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Homeschooling vs Traditional Schooling: pros and cons

As a vast majority of the world went remote in early 2020 at the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic, students had to quickly adapt to remote learning from home. Due to this, many parents began to consider homeschooling for their child rather than return children to their traditional schooling methods. But what are the pros and cons of homeschooling versus traditional schooling?

Homeschooling: the pros

No commute: Very often, students can only attend certain public schools if they reside in the right district. Alternatively, if they attend a private school further from home, the commute can be long during peak school run hours. As such, homeschooling saves time which can be spent doing further coursework, exploring personal interests, or spending more time with friends and family.
Tailor-made Curriculum: Although certain states/countries may have specific requirements on what it takes to graduate from high school if homeschooled, the option does give students and their parents the luxury of exploring personal interests, going at their own pace, and taking advanced courses where the student is able to.
Custom Schedule: The typical 8am-3pm does not have to hold true with homeschooling! While some legal requirements for a minimum number of hours may be present, students are able to have flexibility to pursue other goals such as competitive gymnastics, travel the world with their families, etc.
Higher performance: According to ThinkImpact, public school students received an average score of 21 out of 36 on the ACT, whereas homeschooled students received an average of 22.8. As for the SATs, homeschoolers scored a nationwide average of 72 points more than their traditional schooled counterparts in the United States in 2020.
Safety: The risks of COVID-19, school shootings, and other unfortunate situations are minimized at home. The extent of safety will also vary upon the neighborhood the school and home are located in.

Homeschooling: the cons

Social life restrictions: Students who are homeschooled do not have classmates with them daily. As such, they can be lonely unless a solid effort is made to interact with peers their age through other activities such as attending a church or place of worship, sports teams, community events, etc.
Pressure on parent’s time: Working a job and raising a child is already a huge time commitment for most adults. As such, being the child’s teacher is an additional burden on parents which not all are able to undertake. Furthermore, a parent will have to ensure that healthy boundaries are set between the parent and child now that the “teacher and student” dynamic is also present.
Cost: The cost of a homeschool curriculum can be a few thousand dollars, whereas public school is free. However, it should be noted that homeschool can be cheaper than private school, so it is up to a family to decide how to best use their educational budget here.

Traditional Schooling: the pros

Social life and development: At school, teens get to spend dozens of hours each week with peers their age, thus giving them a platform to develop their social skills.
Professional instruction: Teachers at schools are qualified, trained professionals who have mastered their craft and in the later grades specialize in their area of instruction.
Structure: Many children thrive on having a set routine and structure in their daily schedules, and schools are the greatest source of structure in a youngster’s life.
Extracurriculars: Schools, especially those with a larger student population, tend to offer extracurriculars which a student is not able to acquire at home. Be it being a part of the chess club, trying out for the football team, or running for student government, certain activities cannot be done in a home setting.
School spirit: Being a member of a school helps develop a youngster’s identity, and students are able to obtain a sense of belonging (provided the school is a good fit for them, of course!).
Fostering independence: From keeping track of their own timetable (deadlines, bus schedules, etc), purchasing/bringing their lunch, and finding their way from classes, traditional schooling helps build valuable life skills which shall help students once they graduate.

Traditional Schooling: the cons

More traditional curriculum: Instead of exploring their own interests, students are forced to study subjects at the same pace as their classmates and course selection is more limited.
Peer pressure: Be it wearing the latest Nike shoes, fitting in with the cool crowd, or dealing with bullies, peer pressure plays a big part of a teenager’s life and is more present in traditional schooling environments.
Overwhelmed teachers: Many teachers have dozens of students on their roster and getting each student’s individual needs met is not often accomplished.
Fitting in: Perhaps the school is simply not a good fit for who your child is – be it the type of curriculum offered, the crowd present, or the overall management of the school.

While these are just a few of the pros and cons seen in traditional schooling vs homeschooling, I would like to remind you that there is no direct answer as to which option is better. A family needs to consider their own needs to make this decision, including their time, teaching capabilities, educational budget, location, future goals, and resources. Here at Crimson we are always happy to discuss these options and also work together to advise a hybrid model if necessary – where students may take some courses outside of school in addition to the courses in their regular schooling. The pandemic has made more families consider homeschooling after seeing how their child has been handling remote learning – but before you jump the gun, make sure to consider all the pros and cons thoroughly!

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Home — Essay Samples — Education — Educational System — Homeschooling

Essays on Homeschooling

When it comes to homeschooling, essay writing can be a valuable tool for students to develop critical thinking and communication skills. However, choosing the right topic is crucial to ensure that the essay is engaging, informative, and relevant to the homeschooling experience. In this article, we will discuss the importance of selecting appropriate homeschooling essay topics and provide a detailed list of recommended topics for students to consider.

Choosing the right homeschooling essay topic is essential for several reasons. Firstly, it allows students to explore and express their thoughts and opinions on relevant homeschooling issues, which can contribute to their personal and academic growth. Secondly, a well-chosen topic can make the writing process more enjoyable and meaningful for the student, leading to a higher quality of work. Lastly, the chosen topic should be relevant and engaging for the intended audience, whether it's the student's teacher, classmates, or the wider homeschooling community.

When selecting a homeschooling essay topic, students should consider their personal interests, experiences, and knowledge. It is essential to choose a topic that is meaningful and relevant to the student's homeschooling experience. Additionally, students should consider the audience and purpose of the essay, as well as the availability of credible sources and research materials. By carefully considering these factors, students can choose a topic that will allow them to showcase their critical thinking, writing, and research skills.

Educational Benefits of Homeschooling

The impact of individualized learning on homeschooling students
The role of parents as educators in the homeschooling environment
The benefits of homeschooling for students with special needs
Comparing the academic achievements of homeschooled students to traditional school students
The effectiveness of homeschooling in fostering creativity and critical thinking

Social and Emotional Development in Homeschooling

The socialization of homeschooling students in comparison to traditional school students
The impact of homeschooling on the development of social skills and emotional intelligence
Addressing the misconceptions and stereotypes surrounding homeschooled students
The role of extracurricular activities and community involvement in homeschooling
The influence of the homeschooling environment on mental health and well-being

Homeschooling Curriculum and Methods

Comparing different homeschooling curriculum options
The benefits and challenges of online homeschooling programs
The impact of technology on homeschooling education
Exploring alternative teaching and learning methods in the homeschooling environment
The role of field trips and hands-on learning in homeschooling

Homeschooling and Legal/Social Issues

The legal requirements and regulations for homeschooling in different states
The impact of homeschooling on the public education system
The influence of cultural and societal attitudes towards homeschooling
The rights and responsibilities of homeschooling parents and students
The role of homeschooling advocacy and support groups

Personal Experiences and Reflections on Homeschooling

The impact of homeschooling on family dynamics and relationships
Challenges and successes of transitioning from traditional school to homeschooling
The role of self-motivation and discipline in homeschooling education
Personal growth and development through the homeschooling experience
Addressing misconceptions and stereotypes about homeschooling through personal narratives

Global Perspectives on Homeschooling

The prevalence and acceptance of homeschooling in different countries
Comparing homeschooling practices and policies in different cultural and social contexts
The impact of globalization and technology on homeschooling education
Exploring the role of homeschooling in addressing educational inequality and access to quality education
The influence of international trends and movements on the homeschooling community

Parental Involvement

The role of parents as educators in homeschooling
Challenges and benefits of homeschooling for parents
Effective communication between parents and children in homeschooling
Parental support for extracurricular activities in homeschooling
Balancing work and homeschooling as a parent

Cultural and Diversity Perspectives

Homeschooling in different cultural contexts
The impact of homeschooling on religious and cultural beliefs
Addressing diversity and inclusion in homeschooling
Homeschooling and multicultural education
The role of language and heritage in homeschooling

These essay topics should give you a good starting point for exploring the various aspects of homeschooling. By considering these categories and the suggested topics within each, students can identify a relevant and engaging topic for their homeschooling essay. Whether they choose to explore the educational benefits of homeschooling, reflect on their personal experiences, or delve into legal and social issues surrounding homeschooling, there are ample opportunities for students to showcase their critical thinking and writing skills in the context of homeschooling.

