Home Schooling

The number of parents currently home schooling their children is at an all time high and growing. A recent educational survey found that nearly one and a half million children are being home schooled in the United States.

There are many good reasons for teaching your students at home. However, you may be wondering: Is home schooling right for my kids? Clearly, this question has no easy answer, but we will address some key considerations that should be taken into account.

Is home schooling right for my kids?

If your child is having trouble learning in a public school environment, they may not have the learning style that is prominent in public school teaching. For example, public school focuses on lecturing with some written assignments and tests. Many students learn better by actually doing. If your child is one of these children, schooling at home will allow you to tailor the lesson plan to his or her learning style. You can use experiments and field trips rather than relying solely on reading and lecture.

Home schooling is great for those parents who have children that excel in a particular subject. Curriculum is limited in public schools to those subjects approved by the school board. However, at home, you can introduce new subjects or concentrate on others. Your child may have an aptitude for foreign languages. You can incorporate subjects like Latin and Greek into the curriculum. In the public school system, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to introduce these subjects prior to high school.

Another example, your child may have a natural aptitude for the sciences, so you can incorporate two science courses into your curriculum rather than following the traditional natural sciences, biology, chemistry, and physics courses that are prominent in public schools. As a parent teaching from home, you have the freedom to focus on more obscure, but interesting topics like marine science or astronomy.

Clearly, the two primary benefits of home schooling are tailoring to your child's learning style and curriculum flexibility. That being said, there are some down sides as well such as less social interaction and more demands on the parent's time. In addition, the parent has to operate in two roles: parent and teacher. For some parents, this could be difficult to juggle, so it is crucial to weight the benefits with the down sides.

Home schooling is not right for all kids. However, if you see you child having trouble in a traditional learning environment, it may good to research different home schooling options.