Homeschooling: Weighing the Pros and Cons

Deciding on how to educate your children may be one of the most important choices you make as a parent. Their social, emotional, and physical well-being need to be taken into account, as does the quality of their education, and their unique learning style. While some parents seem to have known the answer to this question from day one, others are struggling with what to do as their children inch closer to school age.

Homeschooling, the practice of educating children at home rather than sending them to a traditional public or private school, has grown significantly in popularity in recent decades. This rise in homeschooling has sparked debate about its merits compared to conventional schooling. Homeschooling means learning on your terms. You can study whenever and however you need, rather than being stuck in a classroom!

Understanding Homeschooling

Homeschooling is any type of school that happens outside the typical school classroom. Due to the rising popularity of homeschooling across the nation and around the world, there are always new ways to complete classes at home. There are programs, like USCI’s online homeschool program, that help cover the material you will need to move forward through your education. Anyone can succeed at homeschooling! Finishing high school at home is an option for every learner, whether or not they thrived in a traditional classroom. Traditional students and adults of any age may find homeschooling helpful for them, with the right amount of dedication and the right homeschooling plan or program.

Homeschooling on a Budget

You can set your budget for as much or as little as you want to spend for curriculum and resources. There are many free resources in a variety of learning styles to help ease any budgeting concerns. Homeschooling usually requires an active parent several hours each day. Additionally, preparing for the academic year requires extensive preparation to review and choose curriculum, select books, and prepare lessons. Being the homeschool parent is like having a job for 4-8 hours a day, except no one pays you to do it!

While public school is free, homeschooling is not. It can, however, be done on a budget. On the frugal end, expect to pay at least $100 per child yearly on textbooks, materials, and other resources. On the other end, some parents spend from hundreds to thousands annually per child. If you’re coming to homeschooling from private school, this may seem like a bargain! However, if you’re coming from public school or just beginning to educate, the cost may seem daunting and may be a disadvantage of homeschooling.

Tailor-Fit Education

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 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.

Freedom and Flexibility

Perhaps the biggest advantage to homeschooling is FREEDOM. We have the freedom to teach our children according to our values, limit the bad influence of unsavory socialization, and travel when it suits us, anytime of the year. Homeschooling is flexible! Because of the nature of homeschooling, you can tailor your studies, your schedule, and your teaching style to fit your student’s needs! Your child is the focus of the homeschool process, and the benefits are limitless! In addition, there are so many options with homeschooling. From co-ops to help with difficult subjects to internships that prepare your high schooler for their future - it’s the perfect way to put success in the hands of your kids!

We are free to homeschool in the style or method that works for our family. Most importantly, I can adapt what we’re doing to my children’s individual special needs.

You get to choose the schedule and style that is best for you, your child, and your family. If you are a stay-at-home homeschooler, working homeschooler, working at home homeschooler, or traveling homeschooler, etc., you can find and design a schedule that works for you! One pro about homeschooling is that it is totally flexible and exactly what we want to make it. We get to adapt everything we do to our schedule, our abilities, our interests, and our passions.

The Perceived Drawbacks of Homeschooling

Any life choice comes with pros and cons. Make no doubt about it - there are always positives and negatives to any decision. So, try making a list of the benefits of homeschooling as well as the top disadvantages of homeschooling, too. What really resonates with you? You may find you need to sit and really ponder some of the pros and cons of homeschooling before jumping into the homeschool lifestyle. Remember, drawbacks don’t have to be a game-changer because there are always ways to overcome and compensate for the negatives.

Read also: The Montessori Method Explained

Time Commitment and Parental Burnout

Homeschooling requires a big investment and it’s not money! As with anything that is worth doing, homeschooling requires an investment from the parents. The responsibility of education rests on the parent, however, today there are many resources that help to lighten that load. It takes a lot of heart to work with your children every day, and it’s important to take steps to ensure that you don’t get burned out!!

My con would also be time spent with my kids! when you homeschool, you spend all of your time with your kids and this can become exhausting when a tired mom doesn’t get a break. My sister once told me you have to remember your “why”, which is the reason you began homeschooling in the first place, and always go back and remind yourself of that reason. I will never regret the tiring moments because of the amazing bond it has created in my family.

One of the cons is that it can be hard for homeschooling parents to spend so much time with their children without the benefit of adult interaction. It is so important to have a network of other homeschoolers so that you can have friends to talk with who understand your lifestyle.

Homeschooling is made or broken by Mom’s involvement. If the Mom (or primary homeschooling parent) is on top of it and involved homeschooling will surpass all other educational systems because of her passion. If Mom is lackadaisical, her children will suffer and their education will show it. That can be very stressful for the homeschooling parent.

The one con to homeschooling would be that it can be hard for the stay-at-home, homeschooling mom to find time to herself. A con that is a byproduct of homeschool is I do not get much time to myself. I know this is just a season of life and one day my children will be grown and out on their own, so I am eager to soak up the time we do have together, but it is part of homeschooling.

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Socialization Concerns

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.

