To the parents that homeschool their children, what are the advantages and disadvantages of doing so?

Question

I posted this to parents, but I guess getting the students' opinions in nice as well.

Answer 1

Your children will be ahead of others so instead of 6th grade they can be in 7th

they will be at their own pace

they have all attention on them

helped in needy areas

by the way theres online homeschool

k12.com and apexlearning.com

disadvantages

their lonely

Answer 2

As a kid who was home schooled, let me give you my perspective.

Advantages - Work at own pace.  Sometimes I could be done with a day's work in a couple hours.  Sometimes it took me 10.  It teaches you to work on your own.  By no means was my mom well versed on all the subjects she had to teach, and so I spent a lot of time trying to learn things on my own.  This was really helpful when I was going through college and my professors were busy or weren't around.  Your kids will not have to take regents (if you're in New York) or any of those other tests.  He will have to take SATs and ACTs, and possibly the GED.

Disadvantages - Not much of a social life.  Unless you happen to live in a school district that allows homeschoolers to participate in extracurricular activities, your child will be forced to find friends elsewhere.  For me, it was traveling soccer and little league.  You may not be able to explain things that he will have questions on.

For me this was the biggest disadvantage - being around my mother ALL the time hurt our relationship.  We constantly butted heads.  Not everyone is like this though, so it may work for you.

I personally wouldn't homeschool my kids.  I think they need that social interaction of being with other kids.

Answer 3

Advantage is you decide what they are taught, you can control what they are exposed to such theory of evolution but not theory of creationism. You have a much better idea of where they are scholastically.

Disadvantage you don't get the down time or free time that you get while they are in school.

You HAVE to make sure you take them places where they can learn to socialise with their peers on a regular basis.

Answer 4

Healthier kids; mentally kids are more stable. If its done well, it is much better. Make friends with other parents who are also home schooling, and participate in sports with other parents that are in homeschooling.  Also, you can try to get involved in activities that the community has.

Kids are typically smarter, as well. Beyonce' was home schooled and she turned out fantastic.  But there are tons of examples.

I just think public school is unnatural. Kids never used to learn that way, and the peer pressure is too much for kids to withstand. Not enough adults to help kids or guide them ethically or morally.  Most people who are unbalanced or have fears and such troubles, went to public school. There's no guarantees - three kids did really well with homeschooling and two wanted to go to private school. For highschool they did better, but it was pricey!

Answer 5

This is a question that gets asked very often, and I would have to say it is very difficult to answer, since families all have different reasons as to why they choose this option.

We see no disadvantages for us, or the children/young adults, because it is what we choose as part of our life style.

Advantage:

Home schooling is being able to teach your children at home instead of using a conventional school, private, public, or charter to do it for you.

Home schooling gives the parents complete control over what is taught, as well as choosing the time, place, and method used to do the teaching.

Advantage:

Home/unschooling gives the parent the choice to go year round, or simply set a schedule that fits the families lifestyle.

Advantage:

Children quickly gain the understanding that learning is not confined to a school, certain hours, or pre-selected books, but that it is a life long process, and has only limitations when we place such limitations upon it, or allow others to place them upon it for us. (schools)

Advantage:

Home/unschooling is a natural continuation of any, and all basic parenting; parents simply add academics when their children are ready, and follow their children's lead when setting the pace for their learning journey.

Advantage:

Home/unschooling simply gives the students the opportunity to grow, and learn in a natural setting using a non-traditional approach; non-traditional meaning without an artificial school setting.

Advantage:

Home/unschoolers parents can  take advantage of, and use many media. Sometimes, but rarely do parents have a need for, or choose traditional school text books.

Much of the learning is hands on, by working along side adults, in 4H, and other organizations that have hands on training.

We use a lot of games, board games, computer software, or outdoor games.

Advantage:

Home/unschooling means that when our children come to a particular subject that they are interested in.

We do not place a time limit on them, we simply try to provide opportunities, and resources for them to learn as much about it as they would like too.

Advantage:

Often when children are allowed to learn in a natural way, in the form of home/unschooling, relaxed, Montessori, or self directed learning, they understand/learn the concepts much better, and score higher on any (academic) test they are given.

They may seem to be "behind" when compared to schooled grade level children, but they are not.

We do not learn in a strict prescribed manner; meaning you will learn/know X in grade 1, 2, 3 and so on; we look for the quality of the content, and work towards mastery, not merely passing a test to move on.

When the real test comes, around high school, or graduation home/unschooled students are often light years years ahead socially, and academically.