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Home Schooling: Today’s Need

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The Pros and Cons of Homeschooling

Fabio Principe / iStock / Getty Images Plus

Choosing to homeschool your kids is not a new concept. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, the phrase “school choice” took on a whole new meaning as more and more parents considered homeschooling a solution for their families.

To curb the spread of the virus, school districts around the country offered a variety of educational possibilities , from in-person school with masks to full online school to a delayed start to the academic year to a hybrid model that offered some days in a physical classroom and other days virtually.

Even as things opened back up and returned to normal, some schools continued to offer a virtual option. And since some younger kids are still unable to get the vaccine, some families feel uncertain about sending their kids back to brick-and-mortar schools.

UPDATE: November 2022

On October 20, 2022, the Center for Disease Control's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted to add COVID-19 vaccination to the childhood immunization schedule. While the CDC makes vaccine recommendations, each state will determine which ones are required for school entry. The updated schedule is set to be released in early 2023.

If you’re thinking of teaching your child at home for the first time, or you've always considered this option for your family, you likely know there are many pros and cons.

We’ve rounded up a list of common advantages and pitfalls you may encounter—with input from real-world homeschooling parents. As you weigh your decision, give some thought to how each of these might impact your own circumstance and trust that whatever decision you make will be the right one for your family.

Flexibility

Individualized education

Strong relationships

A lot of work

Less time for yourself

Inability to work

Too much togetherness

Missing out on certain opportunities

Facing judgment and bias

Whether you call it self-determination, freedom, or control, one clear advantage of homeschooling is the ability to make your own choices. As a homeschooler, you’ll be able to freely travel or move, include religious teaching in day-to-day learning, and not worry about social pressures or bullying your child may encounter at school.

Plus, in home-based education, all subjects are fair game, from sailing to sewing to science. Practical skills, volunteering , artistic pursuits, and traditional trades can all fall under the broad umbrella of homeschooling. According to some homeschoolers, teachable moments are always happening, and "school" isn't limited to school hours.

Who doesn’t like to set their own schedule? By educating at home, you determine the structure of your day. If your child struggles to wake up by 7:00 a.m., for example, you can start school later. And, since homeschool timing is fluid, you can go ahead and make your child's dentist appointment on a Tuesday at noon.

You even have room to push back a lesson when you (or your kids) just aren’t feeling it. There are many ways to make it up later.

Individualized Education

Every child is different. Unfortunately, in the larger group setting of regular school, teachers can’t always tailor lessons to your child’s unique needs. At home, on the other hand, you can meet your child right where they are, customizing lessons to their particular interests.

Does your younger child need a little extra help with math ? Take an extra 15 minutes to help them understand fractions. Is your older kid into outer space? Start an astronomy unit!

Homeschooling also lets you vary your approach from child to child if you have more than one—in terms of learning styles and grade levels. Plus, you get to celebrate any success or achievement together in real time.

Strong Relationships

The more time you spend with your kids, the more opportunities arise for bonding. If you’ve always wished for more hours in the day as a family, perhaps homeschooling is the boon you’ve been craving.

Positive experiences like fun field trips , a-ha moments in learning, and “recess” at the park can all build closer parent-child and sibling-to-sibling relationships .

In some cases, homeschooling’s flexible schedule can even allow for more time with both parents—if work schedules usually limit time together on weekends or holidays.

A Lot of Work

In addition to the domestic responsibilities of your role as a parent, you’re now a teacher, tutor, curriculum researcher, and principal.

It’s quite possibly the humdinger of all reasons not to homeschool: Teaching your kids at home is simply a lot of work.

Creating, teaching, and grading a day’s or week’s worth of learning on multiple subjects takes serious time and effort. (However, many prepared curriculum packages do exist.) Plus, as delightful as it can be to tailor education to each child’s learning style, this can add to your workload, too.

And if you have younger children at home who aren’t school age, you may also struggle to keep them occupied while you sit down to teach older kids.

Less Time for Yourself

Not surprisingly, the workload of homeschooling—and kids home all day—is likely to leave you with less time for yourself. Some homeschooling parents say they don’t have time to shower, let alone exercise or take care of their own needs.

For parents who are used to a quiet, kid-free environment during the day, this aspect of homeschooling can be a major adjustment.

Inability to Work

All the work of homeschooling is guaranteed to take up hours of your day. Therefore, as a homeschooling parent, you may not be able to work outside the home, or you may have to cut your hours significantly. For some households, this may be a financial deal-breaker.

Too Much Togetherness

While many families find that homeschooling boosts good vibes between siblings and parents, there is such a thing as too much togetherness.

You may find that spending all day, every day, with your kiddos (and they with each other) leads to feelings of frustration or confinement . You may also go through an adjustment period as your kids learn how to view (and respect) you as their teacher.

It’s important to work in breaks, both for yourself and your kids. Or, depending on the resources in your area, you might try a homeschooling co-op or enrichment program one day a week to provide your kids socialization with others outside the family.

Missing Out on Certain Opportunities

Despite the enormous flexibility of homeschooling, in some ways, it can limit opportunities for your child. For high schoolers, for example, a homeschool curriculum may not be able to provide the same variety of electives as a large public school. (After all, most of us don’t have a metal shop in the backyard.)

If your child wants to pursue subjects you can’t easily teach at home, you’ll have to be diligent about seeking alternatives.

The same holds for social opportunities. As a homeschooler, it’s up to you to provide social interaction your child won’t get from school dances, assemblies, and everyday classroom partner work.

Facing Judgments and Biases

Let's be honest: Homeschooling doesn’t necessarily have a reputation for being cool and modern. Unfortunately, plenty of biases and stereotypes exist around homeschooling and the folks who choose it.

If you decide to educate at home, you might get some flak from family members (or even strangers) who think you’re going full Little House on the Prairie mode or that your kids won’t actually learn anything. You may need to develop a thick skin toward other people’s judgments of your decision to educate at home.

A Word From Verywell

When more and more parents are exploring the wide world of homeschooling, it’s wise to look at the many advantages and disadvantages of this type of education.

Do some soul searching and have a serious discussion with your partner about whether this could be the right choice for your child's and family's needs. And don’t forget to find out how your kids feel about the subject! With everyone’s thoughts and feelings on the table, you can determine if homeschooling is best for you and your family.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ACIP Immunization Schedule Vote .

By Sarah Garone Sarah Garone, NDTR, is a freelance health and wellness writer who runs a food blog.

The Effects of Homeschooling: Essay Example and Writing Tips

Introduction

Welcome to The Knowledge Nest, your ultimate source for valuable insights into various topics. In this article, we will explore the effects of homeschooling, providing you with an essay example and essential writing tips. Whether you are a student, parent, or educator, understanding how homeschooling impacts academic, social, and emotional development is crucial in making informed decisions.

What is Homeschooling?

Homeschooling refers to the practice of educating children at home, typically conducted by parents or guardians. It offers an alternative to the traditional classroom setting, allowing students to learn in a personalized and flexible environment. Homeschooling can be implemented for various reasons, such as religious beliefs, safety concerns, and dissatisfaction with traditional schooling methods.

The Academic Impact

The academic impact of homeschooling is a topic of significant interest and debate. Proponents argue that personalized instruction, tailored curriculum, and individualized pacing can lead to enhanced academic performance. Homeschooled students often have the freedom to explore their interests, which can foster a love for learning.

On the other hand, critics raise concerns about the lack of standardized testing, potential gaps in knowledge, and limited exposure to diverse educational settings. However, it is important to note that homeschooling can be supplemented with online courses, co-op classes, and community activities to address these concerns and provide a well-rounded education.

The Social Impact

One of the frequent criticisms of homeschooling revolves around the social aspect. Critics argue that homeschooled children may miss out on opportunities for social interaction and development of essential social skills. However, this perception is often misconstrued.

Homeschooled students have various avenues to engage with their peers and the community. Local homeschooling groups, extracurricular activities, and sports teams provide opportunities for socializing and collaboration. Additionally, homeschooling allows for deeper familial bonds and meaningful relationships with a diverse range of individuals by interacting with those from different age groups and backgrounds.

The Emotional Impact

The emotional impact of homeschooling is closely intertwined with academic and social development. Critics may argue that homeschooled children may experience social isolation or lack exposure to diverse opinions and perspectives, potentially hindering emotional growth.