It is true that homeschooling can be isolating especially if you don’t have a circle of friends and family who support you. Luckily, we do have support within our regular community, but with most things in life there’s a desire to have relationships with those who have a similar life too. In our early years of homeschooling, being the diversity was hard. I am not only speaking of diversity when it comes to race, but even when it came to being a homeschool mom who worked. It was hard to find others who related to me. Now there are more working homeschooling moms, but the racial diversity in the homeschool community still lacks.

With all the moves and homeschooling some of the kids are reluctant to make new friendships. Homeschooling them doesn’t really force the matter I think as much as public school does as the kids always know they have their siblings. Thankfully only one is actually really shy and she does wonderfully if she has one of her siblings with her to meet new people.

Financial Implications

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.

Expenses may add up: When you are responsible for your own education, it can be expensive to purchase the books, materials, and other things you may need. When you are in a traditional public or charter school, those expenses are paid on your behalf.

Limited Resources and Expertise

Another disadvantage to homeschooling can be your own limited knowledge as a teacher.

In a homeschool environment, some classes may have to look different. You won’t have access to a gymnasium, science lab, or an auditorium. This may be something that impacts the subjects you’re able to study at home.

The Pressure to Conform

One con of homeschooling is the constant pressure to reach a standard you can’t quantify set by people you don’t know without a clear direction as to who is right or wrong. It means constantly reminding yourself that you don’t have to compare, you only have to teach your kids the way they learn best.

As a homeschooling mother, I feel like I’m being judged by the outside world, to live up to others’ expectations for education. It’s hard for me to close my eyes to the nay-sayers and press on. The only negative things I can think of are not directly caused by homeschooling, but occur in homeschools all the time. Those negatives are things such as comparison, putting pressure on ourselves to fit in imaginary boxes we think everyone else is in.

The Homeschooling Experience

I have always found that the best way to make a smart decision is to speak with as many people as I can, I went out in search of parent bloggers who homeschool their children, and asked them the following question: “What is one Pro and one Con of homeschooling?” The list you are about to read is the result of that questioning. 41 seasoned homeschoolers chimed in with their best experiences and biggest challenges, and I just love the honesty with which they responded. The answers you read below may help you come to a decision of your own. Good luck, and happy reading!

The Benefits of Learning Together

PRO - My favorite is how much I am learning alongside my children. I have learned infinitely more than I did during my own school years, and I am grateful for the opportunity to share these moments of education, observation, discovery, and wonderment with my children.

I chose to homeschool for the purpose of having more quality time with my children and making sure that they were learning to live by our values. That is a huge benefit in my opinion of being not only a guide to your children as a parent, but an instructor as they are working on their academics.

It is truly hard to pick just one pro to share, I have a list of reasons why we homeschool that is nearly 500 reasons long now. If I had to pick just one I think it would be that I believe homeschooling builds a strong family. You see we are a military family and have moved over a dozen times in the last 20 years. So much changes in our lives, Daddy deployed, we move to a new state, so much change. One thing was solid, we would be learning and exploring together. The kids could count on us homeschooling wherever we happen to be. The kids have learned they can count on each other as well. We are just such a solid unit together.

Homeschooling has allowed me to develop close relationships with both of my daughters. I don’t feel like I am behind when new experiences happen in their lives because we spend quite a bit of time together. Although I don’t necessarily believe that you have to an abundance of time to have a good relationship with your child, I do believe homeschooling provides room for more moments of quality time which leaves room for conversations and experiences that might not happen if my daughters were at school.

One pro of homeschooling would definitely be the ability to see your kids master something they struggled with. After hours of working to learn to read and write, the first time it really clicks is enough to take your breath away and make you thankful for the journey. After 10 years of homeschooling, I think my husband and I would agree that homeschooling is one of the best decisions we have made. The biggest Pro for me is that I have been able to spend all this time with my kids. I’ve had the privilege to build a closer relationship with them because of the time homeschooling has afforded me. I’ve been able to instill our beliefs and values into them, instead of someone else.

The World as a Classroom

PRO - The world is your schoolhouse. Your children are not confined to the four walls of a building, but are out and about, interacting with children their own age, adults, and older people, gaining insight and experience in the real world into which they will enter as well-rounded adults.

One pro about homeschooling is that it is totally flexible and exactly what we want to make it. We get to adapt everything we do to our schedule, our abilities, our interests, and our passions. We study maps and globes, but we also visit museums, national parks, landmarks, and even other countries and continents. Sure, we get our math assignment done and learn to spell words, but we also get to go talk with engineers who are using the math and write to real authors who splash those words across their pages. We read about science and health, but we also 3-D print, pretend play on kids teepees and build drones, volunteer at zoos, and shadow real dentists. The world is our classroom and our lessons are unforgettable.

Homeschooling for Only Children

As a mom of an only child I get questioned quite a bit about whether homeschooling is the right choice for a single child. For my family homeschooling is absolutely the right choice for our only child. The biggest pro of homeschooling an only child is that I can fully allow him to grow and explore his own interests and develop his own passions. It’s easier for a single child family to foster individual learning because the educational focus is placed on only one child.

The biggest con, however, of homeschooling an only child is that mom becomes his partner in all areas of learning where a child needs to work with someone else. Therefore, I become his lab partner, his exercise partner, and have to try to converse with him for his foreign language study. Therefore, there is often a huge time constraint and learning curve to act as an educational partner for my only child.

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