What are the pros and cons of being homeschool?

Question

What are the pros and cons of being homeschool?

Answer 1

I guess ignorance is bliss for these people.  Wow  

I just want to answer this one

>>Cons- Same teacher for every subject,

That can be a great thing since your parent knows how you learn best and is able to teach that way.

>>not that great of a social life (biggie),

ROFLOL  My kids have a huge social life.  Since they are homeschooling they have a whole lot  more time to spend with their friends then their friends have to spend with them.  So many of their friens have to spend hours on homework every week.  

>>you might not agree with your teacher and hen u could be arguing over it, there can't be excuses for y u didnt have ur homework (is it still homework cause ur homeschooled? or is it just work?), can't day dream or do ur homework in class if ur the only 1 there,

This is a con?  It's called responsiblity.   Learn it.

>>there's only one language you can learn,

Many, many homeschoolers learn other languages.  I know kids that know Greek, French, German, Spanish, etc.   You can learn whatever language you want.

>>you don't have a School Wide Enrighment Program,

Okay, I'm thinking this is for gifted students?   Why do you think a lot of us homeschool our kids?   My dd hated school because she'd just get into something and suddenly have to switch to something else.  She was bored to death!   Now she can get into and go as far as she wants with whatever subject grabs her interest!

>>can't stay for affter school activity's, can't be in choir-band-or orchestra...

My kids are in a homeschool band.  They've been in the following activities:

band

gym class

swim lessons

dance

musicals

extras in movies

film school

fencing lessons

golf lessons

Too many field trips to mention.

Frankly, the only con is having to deal with this type of ignorance over and over again.

Answer 2

Actually the only con I can think of would be sometimes having inconsistencies in your work schedule. Otherwise, if you find socialization an issue you can check out homeschooling networks which offer all kinds of activities for children. My daughter takes so many extra curricular classes that sometimes we have to cut them out of her schedule. I like the fact that we don't have to have our child exposed to things that we don't want them to be around and she gets to choose her friends depending on common interests. I love it!

Wow... a lot of you really broke it down...yaay for homeschooling! I didn't even begin with telling all of the things my daughter gets to do...the list would be sooo long. but I definitely agree with the "pros" parents. When my daughter is sick she doesn't get in trouble. If she doesn't understand something, we just work it out. She has other home schooled friends who choose activities with her, such as horseback riding and piano lessons and they often motivate each. With the program we chose, we are given excellent books and materials and even internet options! We have instructional supervisors, counselors if needed, trip coordinators...you name it! Our kids are thriving in ways that I couldn't see possible in the schoolroom because in there you are expected to all march to the same beat, and if you don't you are judged...who needs that?

Answer 3

im homeschooled so i know

cons

so much harder to make friends

its harder to focus on your work because you dont always have someone right there to explain it if you need help

its hard to get to have a normal life and get to go to school dances because most schools require a school id with a guest pass if you dont go to that school

you dont get the expirience of school and having some of the best times of your life with your best friends

theres no extra curricular activities like cheerleading

your parent who teaches you more than likely doesnt have a major in teaching so its a poor education

pros

you can get one on one attention

you go at your own pace

Answer 4

Pros-Ignore those who do not know on this one-LARGE, mind opening and expanding social life, more time to participate in a wider array of activities with a greater variety of people, personalized learning, more input in your own education, no longer forced to comply with the same learning/social/emtional limitations as you would in PS in a class of 30 (therefor, a better chance at developing securely into your OWN person)....you can ABSOLUTELY BE in choir, orchestra, band, chess club, sports, any club you can think of....I STILL don't know why people think Public schools are the only places these things exist? There are Homeschool bands (even homeschool proms), you can join a Homeschool group where they have clubs, science labs, etc.

It is also a complete falsehood that homeschooled teens are not exposed to healthy competition, dating, and all other normal teen experiences. It's just not true at all.

Cons-Bad parents can homeschool and make it a negative experience, and you have to deal with the idiots who think public school is the only place to have normal experiences.

Answer 5

Pro and Con you know the teacher personally

School can start  at reasonable time

Field trips to supplement lessons

Small group setting

no conflicts with peers

no social time with kids your age no school activities such as plays, clubs, chorus, no homecoming, prom, sports  (unless you are apart of a community home school organization).

Answer 6

Personally i think homeschool are great.

There are also some kids that i knew from regular school that behave very well.

Every parent and student needs to find out what works and not works for them be it homeschooled or public schooled.

Answer 7

Depends on the kid and the situation and the program.

When done right homeschoolers excel more than brick schoolers.  When done wrong they fall far behind.

In homeschool there is no detention for being 10 minutes late because you have a bad stomach that morning.  In school that is not an excuse, afterschool detension for a week.

Homeschool you can go at your own rate in SOME (not all) programs.

You can take longer or go faster.

You can work all year round a move a grade ahead.

Homeschool doesn't always have state of the art facilities and this can be a drawback.

