Home Schooling

Many people describe home schooling as 'do it yourself education' and most parents immediately assume that they are the 'you' in 'yourself'. As a result, many parents with busy lives earning a living or pursuing other important activities, and particularly single parents, tend to dismiss any thoughts of home schooling out of hand. But are they right to do so?

Home schooling has been around for a long time now and involves more than one million children in the US alone and experience means that are many options open to parents today. Indeed, it is perhaps no surprise to find that parents in just about every situation you can imagine have found the solution to home schooling their children.

We are all of course familiar with the traditional two parent family with dad out at work and mum looking after the home and this situation makes home schooling a relatively simple option. Since the 1960s however society has changed a great deal and today there are a whole spectrum of family situations including role reversal, single parents, same-sex couples, extended families and much more.

Each situation brings with it both problems and advantages for home schooling and it is a matter of examining both and then looking for ways to overcome the one and enhance the other.

For example, many families turn to their wider family or friends for help and invite family or friends into their home to help. This is nothing new of course and, for many years, it was common for families to offer a friend or an older family member like an uncle, aunt or grandparent accommodation in exchange for helping with the care and education of the children.

Neighbors can also often provide assistance. A number of 'stay-at-home' moms are already providing day care facilities for children and, as home schooling continues to spread, babysitting services are increasingly being extended to include home schooling.

In many cases families are also getting together to provide home schooling on a 'group' basis with parents pooling their resources and time.

Another popular option is to employ a tutor. Tutors today come from a wide range of different backgrounds and in all age groups and include both specialists, such as those teaching languages or music, as well as general tutors. In fact, it is quite common to find ex-public or private school teachers who have become dissatisfied with the 'system' turning to tutoring because of their fundamental love of teaching.

Most parents think that private tutoring is simply beyond their financial reach but, after some careful research, they are often surprised to learn that the cost of hiring a tutor can indeed be within their reach.

One other important consideration is the children themselves. It is surprising how well motivated children are by the independent nature of home schooling and many parents find that teaching a child at home can take considerably less time than you might think.

If you find yourself tempted by the advantages of home schooling over the present poor public school system then do not fall into the common pitfall of dismissing the idea out-of-hand. Take the time to explore the options open to you and you may well be surprised to find that it is not as difficult as you think.