However, homeschooling provides a nurturing environment where emotional well-being is prioritized. Students can avoid negative peer influences, bullying, and other challenges regularly found in traditional schools. Additionally, homeschooling allows flexibility in addressing individual emotional needs, promoting self-confidence, and emotional intelligence.

In conclusion, homeschooling has various effects on students' academic, social, and emotional development. While it provides personalized education and flexibility, addressing potential concerns such as standardized testing and socialization is essential. By actively participating in homeschooling communities, utilizing online resources, and engaging in extracurricular activities, homeschooled children can thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.

At The Knowledge Nest, we strive to provide you with valuable information and resources to make informed decisions. We hope this essay example and writing tips on the effects of homeschooling have been helpful to you. Stay tuned for more insightful content on a wide range of topics.

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Home Schooling Essays

by czary Jacek (Poland)

School versus Homeschooling

Some people believe that teaching children at home is best for a child's development while others think that it is important for children to go to school. Discuss the advantages of both methods and give your own opinion. Many people are in debate about whether children should be home-schooled or traditionally-schooled, and which of the two methods would be better for the child's development. While studying privately means the child will be getting a more focused and tailored education, traditional schools provide children with social and physical advantages that home-schooling does not. In this essay, I will discuss the benefits of both preferences and explain why I believe that children should be made to go into school rather than being restricted to text-book education. Parents who choose to get private tutors for their children tend to believe that they will be getting a better education and will be smarter than publicly educated children. This is because the one to one ratio means that the child is getting all of the teacher's attention, in comparison with public school where the teacher has to divide his/her attention between twenty or thirty different children. For instance, if a tutor see's that their pupil is struggling with algebra, it would be much easier to identify and address it. Whereas, in public schools the teacher might not know unless it is raised by the student or parent. Even then, it would be difficult to find the time and energy to help the individual student. In this aspect home-schooling might be more advantageous than public schooling. Nevertheless, the other components of child education and development should still be explored. Being taught with other children has numerous advantages that are often overlooked by supporters of home-schooling. One very obvious benefit is social interaction and its importance in dealing with strangers, learning social etiquette, building relationships and much more. Children who are given the opportunity to interact with other children and adults, will be far more socially advanced than those who are secluded to their homes. Furthermore, children who are publicly educated are able to explore and develop more interests than their privately tutored peers. For example, most school goers will play team games with their class at some point during their school years; through this they might find a new interest or hobby, they will be able to learn new skills, interact and experience competition but most importantly enjoy themselves. Through these interactions they also create relationships that extend beyond the school grounds. These are opportunities that can rarely be described for homeschooled children. The social components and fully experiencing childhood is fundamental to healthy development and must not be overlooked when choosing from the two options. In my opinion, the social advantages gained from public school surpass the academic advantages of home-schooling. This is because while the child will learn better if his/her classes are tailored to his or her need, they may never encounter the social experiences from which they can extract skills or enjoy the atmosphere of being with similar aged children. The aim of school is to prepare children for adult life and equip them with the skills they may need at that time, irregardless of whether they progress into academic disciplines or not. Education gaps can be corrected by parents at home or after school tutoring where necessary, meanwhile there is no substitute for the social benefits of school. In conclusion, parents choose which style of teaching best fits their expectations for their children. While some go with home tutoring, others go with traditional schooling; they both come with varying advantages. This essay discussed the main advantage of traditional schooling versus homeschooling in relation to the child’s development. It highlighted the academic benefits of private learning, as well as the social and personal gains of public school education, and explained why I think that traditional methods of schooling are far more advantageous than homeschooling.

Teaching Children at Home Essay

by Marius M

Some people believe that teaching children at home is best for a child's development while others think that it is important for children to go to school. Discuss the advantages of both methods and give your own opinion. This topic is a point of contention amongst parents and teachers in today's ever changing world I think there are many advantages for home schooling one of the most important being a more flexible approach to training a child. A parent is easily able to adjust the difficulty of lessons to cater to the child's learning capacity and level. Home schooling could also involving self-training methods and many success stories in the world today are based on this especially in the world of tech and computer. A good example being silicon valley company founders such as Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs amongst others. The advantage being that sometimes the school curriculum is not quick enough to meet the speed at which areas in tech are moving with. Inspite of the strong points made by parents and tutors as to the importance of home schooling, as with most things, there is a myriad of reasons supporting a child's development from teaching in school. Principal of this being the fact that home schooling is an artificial representation of the real world and hinders children from developing useful skills required to deal with life when they grow. The reality is life does not wait for any one and if kids are made to believe that classes and therefore life will be tailored to their capacities only, then there would struggle to adapt to the real world when they become adults. An example of this can be seen when the children of celebrities who were home-schooled as kids but who struggle as adults and keep away from the outside world. I am of the opinion that schooling for kids is a delicate issue and should be handled with balance. I believe that it would be helpful for kids to attend school during term time, while during vacation period home schooling should come into effect to catch up with any gaps the child has versus school curriculum or advance their learning further. When deemed together, the success stories of home-schooling and the merits of going to school means it serves a better purpose combining the two.

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Should I consider homeschooling my child?

by: Christina Tynan-Wood | Updated: September 20, 2023

Print article

Homeschooled kids do better in college. Homeschool families are all religious. Homeschooled kids are more creative. Homeschooled kids lack social skills.

When it comes to homeschooling, there are no lack of strong opinions — as well as misconceptions and prejudices. The truth is that homeschooling has changed dramatically over the past few years. Long considered a radical alternative to traditional schools, homeschooling is rapidly becoming more accepted into the mainstream.

Though homeschools involving strong religion and obsessive spelling bees get a lot of attention, there are plenty of students. The National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) estimates that 3.15 million students (age 5-18) were homeschooled during the 2021-2022 school year. (The latest National Center for Educational Statistics estimate, from 2016, showed 1.7 million homeschool students, twice as many as there were in 1999.) Fewer than half of families offer religion as the most important reason. Many do it because they want to offer their children the best possible education. More than a few are dissatisfied with their other school options. And of course, homeschooling got a boost during the pandemic, when many schools closed their doors. Black families, especially, saw a surge in homeschooling during the first year of the pandemic. But while experts expect the number of all homeschooled students to decline somewhat as schools have reopened, some parents will find that they like teaching the kids at home, and keep homeschooling as a choice.

Online programs: bringing learning home

Much of homeschooling’s growing popularity is thanks to online programs like K12 or Khan Academy that offer tools, courses, or complete curriculums. Some of these are free resources, but many others can cost hundreds of dollar a year or more. Parents can elect to be hands-on teachers (or hire tutors for specific subjects), sitting down and teaching math and science, working from a printed curriculum. Others might elect to combine homeschooling with some traditional schooling so the student still takes a few courses at a nearby school. Some parents organize groups of homeschool kids to create their own small schools, even turning them into their own charter schools.

Some homeschool parents are less hands-on, believing that — once video games and television are removed — a kid’s natural curiosity will take over and lead her to seek answers thereby getting an excellent, organic education.

What you might find in a home school

Curiosity, not boredom: With only one or a few students, you have the freedom to approach a subject from the angle that most appeals to those students. Once interested in a topic, students often find their own way to get more information on it. With access to the Internet and a library, a homeschooled student given time to pursue his own interests can easily exceed the knowledge of the average school teacher in a subject he enjoys.
The entire world: There’s no limit to where — or from whom — your child can learn. Instruction from local artisans or experts, the grocery store, the pool at the YMCA, a patch of garden outside, your kitchen. If you look for them, there are classrooms everywhere.
Independent kids: Students who learn from a coach who helps them find information rather than a teacher who doles out information in small, testable bundles quickly learn how to learn for the sake of learning — rather than to prove what they know on a test.
Freedom: Want to teach by doing? You don’t have to secure transportation, permission slips, and space for 30 rowdy students. You can simply get in the car to take a field trip to teach history by touring a museum or city, math by using money or building robots, even earth science and biology through gardening and caring for animals.
No threat of failure: A child who doesn’t thrive in a traditional classroom can often feel like a failure through no fault of her own. That same child might learn more effectively at a faster or slower pace, with more control over the topics, or in a less chaotic environment.

But how do I homeschool my child?

Plenty of parents might think about homeschooling, but be intimidated by how to go about it: What would I teach? How do I create a curriculum? How do I make sure my child still has friends to play with?