Disadvantage:

Even though there is so much information to show that home/unschooling is a very viable alternative to pursue an education, and that the traditional school method is limiting, and often failing our children in many area's people still want to keep the old myths, and misinformation about home schooling going.

Answer 6

I could write a book-length answer but I will try to summarize.

Advantages: You can teach the truth, not propaganda.

You get to spend time with your kids! It's fun.

Your kids have some control over what they are learning (choice of curriculum) so they stay better motivated.

You can customize the program for a child's interests, natural tendencies and learning style.

Disadvantages:

Dealing with your local school system and having to cope with their regulations.

I highly recommend it. Best of luck.

Answer 7

im a kid but pros. easier to focus. its one on one so they can ask more questions and that stuff.

cons. less freinds, they tend to lose touch. they wanna get out!!

Answer 8

pros

Many people don't consider home schooling thier children, because they are afraid thier children will miss out on socialization. According to the U.S. Department of Education, it is estimated that 1.7 percent of all students participate in a home schooling program. A greater number of parents are turning to home schooling as an option for educating their children.

This concept once only included the idea of parents assuming the responsibility of educating their own children. Today, the modern home school has evolved to include the use of computers and other technically-advanced equipment. Although home schooling has the predominant form of education throughout history, many people consider it to be a new concept.

Why are parents choosing home schooling more and more? There are many benefits. You can customize your curriculum (just as k12 does). Home schooling enables students to participate in a curriculum that is tailored to their needs. They can focus on specific areas of interest or other areas that require extra attention.

You can use different learning methods, so students don't have to sit at a desk all day. They might go on a field trip to a historical place, explore nature at a park, or visit a science camp.

Most home school based curriculum is self-paced, so if students require extra help on an assignment or want additional challenges, they can learn as fast or as slow as they choose. In a traditional school setting , the teacher can't always slow down and go over an area that a few students may not understand as well as the rest of the class. This is how so many kids today "get lost" and are left behind. A situation like this is easily avoided at home.

Having a flexible schedule is a great benefit. Home schooling provides students with more options than a traditional classroom. Students can set their own schedule and learn at any time. If they want to take a test at night, they have the freedom to do so. They are learning on their own terms.

There are fewer social distractions for children at home. Home schooling allows students to learn without the worry or interference of social distractions. They are not faced with the social pressures of regular school. They can focus on their work and not what another kid in the class might be saying or doing. You don't have to worry about bad influences that your child might have at school (drugs, alcohol, the wrong crowd etc). If you teach your child a certain set of morals and values, they will not learn something entirely different as they may have in a traditional school setting.

Home schooling enables students to get one-on-one attention from their teacher. Whether they are learning from a parent or online teacher, they can get immediate attention for all of their educational needs.

A home schooling program can provide students with choices. It gives them an alternative to the traditional classroom. Whether they choose home schooling for academic, safety or social reasons, they can be in charge of their education. It enables them to create an individualized learning experience.

For many children this is definitely a good option. A student needs to be self disciplined enough to do the school work daily. If a student is dedicated to being home schooled and can appreciate it, they can be successful !

cons.. I have not found any yet

Answer 9

The advantages are:

-cater to your child's learning style

-child can learn at own pace

-don't have to deal with school schedule

-more flexibility

-parents choose values and information they want to teach

-no negative peer pressure

-children aren't learning bad habits and behaviors of other kids

-no bullying

-families have more time to spend together

-children have more time to pursue their interests

-children can engage in positive social activities

-more time for field trips and projects

-more real world experience

Disadvantages:

-requires time from the parents to teach the child

-parents are responsible for child's education, and can't blame problems on the school

-parents have to seek out materials and activities for their child

-families have to deal with outside criticism

-families may have to deal with government oversight and regulation

Answer 10

Homeschooling. I homeschool, and the greatest advantages are:

1. Being away from insane teens/kids

2. Going at your own pace at home

The disadvantages are:

1. The child might not as much work as they would do in school.

2. The might be lonely.

Good Luck!

Answer 11

I find some of the advantages for our family are as follows (keep in mind that what is an advantage to us is how our family is and how we go about homeschooling):

ACADEMIC

My kids get to work at their own pace in every subject, can follow their interests, can do things in the way they learn best.

This means that my son (7), who's taking a bit longer to warm up to reading and really get it, can keep going his pace and I know it'll click completely when he's really ready. He won't have to be put in the reading group for the less able readers, he won't feel stupid seeing other kids around him who are reading better, etc. At the same time, it means that he can keep moving ahead with math, something he enjoys--but often prefers doing it orally, which works just fine for me--and spend lots of time looking through science books or having me read them to him, etc.

