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.
References
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.