What Are The Pro's And Cons Of Home Schooling?

Question

What Are The Pro's And Cons Of Home Schooling?

Answer 1

Well, its kind of a 50-50 to homeschooling, form what ive heard. A few of my friends did it for awhile there, but they all came back. Heres what id say (according to them)

        

         Pros                              

-You don't have to get ready and leave home

-Its a shorter "school" day

-Not as much stress because your alone

-After you're done, you have the rest of the day to do whatever

Cons

-You're ALWAYS at home...it'd get boring

-Your friends are in school while you're not, so you have to be home bored.

-If you don't like your teacher, too bad, you only got one (or two?)

-Your social status will drop into (-) area

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in the end i think its better just to stay going where you are...assuming its public school...because in all honesty, you're probably better off. Once you quit school, go to homeschooling, then try to go back...it'll probably be hard.

Well, thats my 2 cents worth...hope it helped.

Answer 2

Each family will have their own list of pros and cons, because these depend on personality, how they would homeschool, how they parent, and more.

So, for *our* family, here are the pros and cons:

**PROS**

ACADEMIC

Our kids can go their pace in all subject areas. They can put aside things that are getting too frustrating and come back to it when they are more ready. They can move ahead if they are ready. They can be all over the map academically and there's no problem with that. They have more time to study what interests them, which helps them better learn how to learn. We can add in things we feel are important and scrap things we don't feel are important (like studying colour and how red mixes with blue to make purple in gr. 1--they knew that far before that point). They get the help they need and there's no falling through the cracks because their teacher (me) always knows exactly where they are at.

SOCIAL

Our children are growing up in a more natural social environment. If children were meant to grow up in packs of 20-30 kids the same age, humans would give birth to that many offspring at the same time. They are designed to learn from those older than them and to be a model for those younger than them. A family situation is perfect for this, as are the various homeschooling activities that we participate in. Our kids have better social models and social guidance than they would have in school.

Ever wonder why there's always one girl and one guy in each class who is the "leader" and who somewhat determines how all the other kids will behave (unless they are to be treated as outcasts)? Because kids are designed to look up to someone for guidance. Since there are no obvious older kids, the one with the most 'leadership' is the one who gets followed.

Another point is that the social "learnings" at school are less than desirable--focus on materialism, certain language gets used (omg, we were out the other day on  a field trip where  a gr. 6 class was--gr. 6 is still elementary school here--and not only did I hear some foul language from these kids, but my son told me afterwards how he heard one boy use the f-word often), certain styles are followed to feel accepted, by jr. high, more and more girls are on birth control, more and more kids are out partying... One homeschooled teen I know found out that a 16/17 yo girl in her sports training learned recently she has an STD--herpes, by the sound of it. Because this girl is convinced that you sleep with boyfriends and there's something wrong with you if you don't. (I just read that in one US study done, http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/condition... where 1/4 of teen girls studied had at least one STD--only half of the girls in the survey said they'd had s*x, which means half of the girls having s*x are acquiring STDs.)

Somebody might say, "Well, your son heard the f-word where you were, so obviously you aren't protecting him from all that." My goal is not protection; my goal is reasonable moderation. Hearing that now and then is very different from hearing it on a daily basis in class or at recess. Even for adults. If you worked somewhere where everybody swore, unless you had some determination to not swear, chances are your swearing would increase. Even adults adopt the social norms around them to a certain degree; it's far more the case for children.

And yes, my kids have friends and do things with other kids and have participated in classes with kids and more. And they are not superficially concerned about "social status".

FAMILY

Our family is close and will remain close because we do get to spend a lot of time together. Our kids are good friends (they are a 7yob and a 10yog), which is unusual given kids in the public school system here tend to look down on younger siblings, ESPECIALLY if the younger sibling is of the opposite gender. My kids have a great relationship that they get to foster daily because they get more than just a couple of hours together. Do they have problems? You bet. Gives them a wonderful chance to learn how to solve problems. And be guided as necessary in doing so.

Our kids are also more family-focused than typical public school kids around here. Even at their age, especially at my daughter's age, peer-focus is huge.

OTHER

Our kids lead a far less stressful lifestyle than many public schooled kids do. Their school time doesn't last 7 hours each day, followed by an hour or more of homework (gr. 2 students here typically have between 30-60 minutes of homework a night; gr. 5 AT LEAST an hour, because they are supposed to spend 30 minutes reading, then it'll take them at least another 30 minutes to do assigned homework), not to mention the travel time that would be added... They have so much free time--time to be kids, time to play, time to relax... It's so important for kids to grow up without a lot of time pressure and with free time in which they make decisions for themselves.

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I could go on with the pros, but I'll stop there.

