Homeschooling is a major decision for parents to make when it comes to deciding on education for their children, which is why it is important to evaluate the homeschooling pros and cons. Doing research to find out these homeschooling pros and cons is an important part of the process in determining whether or not homeschooling is an option for your child.

What is homeschooling?
Homeschooling is an alternative method of education that takes place when parents are in charge of their children’s education, and often hold classes at their home like the name implies. The parents often organize lesson plans as well as generate a curriculum that meets the standards required by the state. Often times, if a parent is not well-versed on a particular topic, they will arrange for a tutor to visit their home and teach the subject to their child. There are many different attitudes toward homeschooling based on the homeschooling pros and cons. The number of children beginning homeschooling programs is continuing to grow throughout the United States. Recent homeschooling statistics indicate that about 4 million children in country are homeschooled with a 15 to 20 percent growth rate.

Some of the reasons many parents decide to homeschool their children is because they believe that their children can avoid moral dilemmas like violence, peer pressure, drugs and promiscuity. Some choose to homeschool in order to incorporate religion into the curriculum, and other parents simply want to homeschool their children because of the quality of education they hope their child to achieve through homeschooling. When it comes to homeschooling pros and cons there are many different reasons parents choose to homeschool their child or not depending on a lot of these factors. Keep reading to find out about homeschooling pros and cons.

Pros of homeschooling:

• Many parents who homeschool their children would agree that they enjoy being able to decide on the curriculum for their child. Many children with learning disabilities might do better in a homeschool setting because parents can educate at the pace needed for the child who has trouble learning.
• Children also get more say in what they learn. For example, if they want to learn a foreign language not offered at the public school, it is much easier for parents to hire a foreign language tutor and teach their child at home.
• Parents who are concerned about outside influences like drugs, peer pressure, bullying and other issues might not be as worried if their child is not consistently around such influences inside the school setting.
• Parents who wish to incorporate religious teachings into the curriculum have more freedom to do so with homeschooling.
• With homeschooling there is also more freedom to move around. Parents can regularly take their children on field trips to museums and other educational locations to help teach their child about certain topics.
• Another homeschooling pro is that it gives parents and their children more time to bond and connect to one another.

Cons of homeschooling:

• In some situations, the parents may not be equipped to homeschool their child. Some parents might not have the educational resources to teach their child above a certain age level. At this point, the parents are most likely forced to hire tutors to continue the educating. This can become very costly. It also adds up to rent or purchase equipment necessary for teaching certain subjects like microscopes for science and other tools.
• Another one of the cons of homeschooling results when a child does not get enough social interaction. Many doctors and researchers have found that a lack of socialization for a child can negatively impact their ability to survive in the world as adults.
• Children also miss out on extra curricular activities like sports, dance clubs, arts groups and more when they are not in a public school setting. While this may not bother some students, some children might become resentful of their parents about not being able to be included in extra activities.
• In cases where the child is severely mentally disabled, parents may not know how to properly work with their child to help them improve. Often public schools have trained professionals that are able to work with their child in overcoming their mental disabilities.

Parents should take time and weigh the homeschooling pros and cons before they make their ultimate decision. What works for what family may not work for another, so it all depends on the educational needs of the child and what resources the parents have to give toward their child’s education.

Source: cbn.com