Parents who have successfully homeschooled say that the resources and support system exist in most any town or city to make homeschooling possible for most any family. It’s a matter of knowing what steps to take.

First find out what your state’s rules are. You might have to register your school and detail the curriculum you have chosen. You might also have to provide proof that you have enough education to take this on. You may need to issue end-of-grade tests as well. The rules on this vary from state to state, though homeschooling is legal in all 50 states.

Next, turn to your child. What are her interests? What style of learner is she? Take your time buying an expensive curriculum until you’re sure it suits what she wants to learn and the way you want to teach. You might want to work from a printed-page curriculum and do all the teaching yourself. Or you might opt to be a teacher/coach while your student takes her classes online.

If your child is in middle or high school, you might opt to sign up for a virtual school . Next, find a local support group so you and your child can connect with other homeschoolers in your area. ( Find more information about homeschooling, including ideas on finding a support group .) If you work, have small children, and are wondering if you can make homeschooling happen, the answer may be “no” unless you are willing to hire a babysitter or nanny. But if you have a responsible high schooler, you might find a virtual school — complete with teachers — might make it work even if you do have to go to work.

What supporters say

Learning is for real. When you learn something because you want to know the answer and through real-life experience, you remember it. Those facts your student crammed into his head the night before a test? Not so much.
Family bonding is sweet. Instead of fighting over homework, attendance, grades, and getting to school on time, you can argue over philosophy, take a day off to go to the park or a museum, feel real pride in your child’s knowledge and abilities, and start your school day at a time that suits your schedule.
You can travel. Instead of cramming all your vacations and family relaxation time into spring break and summer, travel when it suits you. There is no better way to learn a language, geography, or about different cultures than visiting foreign lands — or touring your own land as a foreigner. Money may limit your adventures but school schedules will not.
Homeschooling allows you to share your values. You may not like the values your child is bringing home from school. Homeschooling allows parents to raise and educate their children according to their own values and/or religious beliefs. Or the school’s climate may not foster the emotional, social, and academic approach you do. At home, you set the tone.
Homeschoolers do well academically. According to NHERI , home-educated students typically score 15 to 30 percentile points above public-school students on standardized academic achievement tests. NHERI also claims that homeschoolers score above the average on the SAT and ACT tests.

What critics say

Homeschooling is for those on the fringe. According to the National Center for Education Statistics , in 2019 only about 13 percent of parents cited the need to provide religious instruction as the most important reason they homeschool. The most important single reason, cited by 25 percent of families, was dissatisfaction with the school environment because of safety, drug use, or negative peer pressure. Most families had more than one reason for choosing the homeschooling route.
Homeschooled kids are antisocial. There is no doubt that a school with classrooms full of other kids offers more opportunities for social interaction than staying home. But in some schools, those social interactions can be overly negative. This may account for the NHERI research that finds homeschooled kids are doing above average on this measure. But homeschooled kids and their parents do have to look elsewhere for social engagement: clubs, sports teams, and homeschool support groups.
It’s hard work for parents. If you have three children under ten and decide to homeschool, you will certainly have your hands full for a few years. Even having one teenager at home all the time can wear a parent down — especially if that parent also has a job. Without a doubt, this is a decision to put your child’s education before your own career and free time.
Homeschoolers don’t do as well academically. While critics say that homeschoolers aren’t getting the quality education they’d receive in a traditional school, statistics on low achievement among homeschoolers is hard to find. (Conversely, student achievement among homeschoolers that is not funded by homeschooling organizations is also hard to come by.) Additionally, there is relatively little regulation for homeschool parents. There are 21 states that require some form of standardized testing. As for being qualified to teach your own kids, most states will allow any parent to home school, although a few require that a parent have at least a high school diploma or GED. Check with your state or the Home School Legal Defense Fund to see if yours is one of them.

Is homeschooling right for my child?

Whether this is the right way to educate your child or not depends on a lot of factors and can change from one year to the next.

If your school is failing your child and you have no other viable options (such as a quality private school), homeschooling might be the best solution. But if your child craves a group to belong to and resides near a friendly public school full of friendly faces, he might do better there. If your school has a bullying problem or your child can’t fit into the social environment, though, socializing there will probably do more harm than good. If you don’t have the time and can’t afford to take the time, then creating a successful home school might put more strain on your family and its finances than they can take. But if you are home and able and want to spend more time with your children, this might be the thing that frees you from some of the strains and difficulties that traditional schooling can present, like homework battles and predetermined vacation days.

A final word of advice about homeschooling

If you decide to leave your child’s existing school and begin homeschooling, do so gently and politely. Tell your child’s school you want to try this and don’t point the finger of blame at the school. If you are reacting to a bad school situation , you may decide in a year that your child wants to go back to that school. Or you might want to ask if your child can attend one class there, be in the school play, or play on a sports team. Don’t burn any bridges. And remember, you aren’t stuck doing this forever any more than you are stuck taking your child to the neighborhood school. You can always change your mind and send the kids back to that school.

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Homeschooling, Its Advantages and Disadvantages Essay

Nowadays, education is extremely important because it provides the representatives of the general public to receive the knowledge needed to live an independent life to the fullest. At school, children have an opportunity to learn how to communicate with different people, obtain basic skills and knowledge required for further education or work, and become real members of their communities. However, more and more parents today focus on the benefits of homeschooling.

They believe that such an approach provides their children with the possibility to learn better and base their decision on pedagogical and/or family-related reasons (Guterman & Neuman, 2017). However, even though homeschooling provides freedom, flexibility, and control over the activities aligned with the learning process, it prevents a child from socialization, requires many resources, and excessively increases togetherness.

Homeschooling is rather advantageous because it provides the representatives of the general public with an opportunity to experience freedom. This point includes both the freedom to decide what to do and when and the freedom from adverse situations. For instance, parents have the possibility to change the planned organization of lessons if they are under the pressure of particular circumstances or believe that a child needs to focus on something more.

In addition to that, receiving education at home, children have the possibility to avoid bullies and problems with peers, which influence their mental state negatively. It is also possible to consider religious freedom. In this way, parents are free to decide whether religion should be included in the curriculum or not.

A flexible schedule and an opportunity to change the pace of learning is another advantage of homeschooling. Parents can decide what information to discuss and how to do it. In this way, they can provide their children with “wonderful educational experiences” and ensure “a very stimulating learning environment” (Fedele, 2010, para. 62). Thus, kids are likely to have positive views on education.

Homeschooling provides a lot of control to parents. They are able to make decisions regarding children’s curriculum, diet, and extra-curriculum activities. As a result, parents can devote more hours to studying and ensure that their children eat healthy food (Guterman & Neuman, 2017, p. 303). Thus, homeschooling is the best option for children who have some health issues.

Nevertheless, it is more difficult for those who receive education at home to enter society. Socialization is critical for the future because people need to constantly interact with one another. The school allows children to learn coping mechanisms and understand how to approach various people.

Being educated by parents only, children fail to learn all the information they can receive at school. As a rule, people are good at a limited number of subjects, which means that parents tend to lack knowledge in various spheres. As one of the individuals who practiced homeschooling said, “I’m English, their dad is political science. There are some things we don’t know” (Martin, 2013, para. 24). Still, the situation can be improved if to involve the community but not only parents (Martin, 2013). In this way, practices similar to those maintained at school will be held.

Moreover, family relations can be worsened by excessive togetherness. Spending almost all the time with one another, parents and children may become tired and unwilling to communicate. Conflicts may occur without any significant reasons. This rationale may be appropriate only if a child is “not socially and emotionally ready for school” (Fedele, 2010, para. 7).

Thus, homeschooling is a great option to receive an education without attending school, but it is not its substitute. It seems to be better for children to follow the way of the majority to be aligned with them in the future. Parents are not able to teach everything, they need some time for themselves, and children should be socialized. Homeschooling is the best option if a family faces issues, but it is not the best for a general situation.

Guterman, O., & Neuman, A. (2017). Different reasons for one significant choice: Factors influencing homeschooling choice in Israel. International Review of Education, 63 (3), 303-318.

Fedele, R. (2010). When it comes to schooling, there’s no place like home . Web.

Martin, M. (2013). Parents on the pros and cons of homeschooling . Web.

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Homeschooling Resources at Your Fingertips

All in favor positive opinions of homeschooling hit highest point since start of pandemic.