For the cons... The only cons are the naysayers and the couple of kids so far who have treated homeschooling like it's weird. Some homeschoolers do stay home all the time, but we don't, so that's not a con for us. (I couldn't handle staying home all the time!) Some will say that homeschooled kids don't get social interaction and don't have friends, but that's not true for us. So really, it's just the people who don't know better about homeschooling that's a con for me.

*ADDED* to Milla

I will add that *I grew up in the public school system*, I'm a former elementary school teacher and my husband is a jr. high teacher, not to mention I know plenty of homeschoolers who pulled their kids out of school because of many issues. Our experiences and what goes on where we live aren't limited to a single school.  As for thinking that all parents can just send their kids to a "whole child program", that actually has to exist where you live, and if it's private, you have to be able to afford it. Montessori elementary schools do not exist where I live and none of the public school alternatives come even close. (And I don't live in some small town--a city of about 1 million.) Besides, it still wouldn't make up for me being able to raise my children instead of raising them for 5 years then essentially having stranger after stranger do the bulk of the raising for the next 12.

Milla, you seem to think that my experiences are only based on what I see in movies, but I've lived or seen these things personally, or people I know have. We had ONE girl leader in the class and ONE guy leader. Always. When I was teaching, it was the same thing. I had a girl in class be ostracized for no reason that I could figure out. I know a homeschooled girl who was bullied mercilessly by the lead girl in her class--for grades 5 and 6--as well as bullied by those who followed the lead girl.  Don't tell me that just because you haven't experienced it doesn't exist. Open your mind a little! Kids I know who used to be in school could point out to you the leaders. If you were in Montessori for elementary, you were probably in a 3-year classroom which is an entirely different social structure than a typical public school classroom. I grew up with friends who treated their siblings like pests, I saw it when I was teaching, homeschooled kids I know have said that their relationship with each other was awful when they were all in school and I even know mothers who have said that pulling their kids out of school made amazing changes in the siblings' relationship. This doesn't mean that it's impossible to have a good relationship with your siblings if you go to school, simply that being in a healthy family most of the time fosters better sibling relationships.

I will add to this that at my nephews' school, they are NOT allowed to hang out with each other nor with siblings at recess. My gr. 2 nephew can not play with his gr. 1 cousin and the gr. 1 cousin can not play with his K brother. It's against school rules. Kids of the same grade ONLY are allowed to play together at recess. They do not hang out. They aren't allowed to. And this isn't the only school where I live that has this policy.

What is wrong with the unnatural social structure of a typical school is that encourages children to be less and less mature--because their primary role models are not any more mature than they are. Compare the average 15yo today to the average 15yo in the early 1900s. Heck, look at how many adults never actually grow up today--the partying and all that. I've taken sociology at the university level; it is easy enough to point out that the schooling of children in those social groupings is part of the problem. It's not that it's unnatural that's my real problem: it's unnatural to a point that it's detrimental, which can be seen over time. The one-room schools of the late 1800's were all multi-aged; those children grew up very differently.

I have seen homeschooled kids ranging in age from 5 to 14 playing together in a group. They don't worry about the same age. Sure, when they break off in little groups, they're kind of close to the same age, but not always. They aren't so age-focused.

You keep providing examples of YOUR experience in a limited number of schools; I could provide a wealth of examples from many teachers, homeschooling parents and children. That you were in a school of 3000 means nothing.

Answer 3

As a kid who to goes to school outside the home, I've got to say that a lot of the problems with school that he answerers listed are false.

Most of the problems they've listed with schooling can be solved by sending your kids to a different school. In any whole child program, students study whatever they want, whenever they want. The closest I got to "regulation" was in the 6th grade, where we were given a list of suggestions on what to do for the next few weeks. I mean, I built a solar cooker in 1st grade and a working solar fan in the 6th (it had electrical cords and everything. I was so proud!). So to say you can't be dealing with subjects far beyond your years while you're in lower grades is false.

again, in whole child programs, namely Montessori, children aren't packed into rooms of 20-30 students all the same age. There are 3 age groups in every class room. The kids are all friends with each other, no matter what grade they're in (though there is a degree of separation between boys and girls, common at that age, but they're still friends). And what exactly is wrong with it being "unnatural" as glurpy called it? In vitro fertilization isn't natural. Does she want to deny those parents their children? And I disagree. When kids play together, they play in those same large groups of kids around their age. We naturally want to associate with people like us. Being around kids the same age just makes it easier for us.

Glurpy again mentions that there's one guy and one girl "leader." That's something you see on movies. It never happens in real life. Sure, there are more popular and less popular kids, but that doesn't happen in elementary school. And even when it does, there aren't two kids who are the most popular of them all. It's only in the movies.

