Pros and Cons of Home Schooling

Remember when you turned about the age of five and automatically began your academic career? You start at five and never turn back until seventeen or eighteen years old and are ready to graduate. Currently, this is no longer the case in the general education system as many parents are making the switch to home schooling their kids.

Some may still have the old mentality that only the Amish or those that live in polygamist areas are the only ones that home educate their kids. This is rather further from the truth as currently there are millions of children learning right at home. You may be wondering why would anyone not want their kids to attend a regular school system and there are few main reasons why.

Pros of home schooling:

You have the ability to control what your children learn. If you want them to be successful scientists one day, then you can provide them with the materials needed to do so.

Traveling can be a huge part of their education. Imagine having the ability to take you family around the world and have them learn different languages and local customs from each part the visit.

Spending one on one time with your kids. Often when both parents are working outside of the home, the child does not receive enough time with their parents and they lose sight of their family bond. Home schooling can give you a greater sense of who they are as a person and you can enjoy your time spent together.

You can teach a child how to effectively run a household when they are at home as well. Basic life skills such as cooking, doing laundry and cleaning are taught to these children on a daily basis.

Cons of home schooling:

Social skills. Kids need to have time interacting with their peers. Learning at home can not provide enough peer relations unless you enroll the child in other activities that are age appropriate.

Codependency. Some children that are taught at home have a tendency to attach themselves to their parents more so than those that attend school.

Ensuring they are at their level of education. Home schooling doesn't always have a set plan that is the equivalent to what your children would be learning in a school setting. If you do opt to home school, you must get on some sort of plan that sets the curriculum to the ages of your children to ensure you are on the right path.

As you can see, there are some benefits to home schooling even though most give it a poor reputation. The main issue seems to be financially. If you have enough funds to give the time needed to your kids each day for teaching and even for traveling if you chose to, then you should certainly go through with it. Kids all learn differently and at their own pace. Speak with your spouse before making any big decisions and also review it with your kids as well to make certain they are alright with the family decision.