished assignments, newly developed skills, maturing, etc.

Cons

  • Homeschooling demands a lot of organization, as well as obligations on behalf of the parent. It is the parents’ job to organize the learning, keep the child motivated, and do the administrative work a teacher would do in the traditional classroom.
  • Less time to do other things. With homeschooling, parents have much less time for other tasks, including work. Many parents choose to quit their job when they make this decision.

Money

People debate over whether homeschooling is more expensive or cheaper. This is yet to be decided on, so here are the pros and cons of homeschooling you should take into consideration before you make this important decision:

Pros

  • There are no costs for transportation to school or other school-related expenses for materials, and even meals. Also, no expenses for school travels and excursions.

Cons

  • Purchasing the materials for the homeschooling curriculum can be very expensive. When sending your child to learn at school, in most cases, the materials are provided for free. If you purchase bundled packets for leaning, you can reduce the costs.
  • Due to the reduced time for parents, they cannot work as much as usual, which results in loss of income. One parent often decides to quit their job to homeschool the child; ergo the family income is significantly reduced.

Homeschooling is a huge decision that you shouldn't take lightly. Check out the 5 biggest pros and cons of homeschooling! #homeschool #homeschooling #prosandcons #shouldihomeschoolSports

When you decide that your child will be homeschooled, this changes their sports options significantly. Here are the pros and cons of this choice when related to sports options:

Pros

  • Kids can still participate in teams that practice sports, attend sports classes, or create a sports league.
  • Based on preferences, they can enroll in any sports course they want, such as basketball, baseball, tennis, swimming, etc.

Cons

  • Many of the school districts won’t allow homeschooled children to participate in the sports teams of the public schools.
  • Kids will not be equally motivated to practice sports as they would be if they were schooled in a traditional educational environment where others practice team sports, where so much emphasis is placed on sports.

Socialization

Some people say that homeschooling limits the children’s options for socialization. Others argue that this is a much better option because it ‘saves’ the child from social pressures, bullying and other things that might cause them psychological troubles while at school.

Pros

  • If the child is homeschooled, you won’t have to worry about bullying. Kids who have been bullied experience all kinds of issues, both psychological and physical.
  • Lowered social pressure and ridicule. Without the social pressures students experience in a traditional classroom with dozens of others students and a harsh teacher, their motivation and self-esteem won’t endangered.
  • Children can still connect to adults who will homeschool them, as well as other homeschoolers. If the parent takes their role in the process seriously, they can still expose the children to higher socialization on field trips and activities.

Cons

  • Limited circle of friends as a result of not being enrolled in a school with dozens of other students.
  • Limited or no daily interactions with many kids of their age or skill level.

Flexibility

It is believed that homeschooling comes with more educational flexibility and freedom. Is this true? Consider these pros and cons of homeschooling:

Pros:

  • Homeschoolers are known to perform better on the standardized tests than those who study in a school.
  • There is no homework in homeschooling because the work is done at home, anyways. This literally means more freedom and flexibility.
  • Homeschooling allows you to focus on the materials that are harder for the student to grasp. In a traditional classroom, the child won’t be able to move as quickly through the things they understand instantly, and they often won’t spend more time on the things they find to be challenging. No teacher can focus on each student separately in a single class, while in homeschooling, this is the actual case.
  • Personalized curriculum based on the learning preferences and styles.

Cons

  • Students sometimes have access to better learning resources at home than they do in a school.
  • In homeschooling, the parents must teach many subjects they might or might have not mastered properly. This requires a lot of preparation on behalf of the parents, which means no freedom or flexibility for them at all.
  • With homeschooling, there is much less structure. As a result of the flexibility students enjoy when schooled at home, their motivation levels might fail rapidly.
  • Homeschooled children are often more self-motivated. When they work hard to achieve their goals, they care much prouder. If they achieve something grand while studying at home, the satisfaction is much higher. Still, the recognition of these accomplishments comes only from the family, which means no award ceremonies or praise from different teachers.

What Should You Choose?

Sophia Leered, a writer that provides homework help for college students shares: ‘’I chose homeschooling for my children because we have to move often and I wouldn’t want to put them through the process of adjusting to new schools all the time. But the key reason why I made the choice was because they accepted it right away. It is not my decision to make.’’

Ultimately, the choice won’t depend only on the decision we made based on the list of pros and cons of homeschooling above. The decision should be based on your opinion and that of your children. If we want to ensure that they are motivated and ready to learn, we need to hear their opinion about this important matter, too.

Homeschooling is a huge decision that you shouldn't take lightly. Check out the 5 biggest pros and cons of homeschooling! #homeschool #homeschooling #prosandcons #shouldihomeschool

Super easy ideas on how to make your homeschool more fun for EVERYONE!

Joe McLean is a young and successful entrepreneur who has assumed the role of a teacher. He’s currently co-leading Assignment Masters help service, a reliable business that helps students overcome both their academic and entrepreneurial struggles.