As for STDs and curse words, if you raise your child right, they're not going to have s*x just because. It's a parent's responsibility to teach a child about s*x. Anyway, new studies are showing that people who have s*x in their teens, when they start getting those urges, are more socially well-adjusted than their peers who waited. And this was in Newsweek, not some gossip mag.

The thing about family that glurpy mentioned is completely untrue. During my years of schooling, I've gone to school with over 3,000 students, a pretty good sampling of the population and not a single one of them has looked down on their siblings for being younger. When kids go to school together and are related they make a point of hanging out together. Even if they aren't siblings. Cousins hang out at school.

Again, as for stressors, the problem can be solved by putting your child in a different program. Outside of fun school projects, I don't think I had homework until the 4th grade. And then, it was just about 10 math problems every monday, wednesday and friday, an essay (half a page for 4th graders, a page, for 5th graders, a page and a half for 6th graders) every tuesday, and once a week, I had to write down 3-5 sentences and it stayed that way all through elementary school. That usually took me about 20 minutes. Except the essays, because I really loved doing those, so I would go on and on. About once a month we had a book report, and once a quarter, we had a project. And some teachers at my school assigned less, and some none at all. And there are high schools that follow this type of program as well. I considered going to one, but I wanted a more classical high school education.

The cons of home schooling would probably be parents' ability to handle the higher subjects. Even parents who are well versed in higher level maths and sciences often don't know how to teach them. My father's a great chemical engineer, but he can't teach me a thing about chemistry. And most parents don't know that much about college level calculus or physics or history. That's why I know a lot of kids who were home schooled but their parents decided to send them to regular high school. The other option is to get a tutor, but not everyone can afford it.

Answer 4

I am a homeschool mom who majored in Secondary Education, but instead of teaching in a public institution, I chose to homeschool. I think that the general public is very uninformed about homeschooling today, and still relies on the old stereotype of the "shy unsocialized hermetic homeschooler" who never leaves their home and has no friends. It is so inaccurate. My kids are very social and anything but shy! We live in a suburb of Kansas City, and there are hundreds, maybe thousands of other Hschoolers in our small area. Nationwide, there are millions of us. We are active members of several local groups for homeschool famlies, and we take part in at least one social activity every day, outside of our home. Activities are set up and organized by moms through yahoo email loops. Our local homeschool groups offers the following activities to name a small few; Girl and Boy Scout troops, 4H, campfire, bowling, gymnastics, swimming, horseback riding, art, choir, and gym classes, holiday parties, book clubs, a 2 hour long recess time every week, plus park days, field trips, picnics and academic fairs. These are just a few of the many things we do while everyone else is in school). When we are not doing our lessons, we are always on the go, and it is ironic that we call ourselves homeschoolers since we spend so much time away from home! Homeschoolers have the advantage of one on one personalized attention educationally, and we also dont have to waste a lot of time on discipline, paperwork, and busywork. We can get our lessons done in a couple hours each morning, and then get on with enjoying our hobbies and friends. We also have the advantage of making closer more meaningful friendships because our kids have the time for more playdates and outings, instead of sitting, bored and institutionalized behind a desk all day. I find it ridiculous that public schools are thought of as a great place to socialize! How can kids socialize when they have to sit silently and listen for 8 hours a day?? Homeschoolers have the time to learn at their own pace, to spend time with friends, and just be kids, without the pressures and negative influences of public school. Homeschool kids are not hermits and they are not freaky nerds. They are just really lucky kids who get to enjoy life and learning every day. No child is left behind in a homeschool, and socialization is the best reason to homeschool. Public school creates a harsh artificial society where children are raised by their peers. Homeschoolers live and learn in the real world. For more info, read the book; "The Well adjusted Child; The Social Benefits of Homeschooling", by Rachel Gathercole,

or Dumbing Us Down; The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling, by John Taylor Gatto

Answer 5

Pro -- freedom to truly give and receive an individualized education based on your interests.

Con -- Lack of understanding, inability to think outside the box, or resistance of many people who feel conventional schools are the only vehicle that can provide an education, and therefore feel the need to limit or restrict home schooling.

Answer 6

Personally i think that the homeschooling pros weigh out the cons.

Homeschooling:

-Theres not the same peer pressure that is felt in schools.

-There is no limit in the  level of academics (meaning u could be in 5th grade learing 12th grade science, which would'nt happen in school)

-Days are spent bonding with your own/other homeschooling families.

- More hands on learing.

-More time for extracurricular activites.

-One on one teaching.

School-

-Large classes dont allow you to get the individual attention you need.

-If exeling can only be placed in AP classes.

-Cliques/gang/peer presure is far more common.

-Less time for extra curricular activities.

-Limitation on classes to take.

Hope you found this usefull.