Why Should I Home School My Child?
There are approximately 3-4 million homeschooled students in North America. Homeschooling has become a popular option for many parents. Such issues as violence, morals and values, cost, and academic performance are always at the forefront in this issue.
Before considering a homeschool program for your child, consider the following pros and cons:
1. Mrs. Jones or Mom? Is your child able to sit down and learn with you? Even the best teachers have difficulty teaching their own children. Try it out first. See if you and your child can develop a teacher-student rapport.
2. Class Size. Does your child have difficulty in a class of 30 students? Some kids have no problem focusing and staying on task while other kids get distracted when someone sneezes. Would a homeschooling setting (either you or your child alone or with a few of your friends’ kids) help your child learn better?
3. Your Own Curriculum. Although you are still required to follow state or provincial curriculum, you definitely have room to add on extras. As long as you cover the required curriculum, you can incorporate skills and topics from any other discipline. You can go to the museum, surf the net, and share books on any topic in and out of the curriculum when teaching your child.
4. Values. Perhaps you don’t share the same values as the public or private systems. You might find schools to be either to liberal or conservative for your liking. Having your child at home means that you can teach your child values, morals, and beliefs from your religion, culture, or family.
5. Social Skills. This is a tough one. There is the classic argument that homeschooled children aren’t receiving the socialization that they would be getting in a school setting. I don’t believe this is necessarily the case. There are homeschool communities that interact a great deal on a regular basis. Home schooled children often interact with other home schooled children. In fact, it is well known that homeschooled kids are usually involved in many after school and extra curricular activities where they get numerous opportunities to interact with other students their age in a non competitive and supervised environment. Conversely, there are many children who may benefit by being in a constant social setting with many other students and teachers. A child in a school cannot escape learning how to interact with peers. Emotional intelligence (EI) is a trait that can be developed to its fullest in a school setting. As a teacher, I can clearly say that I regularly see students ‘learning’ how to interact with other people constantly, a skill they will need one day in the workforce.
6. Independent Learning. Homeschooling allows students to learn at their own pace. Years of research have shown the PSI (personal systems of instruction) model to be a quite effective learning system. Students who have the opportunity to learn the material that they are interested in and at their own pace, often do well. In fact, homeschooled students do quite well on SAT scores, especially in math and reading.
It’s definitely not an easy decision. Search the internet, talk to people, and do your homework. Every child is different and family dynamics are different. See what works best for you and good luck.