For my dd (10), it means that she can spend hours reading or writing stories, she can do math things that she enjoys, like integers and square roots, and still take some working on things she finds frustrating, like long multiplication and division (yeah, go figure! I take back ever saying that math is sequential), she can work on projects she is interested in--so much more learning going on that way than doing a project simply because a teacher has required it. It means also that she has stayed interested in learning--she started reading and doing math at age 3 and I'm sure would have found K/1 boring and would not have been able to love learning since there would have been nothing to learn!

Also, they get help when they need it and it doesn't take nearly as long as in school to accomplish the same amount of work/learning.

SOCIALLY

My kids have the advantage of meeting a variety of people of different ages. While my son can still be rather shy (but that's him--he started stranger anxiety at 6 months and by 1 year, was screaming then turning his head away from strangers!), they are both usually fairly comfortable at meeting new kids, being in new places. It's not like that at school, where you have the same kids and adults day after day. Each time we're at a homeschooling activity, there are different people, different ages. It's totally normal to them. They don't care how old someone is and will play with anybody they connect with--even if the person is 5 years older! :)

Socially, it also means that I can see what's going on and guide them appropriately. I might observe something and say later on, "You know, I noticed such-and-such. What did you think about that? What other things could've been done?" It also means that I can prepare my kids to behave in a certain way based on something from a previous experience. "So, how do we talk here? What do we do when...?" I feel it's so much better than simply expecting a bunch of kids to figure it all out on their own. And face it, in a school, the primary social models kids have are each other--not exactly mature behaviour for them to learn to emulate.

FAMILY

My kids are very close. I can't think of any families I grew up with where siblings, 3 years apart, and certainly not different genders, were actually friends during their elementary years. My kids are great friends. Sure, they get the whole sibling thing going at times, but that's life and familiy. They get lots of practice in problem solving. :) And learn patience and acceptance.

I also get to raise my kids. I didn't have kids so that I would send them off to someone else to raise part-time for 13 years. They also see family as important, more important than friends. I think that's how it should be. Friends have their place, but friends' opinion and their importance should not outweigh the family's.

OTHER

I think we have a far less stressful lifestyle than if they had to go to school each day, spend the day there, come home with homework, get their homework done, fit in any activities they may be enrolled in and in bed ready for the next day. With homeschooling, my kids don't need to spend 7 hours doing work and add on homework and activities. Our mornings are our focused school time and afternoons are open for free exploration, play, field trips, lessons, homeschool activities, etc. They still have weekend swimming lessons--community-based, not homeschooling, before anybody decides to say my kids only come in contact with other homeschoolers--but they have no homework, no projects, no book reports or any of that they have to fit in.

They also aren't growing up in an environment where all kinds of questionable things are present: attitudes, bullying, severe competitiveness, lock-downs, at times teachers who shouldn't be teaching or kids who should have been suspended but the school won't because each child means $$ from the government (yes, it happens--I'm a former teacher and my dh still teaches) and more. Like jr. high boys spraying Axe deodorant on their arms and lighting it on fire. Or kids in gr. 5 bragging about how they made-out with so-and-so. And so on.

I could probably say a lot more!

DISADVANTAGES

Honestly, it's people's negative reactions to homeschooling that are the main disadvantage. So many misconceptions and prejudice out there.

Answer 12

Homeschooling really is healthier, that's a great point.  When my kids were in public school they made friends and kept those friends. They are also friends with the neighbors, so there's no problem with friends.  My focus is to make sure they're in sports, because I like them to learn team work and group socializing.  There are homeschool sports groups and the local high school lets our kids play tennis on their team, which they love.  So, socializing is not a problem and I think its even an advantage.

All their GPAs shot up and they are really into learning so much more than before because the subjects are of greater interest to them. But, don't fret, I do make sure they learn things that they're not into also, because they need the balance.

There are some other home schoolers in this area that we split the classes with.  One father teaches math, as he's diploma'd in it.  And another woman teaches grammar, which I am learning a thing or two!  My best friend teaches French, so they're all chatting away in French!  Its still home schooling, but you have this group teaching that you can set up, which gives you some freedom.

If done right, it's not lonely. You have to plan it out well. The results are well worth it. Besides, you're free from the difficulties of having a really bad teacher that you're stuck with because the public school process will not get your kid out of their class.