Before March of 2020, only seasoned homeschoolers could really provide an opinion on whether they considered the education format to be a favorable experience. And, of course, since homeschooling families generally opt to take that route for a reason, their opinions on the matter tend to skew favorably.

All of that changed last March, however; soon after that, practically every parent with a school-aged child had at least a semi-educated opinion of homeschooling, because nearly every parent or caregiver around the world was experiencing homeschool in some way, shape, or form.

According to Ed Choice and Morning Consult research , 55% of parents with kids in school had a favorable opinion of homeschooling at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Between then and February 2021, there were some ebbs and flows, some highs and lows. But by the end of last month, favorable opinions of homeschooling were up eight points over last March–63% of surveyed school parents had a favorable view of homeschooling!

Why? A deeper look at the data shows that a solid percentage of parents feel that their children are progressing “very well” in three key areas: academic learning, emotional development, and social development. Let’s dig into those categories a little bit further.

Academic Learning

According to Ed Choice and Morning Consult’s data, 33% of parents homeschooling during the pandemic felt their child(ren) was progressing very well in academics. By comparison, only parents of private school children had a higher satisfaction rating, at 48%. Only 25% of district school parents were very satisfied with their children’s academic learning progression.

There are several potential explanations for these numbers. And the wild card with all of this data is that school was literal chaos for the remainder of the 2020 school year, from March through June, as schools adjusted as quickly as possible for remote learning. This on-the-fly adjustment also translated to parents, who were thrust into the previously uncharted territory of either homeschool teacher or something resembling a proctor. That might explain why favorability ratings were so low during this period. Parents, like schools, were caught completely off-guard and were unprepared for homeschooling or school at home (entirely different things).

But then opinions started changing. By summer, homeschooling favorability hit nearly 75%. So, what happened? It’s impossible to speak for the parents who participated in this survey, but clearly by the end of the 2019-20 school year, parents and students began to find a comfort zone. Once the initial panic and disarray of COVID-19 subsided a bit, parents and children alike may have realized that the forced homeschooling was actually a blessing in disguise.

Perhaps many of these kids discovered they enjoyed learning at their own pace in their own way, and they thrived as a result. Maybe their parents figured out a way to juggle homeschooling with their work schedules and found the flexibility to be a relief. It could be that children flourished when they and their parents chose their own curriculum. With time, perhaps kids were able to settle into a distraction-free home classroom and improve their focus. It was probably a combination of all of the above, but one thing is for sure–parents’ view of homeschooling has reached a much higher level as far as favorability, and they think their kids are progressing at a higher level academically than parents of students in public schools.

Emotional Development

Let’s be honest–this has been a brutal year. This pandemic took its toll on every single human being on this planet in some way. We’ve all been on a rollercoaster of emotions for the past 12 months–and this rollercoaster had a very steep drop that just kept plunging deeper and deeper into the abyss until it felt like we were headed into a bottomless pit.

The light at the end of the tunnel is growing in size, but the damage has been done–physically, mentally, and emotionally. In some cases, that damage is permanent. It’s hard to say whether COVID-19 took a larger toll on kids or adults. In some ways, kids are probably more immune to some of the emotions that adults have experienced over the past year. Either they’re too young to understand, or they’re simply too busy being kids to care. Whereas parents are absorbing every piece of bad news, trying to figure out how to navigate this “ new normal ”, working to keep our kids (and ourselves) safe and healthy, juggling work and homeschooling/school at home, trying to keep a happy face with our kids, and on and on.

That said, kids still took a major emotional hit during the pandemic. Younger kids struggled to understand why they couldn’t get on the bus and go to school, play with their friends, go to the movies, play in their local sports leagues, visit relatives, go out to eat, or have birthday parties. When young children who are accustomed to all of those things we used to take for granted all of a sudden have those things taken away, it’s emotionally distressing. They don’t understand why. Older kids are more similar to adults in the sense that they feel like they’re losing their freedom, and they understand why but are hesitant to accept it.

The data on emotional development progress in the eyes of parents are interesting. Once again, private school parents are the most satisfied with their children’s emotional development progress, at 44%. Homeschool parents are next, with 31% feeling that their kids are progressing very well emotionally. Bringing up the rear are public school parents, at 22%.

This might be easier to explain in the sense that public school students are so accustomed to getting on the bus every morning, roaming the halls with their friends, going from class to class, taking part in gym, eating lunch in a cafeteria, working on group projects with lab partners, then hopping back on the bus at the end of the day. Going from all of that activity as part of a daily routine to sitting at home on a computer with limited interaction for months at a time…that’s going to take an emotional toll on kids. With that in mind, the 22% figure for public schools makes sense.

For families that were previously homeschooling, the 31% of parents who thought their student was progressing very well emotionally during the school year is an interesting figure. Perhaps, because these families were already accustomed to the framework of home-based education, there simply wasn’t a large jump of the needle in either direction. Though the move to remote education was a shock to the system of public school students, there wasn’t much of a shift–if any–for homeschooled students.

Of course, the pandemic has been an equal opportunity distressor, so homeschooled students certainly are no more or less immune to all of the emotional impacts we’ve all felt over the past year. Homeschoolers still had to deal with all of the sickness and death and the seismic changes to our everyday lives–it was only their schooling that wasn’t as impacted quite as much as others’. That said, many homeschooling families participate in group learning or co-ops with other homeschool families, and that was yet another victim of COVID. So, emotional difficulty was experienced by everyone, though nearly one-third of homeschool parents felt that their children were still progressing very well emotionally over the past year.

Social Development

Socially speaking, parents of public school children are (not surprisingly) far from satisfied with how their children progressed over the course of the school year. Again, only 22% stated that they felt their kids were progressing very well socially, compared to 50% of private school parents and 39% of homeschool parents.

This one is pretty easy to figure out. Kids who were so used to seeing friends practically every minute of every school day lost that interaction completely. No more chatting on the bus, hanging in the halls, socializing at lunch. Beyond the classrooms, there were no more after-school or extracurricular activities, no sports, no indoor hangouts or gatherings, no sleepovers. The very aspects that public school kids enjoyed about their typical school days were gone. Sure, FaceTime and Zoom helped mitigate that some, but so many kids simply need that in-person interaction and really suffered without it.

More public and private schools are starting to reopen fully after a year, but as these plans were being discussed and debated months ago, it was interesting to hear the arguments parents were presenting as to why they wanted their kids back in school so badly. Social interaction seemed to be the driving force behind the push to open schools–not academics. It’s understandable; many children and teens (and adults) struggled mentally with quarantining and social-distancing. Depression is rampant, and suicidal thoughts have increased alarmingly.

In fact, according to a CDC survey published in November 2020, over a 30-day period in August 2020, suicidal thoughts occurred in 11% of people of all ages, compared to 4.3% in August 2018. In young adults, the numbers are staggering–in 2020, 25.5% of adults aged 18 to 24 seriously contemplated suicide compared to 10.7% in 2018. The impact that the loss of socialization has had on kids of all ages can’t be overstated–and for kids who already suffered from emotional disorders, the loss of their friends, their support systems, has been devastating.

Of course, this impact isn’t limited to just public school kids–though parents of those children clearly see their kids falling behind on social development significantly more so than those of private and homeschooled students. Homeschoolers may have simply adjusted to the situation better than public school kids. Not because homeschooled kids don’t socialize –we know now that is a myth . But it’s possible that homeschoolers have progressed better socially simply because they were more used to learning taking place in the home, mostly independently.

There are many ways to slice up the data, many viable theories and explanations as to why these parents feel the way they do and why their kids are progressing at the rate they are. No matter how you look at it, we can take this away–homeschooling parents are happy with the way their kids have been progressing throughout the pandemic and view homeschooling in a much more favorable light than even a year ago.

And there’s plenty of logic to support that view–flexibility, the ability to select courses and curriculum according to learning style, just to name a couple. Bridgeway Academy offers all of that, plus accreditation and unparalleled support throughout the entire homeschool journey. If you’re not already one of the homeschool families who is excited about the progress your child is making, call us at (800) 863-1474 to learn more about why homeschooling might be the perfect fit for your situation.