Most homes don't have commercial stand up drill presses for wood, metal and pastics shops.

They don't have a Chemistry lab.

As one person pointed out here, you can't legally buy ETHER for biology Frog experiements.  Schools can get it with no problem.

So, unless you can go to a supply house to get chemistry and biology glassware, microcopes, bunsen burners, flasks, etc., you kids will not get the kind of LAB work SOME (not all) schools provide.

It's a give and take.

It requires an investment.

Remember college is going to cost anywhere from $100K to $1 million dollars.

If you have to spend $400 on lab equipmetn for a 12th grader you have to be ready to do that.

If you can't spend $400 on lab equipment you can't even send your kid to a Community College for that will cost $600 a year.

Answer 8

Home school can be positive if there is a reason for the child to be homeschooled  such as parents having to travel a lot for jobs, a child with extra special needs/social disorders, etc. I tend to think that the negatives outweigh the positives, but everyone's situation is different. If a child is homeschooled they never get a chance to truly develop their social skills. No matter how many outside groups your child is in they will never match the social battleground that is school. There are a lot of negative things as well as positive that happen to children in school that develop them to be able to handle themselves in the outside world. Good or bad. Homeschooling is also thought to keep kids away from bad things such as drugs and alcohol. This is true, but as soon as those kids reach adulthood/college they will be exposed to all of those things. If they don't learn how to say no and handle those situations early in life, it will be very hard for them to handle later on. Also, children that are homechooled miss out on many opportunities to figure out how to navigate the opposite s*x. Without exposure to dating, flirting, and all of the silliness that goes on between girls and boys it makes life later on more difficult. There are a lot of reasons to choose to homeschool children, but to me they all seem to make that child's life more difficult later on and keep them unprepared for all of the challenges they will face in the real world.

Answer 9

Pros- Same teacher for every subject, make ur own lunch instead of getting cafeteria food, u don't have to worry about being late to class ( like after the bell rings), don't have a big project due and u don't have a computer thats working that the teacher doesnt no about, u don't have to have a uniform (some schools do) or dress code, don't have to walk or take the bus, don't have to worry bout the bathrooms...

Cons- Same teacher for every subject, not that great of a social life (biggie),  you might not agree with your teacher and hen u could be arguing over it, there can't be excuses for y u didnt have ur homework (is it still homework cause ur homeschooled? or is it just work?), can't day dream or do ur homework in class if ur the only 1 there, there's only one language you can learn, you don't have a School Wide Enrighment Program, can't stay for affter school activity's, can't be in choir-band-or orchestra...

Answer 10

The Pro. you can sleep in late,

The cons. To many breaks, You have your mother around you 24/7, To much noises,

Answer 11

pros invalidly  attention work at own pace

cons harder to make friends then if you ever put in public they need the teacher to help them all the time cause they are used to to having mommy by their side plus they don't get stuff cause there mommy always new what they were talking about

Answer 12

I hate it when people find out I am homeschooled and say something like, "Wow! You were homeschooled?  But you're so outgoing!" Like I am some kind of wonder kid.  Where do you ignorant people come from?!?! I don't know any homeschoolers that are not in 'after school' activities.  I was in a youth (people my own age) and a semi-professional (mostly adults) orchestra, babysat for many families (young children, babies), private violin/group lessons (every age group), volunteered at nursing homes (senior citizens), and hung out with kids my age that went to PS.  I basically did one or more of these activities every day starting around 10 yrs old till I started college.  And people think homeschoolers don't get any socialization time?   I probably would have gone mad if I had been forced to make friends with people simply because we had similar last names and were in homeroom together every day. That sounds like h**l.  Between my siblings and I, here are the activities we have participated in:

Band

Orchestra

Chior

Theater/musical theater

Baseball

Soccer

Tennis

Basketball

Volleyball

Violin

Piano

Cello

Voice

Art

Ballet

Summer church/music camps

Political campaigns

Tutoring younger students (including public schoolers)

I personally have done 11 of the things mentioned above and continue to do most of them.  How many public schoolers do you know that still continue their after school activities after they graduate?  Many homeschoolers never stop their activities after graduation becuase they never did them to get a grade, they do them becuase they love it! The biggest pro of homeschooling is the huge, diverse social network!

Answer 13

um if youre home schooled you lse a ton of social life.m it would suck

Answer 14

Copied (and slightly edited) from one of my own recent answers:

Lots of benefits depending on how parents go about it. I'll share what comes off the top of my head:

*Academic*

-tailored to the child: goes his pace, meets his learning style, may even incorporate his interests

-parents can add in things that may not be usually covered in school (like grammar!!)

