When discussing children’s education, parents are encouraged to find the best option for their child. Homeschooling has become a popular topic among parents around the world, especially after the outbreak of COVID-19, which has obliged all conventional schooling activities to be shifted to remote learning.
As remote learning continues to gain popularity, several questions have arisen in relation to the pros and cons of homeschooling. In this article, you will learn deeper about the advantages and disadvantages of homeschooling your children.
Advantages of homeschooling
Homeschooling offers both parents and children advantages that they don’t usually get from conventional schooling systems. Below are some advantages that can be obtained from homeschooling your children:
Individualized education
One of the most distinctive advantages of homeschooling for children is that they will get an individualized education. Many parents think that the Individual Education Plan (IEP) is designed only for children with inclusion. However, the use of IEP can actually be applied to all children.
By homeschooling your children, you will have more assurance that IEP is perfectly applied by your children’s teachers. In addition, this plan also gives you the ease of tracking your children’s development during the learning process.
As a result, the learning process will be more effective for both the teachers and your children as the teachers can define the right formulation in teaching your kids. Furthermore, you, as a parent, will also get the satisfaction of successfully providing your child with the best education method.
Strong parent-child bond
As is reflected in its name, home-schooled children dedicate most of their time at home. This fact allows parents to be more involved in their children’s activities during the learning process.
For example, you are able to decide which teacher, teaching methods, or duration of the class best suits your children. These are why homeschooling has a great contribution to intensifying the parent-child bond.
Enhanced academic performance
According to research, home-schooled children are able to perform better academically than children who go to conventional schools. Furthermore, homeschooling allows children to spend more time on other activities that fascinate them.
Interesting facts show that homeschooling graduates are more likely to have a higher accomplishment not only in academic performance but also in the field of social, emotional, and psychological.
Safe and controlled learning environment
Since many parents are concerned about the safety of their children’s school, homeschooling offers a solution where it is possible to provide your children the best education by just staying at home. Also, homeschooling also saves your children from a negative peer environment, for example, bullying and any other detrimental peer interactions.
Disadvantages of homeschooling
Alongside the advantages, homeschooling also comes with its disadvantages. Especially since homeschooling is still a new schooling method if it is compared to conventional school. Here are some cons of homeschooling your children
Lack of socialization opportunities
Homeschooling your children comes with the consequence that your children will have no colleagues that they can socialize with during school time besides the teacher. This means that it is possible for your children to feel lonely when you don’t encourage them to socialize with others outside of the house.
In addition, many of the home-school graduates say that it is inconvenient to do the “real world interactions” once they are grown up.
Increased responsibility and time commitment
Being a parent of a home-schooled student demands you to invest extra time, effort, and energy for your children in order to make sure that their school time is well-executed, even if it is done at home.
Some of the cases also report that being fully committed to educating your children from home requires some parents to shift their job into one which allows them to have more time for their children.
Limited extracurricular activities
Extracurricular activities at school can be identified to be the privilege that children get when they go to conventional school. Especially for those who need a group of people and teamwork to be done, such as cheerleaders, sports, and marching bands. These kinds of activities are quite impossible to do at home since you probably don’t have enough space, people, and tools.
Potential for gaps in knowledge and expertise
As homeschooling provides flexibility to both parents and children to formulate their own curriculum, sometimes it might lead to the reality that the children won’t be exposed to various knowledge and skills compared to those children who choose conventional school.
As a result, there is a huge potential that there will be gaps in knowledge and expertise between home-schooled children and traditionally-schooled children.
In conclusion
Homeschooling comes as an alternative to conventional schooling, especially during the COVID-19 outbreak. With technological advancement offering greater opportunities to popularize homeschooling, parents should carefully consider some crucial aspects before deciding which type of schooling best suits their children.
Moreover, consulting with professionals and seeking their advice can greatly assist parents in making an informed choice about whether homeschooling is the right path for their children.
If you would like to see more resources on homeschooling, visit the Parenting Science Labs. The lab uses the research of the Institute for Life Management Science to produce courses, certifications, podcasts, videos, and other tools. Check out the Parenting Science Labs today.
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