An Introduction to Homeschooling

Homeschooling is an educational option that allows parents to teach their children at home instead of sending them to school. There are today a wealth of resources and opportunities available to homeschooling families, and in a landscape of increasing school choice homeschooling has become more and more accepted by the public at large. Parents choose homeschooling for a variety of reasons. Modern homeschooling began in the 1970s and 1980s, championed by progressive educational reformers hoping to free children’s inner creativity and conservative evangelical leaders concerned about the environment of public schools. There are now around two million children being homeschooled, and in the early twentieth century homeschooling has become increasingly diverse, both in terms of race and class and in terms terms of parental motivations. See Homeschooling Numbers and and Homeschool Demographics .

Parents choose homeschooling for a wide variety of reasons. Some parents have concerns about the social environment or academic quality of local public schools. Some want to ensure that their children are educated in accordance with their religious beliefs. Some believe their children will learn better through child-directed learning outside of a classroom setting. Some have children who were bullied in school or have health problems or demanding practice schedules. A growing number of families enjoy the flexibility homeschooling offers, and many children may find that homeschooling is a good fit for their natural learning styles or personalities. If there is one thing that can be said about parental motivations for homeschooling, it is that they are anything but monolithic. For more, see Reasons Parents Homeschool .

While homeschooling is legal throughout the United States, the level of oversight for homeschools varies from state to state. Most states require parents to notify state or local education officials of their intent to homeschool, and half of all states have some form of assessment requirement. Most states have days of instruction or subject requirements and a smaller number of states have parent qualification and bookkeeping requirements. Some states require none of the above. The patchwork and often woefully inadequate nature of homeschool oversight means that there are few protections in place safeguarding the interests of homeschooled children. For more, see Current Policy .

Research has shown that children who are homeschooled can succeed academically, especially when given support and resources from their parents. Many homeschool parents are driven and motivated, and are extremely involved in their children’s education. They educate themselves as they go along and seek out resources, tutors, or classes for those subjects they may not be able to teach themselves. In many ways these parents are more facilitators or coordinators than teachers. However, while homeschooled children can succeed academically, that success is not guaranteed. In cases where homeschool parents are not driven and motivated or do not place as much importance on their children’s academic progress, homeschooled children may struggle academically or even not receive any education at all. For more, see Academic Achievement .

Homeschooled children are typically involved in an array of social activities, including homeschool cooperatives, dance and music lessons, church and Sunday school, field trip groups, and other classes, clubs, and groups outside of the home. With the networking potential of the internet and the greater social acceptance of homeschooling, the opportunities available to homeschool families have grown in recent years. If parents put in the effort to find social outlets for their children, homeschooled children can be well socialized and can integrate well into society. In contrast, if parents do not ensure that their children have adequate opportunities to meet their social needs, homeschooled children may be lonely, develop social phobias, or have difficulty integrating into society. For more, see Homeschooling & Socialization .

An increasing number of states allow homeschooled children to enroll in public school part time to take individual classes or to participate in public school athletics and other extracurricular activities. Some studies have found that as many as 20% of homeschooled students enroll in public school part-time. Some states have public school at home or public or charter correspondence programs that allow children to be taught at home while receiving benefits from enrollment in public school. “Cybercharters” have become popular among some homeschoolers, and a number of charter schools have developed programs where children come to an actual school for classes once or twice a week and are otherwise educated at home. In an increasingly educationally diverse world, homeschooling offers a variety of flexible and creative options.

Feedback from the first generation of homeschooled students, now in their 20′s and 30′s, indicates that those who are homeschooled responsibly frequently do well in college and professional life while those who were neglected or subjected to an abusive homeschooling environment often face low-wage job prospects, poor integration and connection with their communities, and struggles with poverty and dependency that could have easily been prevented. For more, see Homeschool Outcomes and Abuse and Neglect . The quality of a child’s homeschool experience depends almost entirely on the parents’ dedication to providing a functional, nurturing environment with optimal conditions for education and healthy child development.

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Opinions on homeschooling have changed during the pandemic.

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Homeschooling: Pandemic Style

It was one year ago when school buildings began to shutter and students retreated to their homes to try and stop the spread of the coronavirus. While not technically homeschooling (they were still enrolled in their school and working on curriculum prescribed by teachers, not their parents), many families got a hint of what homeschooling might feel like, and how the dynamics of their family might change were they to educate their children at home.

If you only looked at social media, you would think it a complete disaster. Numerous posts on Twitter and Facebook decrying how unprepared and overwhelmed parents were went viral, as did calls to pay teachers multi-million-dollar salaries after parents had to try teaching their kids on their own. Homeschooling, it seemed, was a bridge too far.

But were those posts representative of broader sentiment? We at EdChoice have been polling a nationally representative sample of Americans (including a huge number of parents) every month since March of last year, so we have a more holistic view of public—and parent—opinion.

A year in, let’s take a look at what they think.

Result #1: Parents are more favorable to homeschooling as a result of the pandemic.

We ask the question “How have your opinions on homeschooling changed as a result of the coronavirus?” Already in March of 2020, 55 percent of parents said that they were more favorable, and only 17 percent were less favorable as a result of the pandemic. Favorability has only trended upward in the ensuing months. By February of 2021, it was up to 63 percent. Those less favorable have trended up as well, but only up to 21 percent.

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There have been some contours in those numbers over time, though. Within the favorable category, respondents can say whether they are “much more favorable” or “somewhat more favorable.” Those who identify as “much more favorable” started at 26 percent of respondents in March of 2020 and rocketed up to 43 percent by July. That figure has since ticked downward and by February of 2021, it was right back to where it started, 26 percent. The growth in favorability has come from respondents who say that they are “somewhat more favorable.” That response started at 29 percent in March, peaked at 40 percent in January of 2021, and ticked slightly down in February, to 37 percent.

Result #2: Parents are open to hybrid homeschooling.

To comply with social distancing guidelines, schools across the country have instituted “hybrid” schedules, where students attend in-person classes part-time and work from home the rest of the time. (Check out this great tracker from AEI to see what districts are in-person versus hybrid versus remote.) Interestingly, there are a cadre of schools that already used a hybrid model before the pandemic started and offered some lessons for how to homeschool part-time.

Starting in January of 2021, we have asked parents if they were open to considering a part-time schooling model in the future after the pandemic subsides. Candidly, given polling from other sources that say that parents have not been happy with hybrid learning, I expected the percentage of families who want to continue to be quite low.

I was wrong.

In January, 44 percent of school parents said that after the pandemic they would prefer a mix of in-person and at-home schooling, with two to three days at home being the most popular response. This compares to 42 percent of respondents who wanted to have their children in school full time and 14 percent who wanted their students at home full time. This preference was particularly pronounced in families who already send their children to private school, a full 64 percent of whom said they would prefer a part-time model. This is verified by our February sample. Amongst all school parents, 45 percent would prefer a mix of at-home and in-school learning. Among private school parents, it was 64 percent again. Among district school parents, it was 42 percent.

Result #3: Homeschooling parents have been satisfied with their children’s learning during the pandemic.

For the past year, we have asked parents how they feel their children are progressing on academic learning, emotional development, and social development. Homeschooling parents consistently report higher levels of satisfaction than average. When we look at the percentage of parents who say that their children are progressing “very well,” 33 percent of homeschooling parents say their children are doing so in academic learning (compared to an average of 28 percent of all school parents), 31 percent say they are progressing very well in emotional development (compared to an average of 25 percent of all school parents), and 39 percent say they are progressing very well with respect to social development (compared to an average of 27 percent of all school parents). When compared strictly to parents who send their children to traditional public schools, homeschooling edges traditional public schooling by eight points in academic learning, nine points in emotional development, and 17 points in social development.

Far from what the loudest voices on social media seem to say, the pandemic has made people more favorable to homeschooling, not less. Those who have homeschooled have found it to be a positive experience. It has even caused families to think about hybrid models that might offer the best of their homeschooling experience while still offering some of the features of traditional schooling. Watch for enrollment numbers in the fall to see if and how these preferences transfer to actual behavior.

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School Education /

Essay on Home Schooling in 150, 250 and 400 words

Updated on
Jan 8, 2024

Homeschooling refers to the practice of education at home or any other place outside the school premises. Over the years, the popularity of homeschooling has increased quite a bit. It is much more convenient for both students as well as parents. It saves time, is efficient, and de-stresses children, unlike normal schools that distress children. But just like everything else, along with the pros, homeschooling too has some cons.