-fewer children around means the child can get more help, if needed

-fewer children around also means there are less interruptions and distractions and you can get more work done in less time

*Social*

-child has the opportunity to do things with a variety of ages on a regular basis rather than just sitting in a desk with same-aged peers

-child can get more guidance in social matters

-child doesn't have 25 other kids the same age functioning as role models for social behaviour

-child has more freedom to interact with others since there's no requirement to sit quietly in a desk

-child has a greater opportunity to be out and about in the community

-child tends to have less peer dependency (worry about what they think about their clothes, music, etc.); I've found this to be dependent on how young the child was when s/he first started homeschooling (those with considerable public school experience tend to have a hard time shaking the dependency completely, especially if they don't really develop friendships with other homeschoolers and stick with their public schooled friends)

*Family*

-homeschooled siblings tend to be closer than public schooled siblings

-homeschooled kids tend to have better relationships with their parents (I have yet to see a homeschooled kid be embarrassed about their mom hugging them in public)

*Other*

-usually fewer desires for the latest gadgets and clothing

-elementary-aged kids retain their childlike innocence much better and don't strive so hard to look like miniature teens (who are trying to look like adults)

-it's usually a less stressful lifestyle than being in school (high stress is BAD for adults and even worse for kids)

-the more relaxed lifestyle allows for kids to have more time to pursue interests and to just be kids, have fun, be creative (my one 7yo nephew doesn't get why my kids don't watch videos or tv each day, because that's part of his after-school routine while his mom or dad makes supper; my kids have all kinds of other things going on and have had their time with me so don't need to be distracted or kept busy by me)

Lots, lots more!

The biggest downside to homeschooling is the existence of the many misconceptions and ignorant, judgemental (and hateful) people. They think homeschooling means staying at home all the time or that it means being sheltered or they think that you are only capable of teaching a child something if you have a teaching degree or they've met a few where they live and assume that ALL are like that.

One potential downside is that homeschooled kids may not fit in super well with public schooled kids. This, however, is not a bad thing when you consider that the reason they don't fit in as well (and I'm thinking mainly teens, here) is because they aren't as caught up in image and superficial or questionable things the way many other teens are. Frankly, I'd prefer that my child not fit in if having a sense of morality and being more mature in outlook is the cause. I know one homeschooled teen who has a few friends at her sports training but many of them, while somewhat friendly to her, have really rejected her. Why? Because she's never stolen anything, because she's never snuck out, because she thinks it's stupid to be drunk or stoned, because she's the "oh, poor you" because she can't sneak out of school for the day... This girl was previously in public school and didn't fit in because she was her own person and the other girls didn't like it. She's very glad to not be in school and having to live with that type of immaturity on a full-time basis.

Other parents have found personal downsides (not enough "me time" for the parent or the cuts in budget because only one parent is working, personality clashes, etc.) but those are personal things, not widespread homeschooling things.

ADDED: As you have noticed, there are answers that perfectly tie in with the con of naysayers who don't really know what they're talking about. Those who think that homeschooled kids can't develop social skills have obviously never thought about how people developed social skills before mass school, nor about how THEY would homeschool their kids. Or perhaps that's the really sad thing about their naysaying: if they homeschooled their kids, maybe they WOULD stay at home all the time instead of going out and doing things with others. Fortunately, the homeschoolers we know are quite socially active and social time just isn't an issue. Yes, you do have to put more of an effort because it's not just there and built into your home life, but it's ridiculous to think you can't be social just because you're homeschooled.

Those who think that kids need to be exposed to drugs and alcohol as kids so that they'll say no as adults obviously do NOT have a proper understanding of human development. An adult has a more rational mind than a child and for many, it's a non issue. I was a teen who was NEVER in a situation of being offered drugs or alcohol because I refused to put myself in that situation. Did that mean that I, as an adult who was offered alcohol, would automatically take it and get drunk? Good grief, no. Homeschooled kids can still learn about the stuff without feeling pressure to conform (conforming to what's around you is BIG--it's how language and customs and all that continue and if kids didn't have the natural urge to conform, at least to a certain degree, we would have no societal consistency at all).

Homeschooled kids can have plenty of time in the outside world, actually MORE than kids who are stuck in a concrete building most of the day. They can also have friends, go to parties and all that. It's so, so, so... LAME... to think that homeschooled kids simply stay home all the time.

Homeschooled kids can often still be in bands or orchestras; this will depend on where they live. We have both public and homeschool-specific bands and orchestras where I live. I also know some homeschooled kids who are actors and participate in local plays (so much for the idea that homeschooled kids can't be in plays), who participate in sports and more. Statistically speaking, on average, the homeschooled child particiaptes in MORE activities than does the public schooled child.

It'd be soooo nice if people actually found out information before simply assuming that their thoughts were facts.

Answer 15

Pros--individual attention, you can work at your own pace, you can pick and choose what you want to learn and when you want to learn it, don't have to worry about c**p that goes on at regular school, tons of free time..the list of pros goes on and on.

The only con I can think of is that it's harder to make friends. It's not impossible, it's just harder. But look on the bright side--you're not forced to be friends with people just because you go to the same school. If you're homeschooled, you can have friends everywhere. You can join groups, classes, etc. and have tons of friends. Being homeschooled also means you have MORE time for friends since you're not stuck at school all day.