Homeschool

       “Should I homeschool?” is a question many parents have been asking lately do to the increase of home-schooled students. Around 1.5 million children are home schooled, across the country, and that number's growing. Within eight years, home schooling has grown nationally by almost 75 percent and has a growing rate of 7 to 15 percent each year. Before choosing to homeschool their child/children parents pose the question, “is this the best thing for my child/children?” To answer this question parents tend to collect research and talk other parents. After doing both those things most parents tend to weigh both the pros and cons. 

  Many people believe homeschooling is the best way to go in educating their children. I am going to share with you the top reasons parents lean toward homeschooling. To start it allows the parent the opportunity to have quality time with the child, which gives the parent the chance to know and understand their child/children better. Being able to observe their child’s need allows them to adjust the curriculum at the pace which is best for the child, which is another advantage. Not all kids learn at the same pace of their classmates. Some students have difficulties in some areas and need more time, while in other areas they excel and are ready to move on before others. Since a teacher has a class from 20 to 30 students to help not every student gets that one on one attention that they will be able to get at home to help them in those problem areas. Plus when they are ready to move on they are able to do so while being home schooled. Being able to choose the curriculum allows parents to do more “hands on learning.” Parents are able to take their child to parks, museums, and zoos more easily then a teacher is able to take their whole class. This allows the student to see more things first hand then just from a text book. One of the things that many parents worry about in a public school that they do not have to worry about so much in homeschooling is peer pressure. Not having constant peer pressure allows the child to make their own choices based on what they want rather then what their peers are pressuring them to do. One of the biggest reasons for homeschooling is the freedom of religion. Many parents want to include their child’s religion into their education, which they are unable to do in the public school systems. 

  Even though homeschooling has its plus it also has its drawbacks. For the parent it takes up a lot of their time. They have to take time from their schedules to not only plan the lessons but to also carry them out. On top of that they are with their children almost 24/7 which can some times be hard on the parent. Since one parent tends to stay home with the child it tends to cause financial restraints, with only one parent working. Plus you have to pay for all the materials needed in order to do your lessons. One of the most common stated drawbacks would be social interaction. This is not so much a draw back now as it was a while back. There are now team sports for homeschool children and other homeschool activities. The only problem is some of the things are not offered near every family. Many people see homeschooling as outside the norm. This causes many home-schooled child to automatically get the label as socially awkward. 

  Homeschooling is not for everyone. It is something that works for some but not everyone. Not everyone has the time for financial stability to do it. On top of that not every parent or child has a desire to homeschool. Just because you do not homeschool does not mean you care any less about your child’s education then of the parents of a homeschool child.