A lot of people believe that education in homeschooling is confined to home boundaries only. These students are not able to develop social skills and find it hard to socialise with others. Some of them become introverts too. These are just misconceptions. We have provided below samples of essays on homeschooling. Let’s have a look at them.

Table of Contents

1 Essay on Home Schooling in 150 words
2 Essay on Home Schooling in 250 words
3 Essay on Home Schooling in 400 words

Essay on Home Schooling in 150 words

Homeschooling is a concept that has been becoming quite popular over the years. Especially in times of natural calamities and pandemics such as COVID-19, it has gained quite a reputation for being an alternative to traditional schooling. Some of the benefits of homeschooling include convenience for both, children as well as parents. It provides tailor-fit learning education to children as every child has his/her own learning pace.

Homeschooling de-stresses children, unlike schools that distress them. But just like any other thing, homeschooling too has some drawbacks. One of the drawbacks that most concern parents is that their child would not be able to have social interaction. Children need to have social interaction in the early stages of childhood to develop their minds. Hence, it’s up to each child and parent whether to take up homeschooling or not.

Essay on Home Schooling in 250 words

One of the aspects that has been gaining quite a lot of attention and popularity is homeschooling. Over the years, it has been gaining quite a reputation of becoming an alternative to traditional schooling. Homeschooling is a good way to deliver tailor-fit education to children as every child has his/her own pace of learning.

So for children who are unable to cope with the pace of school education, homeschooling is a great option for them. Homeschooling is extremely convenient for both, children as well as parents. It saves time and money as well. The children who are homeschooled have to deal with less stress as traditional schooling gives them a lot of stress. By tracking the progress of their child on their own, parents get to understand their child better and hence make necessary adjustments for them.

But just like any other thing, homeschooling too has some drawbacks. One of the major drawbacks is that children who are homeschooled lack social skills. Having social international for children in their early stages of childhood is essential for developing their minds. Children who are homeschooled may even become introverts. Parents might find it stressful for them in the long run to have to homeschool their child if they do it on their own.

They might also not be able to have any time for themselves. Homeschooling is a choice that requires assessing the situation. It might be suitable for some, while others may not find it fit for them. Hence, the decision to homeschool should be made judiciously.

Essay on Home Schooling in 400 words

Over these past few years, the concept of homeschooling has gained quite a lot of attention. Especially in a time like the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become an alternative to traditional schooling for many parents. Parents can hire a tutor for the same or can even teach their children themselves. Homeschooling has a lot of pros for both, parents as well as children.

Pros of Home Schooling

Also for many students, the school environment can become quite stressful making it difficult for them to get comfortable and hence causing them stress. Homeschooling, on the other, de-stresses children. They are safe from even getting bullied and have the comfort of their own home. Parents get a chance to track their child’s progress and hence, get to know them better. Such a thing generates positivity all around.

Cons of Home Schooling

But just like any other thing, homeschooling too has some drawbacks. One of the major drawbacks that concern parents the most is that their children would not be able to have proper social interactions. Social interactions are very important in the early stages of childhood to develop a child’s mind properly.

Failure in that can even lead to a child becoming introverted. Some of the homeschooled children also face problems in mixing with others. For parents, depending on the situation, homeschooling can turn out to be costly as the tutors they hire may charge high fees from them. Parents may also find that they are not able to have time for themselves, which, in the long, can become quite stressful for them.

The decision of homeschooling shouldn’t be just opted for the convenience of it. Parents should take into account every scenario of their current as well as to some extent, their near future situations to make a correct decision. Hence, it would be fitting to say that the decision to homeschool should be made judiciously.

Deepansh Gautam

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Argumentation For and Against Homeschooling: Essay Example

Homeschooling: essay introduction, why homeschooling is bad: essay body paragraph, why homeschooling is good: body paragraph, home schooling: essay conclusion, works cited.

The popularity of homeschooling seems to increase, although some people are convinced that homeschoolers are not going to amount to anything valuable in the long run. In this speech, I am going to outline the strong points and drawbacks of homeschooling.

It is believed that homeschooled children lack social skills, and their parents bear huge expenses and have no time for themselves; on the other hand, homeschooling perfectly fits the child’s needs, is valued no less than public schooling, and creates closer family bonds; additionally, in contrast to public schools, homeschooling de-stresses children rather than distresses them.

As their strongest argument, skeptics generally maintain that homeschooled children do not receive the social interaction they need. At earlier stages of development, it is critical for children to socialize and advance their communication skills.

Children studying at home do not get this opportunity and are likely to have problems socializing and making friends later in life. An unsociable child is also prone to have troubles with peer acceptance – not least because homeschooling is still regarded as an oddity and deviation.

Another argument is concerned with the cost of home education. At that, it does not matter if the parents choose to educate the child themselves or hire a tutor –in both instances, their budget is likely to be shattered.

A serious point to consider is that, on average, a tutor’s services will cost $30-40 per hour (“The Tutor Guide” par. 1). A parent tutor will probably have to quit their job to get all the time they need. One way or the other, homeschooling is a costly affair.

Apart from the money it takes to homeschool children, parents are likely to devote most of their time to it. Eventually, they might find themselves spending 24 hours a day with their children with not a moment of solitude and privacy left. Although such parental participation does not seem alarming short term, it can be stressful in the long run – which is the reason some parents find they are not quite ready to homeschool.

These arguments are logical and true to life – but let us look on the brighter side.

Those who stand for homeschooling insist that it provides tailor-fit education. The child has a chance to learn at their own pace, which can be slower or faster than that of public school students. It is true that every child is special, and every child’s needs matter.

Still, in cases when children cannot cope with the public school environment, homeschooling can be the only way out (Kirk et al. 2). The parents (or tutor) can fit the education process to their child’s needs – presumably, for the children’s own good.

To counter the parental stress argument, it does not make much logical reasoning to admit homeschoolers are likely to have better relationships with their families. Provided that the parents are not overly authoritative when it comes to educational activities, familial bonds are formed and preserved lifelong.

By educating their children and tracking their progress, parents have a chance to know their children better, which is the cornerstone of good parenting. Additionally, parental involvement can prevent aggressive and destructive behaviors in teens and pre-teens, which is another solid point to consider.

Speaking about aggression, one cannot deny that bullying issues are pressing as ever. Despite public schools’ best efforts, peer pressure is persistent. Homeschoolers, in their turn, are free from the agony and negativity bullying brings.

Consider a harassed school student trying to concentrate – and failing at that. Now consider education in a comfortable homely atmosphere where a child feels loved and valued. In this respect, a homeschooler not only has a chance to focus but also develops an emotionally stable personality.

Finally – and this is good news – there is an extensive list of colleges that accept homeschoolers (Bunday n.pag.). Each year homeschooled students are admitted to study in selected colleges and universities across the U.S. Such institutions like Harvard College, Yale University, University of Chicago, Trinity University, and many others are known to have admitted homeschooled students – that is, without high school diplomas. Many institutions believe homeschoolers are more fit for the scholarly atmosphere. Based on some general tests, portfolios, and application essays, homeschoolers have equal admission chances.

To conclude, it would be wrong to say homeschooling does not have its weak points. Still, the strong points can seem more relevant for some and, eventually, determine their choice of educating children. Whether you think that the strengths of homeschooling outweigh the weaknesses or not, you have to admit the practice is viable and is quite likely to bring positive results.

Bunday, Karl M. “ Colleges That Admit Homeschoolers .” Learn in Freedom. Learn in Freedom, 2013.

Kirk, Samuel, James J. Gallagher, Mary Ruth Coleman, and Nicholas J. Anastasiow.

Educating Exceptional Children. 13th ed. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.

“ The Tutor Guide: Tutoring Fees .” Care.com . Care.com, 2016.

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The Case Against the Case Against Homeschooling

A harvard law professor wants to ban or greatly restrict homeschooling. ouch..

Posted May 16, 2020 | Reviewed by Matt Huston

An article published in the May-June 2020 issue of Harvard Magazine sent shockwaves through the homeschooling community. At the top of the article, entitled "The Risks of Homeschooling," is a drawing of a forlorn girl looking out of the barred windows of a tiny house where one of the walls is composed of books labeled “Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and Bible.” What she sees outside are children—presumably public-school children—joyfully skipping, chasing, and in other ways playing. Yikes.

