If you didn’t love school when you were a student, then perhaps you should reconsider that big idea you have of home schooling your children.
Not only do you have to seek information on the government curriculum, but you have to administer it. That means lots of paperwork, an average of six hours per day providing one-on-one instruction to your child or children, submitting results to the authorities and ultimately being wholly responsible for your children’s education.
Are you prepared for all of that?
Reasons for home schooling
There are various reasons for choosing home schooling over conventional methods of education. It’d be wonderful to avoid the twice-daily school run but that’s not usually the motivating factor; far from it, in fact. Kids who are bullied, families who observe certain religions and families located beyond a reasonable traveling distance to a regular school are all potential home schooling candidates.
There are currently over 2 million students receiving at-home education in the United States.
Some parents choose to home school their children to accelerate their learning, believing they can provide a more conducive environment at home than is available at school. Others prefer to remove their children from what they perceive as negative influences.
Whatever the reasons, home schooling can be quite a challenge, not just for the students, but also their parents. It requires discipline and tenacity from everyone and a single term trial period is recommended to see how well the system works in the home.
What are the rewards?
Aside from the difficulties, home schooling can be and is very rewarding for hundreds of thousands of families across the country. The family bonds because they spend useful, mutually rewarding time together.
What’s the downside?
On the other hand, it can deprive the children of valuable interaction opportunities with their peers, it can mean missing out on sporting and other resources and it can be somewhat monotonous, living and studying in the same environment each day.
If you are considering home schooling your children, weigh the pros and cons and seek plenty of information and advice, particularly from other home schooling parents before making any decisions. Also, definitely ask your children what they would like to do and factor their preferences into any decision. In other words, do your homework so that you know what you’re all in for.