The article then goes on to summarize the view of Elizabeth Bartholet, a Harvard law professor who contends that homeschooling should either be banned or severely regulated. The words in the article misrepresent homeschooling to such a degree that, if I didn’t know better, I would think it was satire. So, I decided to read the 80-page article that Bartholet had published in the Arizona Law Review , entitled "Homeschooling: Parents' Rights Absolutism vs. Child Rights to Education and Protection." Oy.

Before summarizing what is wrong with Bartholet’s arguments, let me start by agreeing with her on one point. It is absolutely true that some parents who are seriously neglectful or abusive of their children use homeschooling as a cover. Child abuse is a very serious problem and I believe, as does Bartholet, that the state has an obligation to protect children from abuse. States need to have clear and reasonable definitions of abuse and means to enforce laws against such abuse in all families, whether they are homeschooling families, public schooling families, or private schooling families. But that is the end of my agreement with Bartholet.

I have chosen to organize my case against Bartholet’s case against homeschooling by focusing on three terms that she uses in the title of her Law Review article: Child rights , child protection , and education .

Child Rights

Bartholet, with no hint of irony, contends that children have the right to government-enforced compulsory schooling. Think about that for a moment. A right that they can’t refuse. A perfect example of Orwellian doublespeak if ever there was one. Somehow, according to Bartholet’s logic, a state that forces children to attend the state schools is respecting children’s rights, but a family that offers their child the option of homeschooling is not.

The Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution was designed to guarantee such rights as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and liberty. All of these rights are violated for children in school. Liberty is the basic right; the others are correlates of it. The Fifth Amendment in the Bill of Rights declares, “No person shall be deprived of liberty without due process of law.” Nowhere in the Constitution, or anywhere else in law that I know of, is there any statement that a human child is not a person. Yet children are regularly deprived of liberty without due process of law when they are sent against their will to school.

It’s obvious that compulsory schooling (which literally means forced schooling) is an assault on children’s liberty. Children are required to go to school, and in school, they are not free. They are told exactly where they must be and what they must do almost every moment; freedom of speech and assembly are banished; they have no say in the rules they must follow; and when they are accused of violating a rule, there is no due process in determining guilt or innocence or what their punishment will be.

Sometimes people say that a child’s experience at school is like an adult’s at work, but that is a delusion. A job might sometimes feel like prison to some adults, but adults are not forced by law to work at a particular job, and adults are always free to quit. Involuntary servitude is illegal for adults; it’s called slavery.

I don’t know of any adults who would willingly accept a job where they are so tightly micromanaged as children are at school; a job where you can’t talk with your co-workers, can’t leave your seat without permission, and are continuously monitored, tested, and compared with your co-workers in a manner that seems almost deliberately designed to shame .

More than a century ago we banned full-time child labor for children, believing it was not good for them. But now schooling has become, in time commitment, the equivalent of a full-time job and, in onerousness, something worse than the kind of full-time job that adults would tolerate.

And now here’s another right that I think should be enshrined: The child’s right to be a child. Children are by nature curious and playful. There’s a reason for that. Self-directed exploration and play are how they learn. Children were designed by nature to educate themselves by playing and exploring. And yet our schools shut off these natural ways of learning. Homeschooling is a way to open them up.

Child Abuse

As I said, I deplore child abuse in all forms, and I agree with Bartholet that we need better protection against the abuse that occurs within families. What Bartholet overlooks is that school itself can be abusive and that many families who remove their children from school are doing so precisely to protect them from abuse.

The harm that forced schooling can do has been documented in many research studies. Such research (which I previously reviewed and documented here and here ) has, for example, shown that:

(a) children are less happy—more anxious , angry, and bored —in school than in any other setting in which they regularly find themselves;

(b) when adults are asked about traumatic experiences in their childhood the most commonly reported instances are abuse that occurred in school, primarily from teachers;

(c) hair cortisol level (a measure of chronic stress) was significantly higher in children two months after they started kindergarten compared to two months before they started;

(d) school-aged teenagers are the most stressed-out people in America and 83% of them cited school as a major source of their stress if not the major source; and

(e) the rates of emergency mental health visits, suicide threats, and actual suicides for school-aged children are roughly twice as high during months when school is in session as during periods of vacation from school.

Bartholet, in poorly documented or undocumented statements, claims that most families that homeschool are doing so for religious reasons (which she assumes to be a problem because she equates religiosity with narrow mindedness); but the only systematic nationwide data on reasons for homeschooling indicate that a far more common reason is to protect children from harm. In their most recent nationwide survey (2016), the U.S. Department of Education found that only 12% of homeschooling families reported homeschooling primarily for religious reasons. In contrast, 29% cited their concern about the lack of safety of the school environment as their primary reason and 74% cited that as one of the reasons. Other common reasons checked included the special needs of the children, which the school couldn’t meet, and illness or physical disabilities that the school could not appropriately accommodate.

On the basis of available evidence, it is absurd to believe that the total amount of hurt done to children would go down rather than up if homeschooling were outlawed.

Bartholet, in her article, contends that one of the ways that homeschooling abuses children is by depriving them of an education. She argues, essentially, that if homeschooling is allowed at all it should be allowed only for families where a parent is qualified to teach the standard school curriculum and that homeschooled children should be tested regularly by the state to be sure they are learning that curriculum. Apparently, to Bartholet, education is whatever the state decides to include in their curriculum, and children who are not learning those particular things, on the state’s schedule, are not getting an adequate education.

What really is an education? That’s something to which I’ve given a lot of thought. Our team at the Alliance for Self-Directed Education defines education as follows: Education is the sum of everything a person learns that enables that person to live a satisfying and meaningful life . I think that’s a really meaningful, practical definition. Now, think honestly here, how much of education, by that definition, actually occurs in school? And, how much of what is supposed to be learned in school actually contributes to education, so defined?

The amount of knowledge and valued skills in our world keeps going up, at exponential rates. Nobody can learn more than a tiny sliver of it. What possible sense does it make to believe that everyone should learn the same sliver? We are much better off with diversity. What is a satisfying and meaningful life for Person A is not the same as that for Person B. Our standard schools do not account at all for these differences; they force everyone to go through the motions of learning the same things, at the same pace, regardless of interest, regardless of need, regardless of the harm caused by forced learning. Homeschooling, properly done, allows children to discover and pursue their own interests and in that way achieve a real education.

I understand that the anti-homeschooling, invitation-only conference that Bartholet and her backers had planned to hold at Harvard to follow up on her article has been at least temporarily canceled, maybe because of the pandemic. I hope it will be replaced with a conference where people on all sides of the homeschooling questions are invited for rational discussion of the problems and benefits of homeschooling.

-----------

And now, what do you think about this? … This blog is, in part, a forum for discussion. Your questions, thoughts, stories, and opinions are treated respectfully by me and other readers, regardless of the degree to which we agree or disagree. Psychology Today no longer accepts comments on this site, but you can comment by going to my Facebook profile, where you will see a link to this post. If you don't see this post at the top of my timeline, just put the title of the post into the search option (click on the three-dot icon at the top of the timeline and then on the search icon that appears in the menu) and it will come up. By following me on Facebook you can comment on all of my posts and see others' comments. The discussion is often very interesting.

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Peter Gray, Ph.D. , is a research professor at Boston College, author of Free to Learn and the textbook Psychology (now in 8th edition), and founding member of the nonprofit Let Grow.

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Argumentative Essay on Homeschooling. This essay sample was donated by a student to help the academic community. Papers provided by EduBirdie writers usually outdo students' samples. Terrible schooling will cripple your children's alternatives. They simply may result in lousy work or surviving in your basements.
Essay on Home Schooling in 150, 250 and 400 words
Homeschooling refers to the practice of education at home or any other place outside the school premises. Over the years, the popularity of homeschooling has increased quite a bit. It is much more convenient for both students as well as parents. It saves time, is efficient, and de-stresses children, unlike normal schools that distress children.
Argumentation For and Against Homeschooling: Essay Example
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The Case Against the Case Against Homeschooling
In their most recent nationwide survey (2016), the U.S. Department of Education found that only 12% of homeschooling families reported homeschooling primarily for religious reasons. In contrast ...