As an educational psychologist, I work with kids dealing with a wide variety of challenges who attend public, private or charter schools or do homeschooling. The question of which one is best often gets brought up, but that really depends on the individual parent and kid. To help shed some light on the topic, I interviewed two moms who homeschool their kids. We focused on what the pros and cons of homeschooling have been in their experiences.
Two Moms’ Takes on the Pros & Cons of Homeschooling
Meet Shelley. She’s a mother of four adorable kiddos with varying special needs. Presently, her children fall between the ages of 13 and 5. Two of her kids’ educational goals are laid out in IEPs and they participate in special education programs in addition to routine homeschooling. Here are some of the questions we discussed.
1. What’s your overall opinion of homeschooling?
Simply put…. I love it! Homeschooling wasn’t on my radar when our eldest started school, but I’m so thankful we found it and that it’s been a good fit for our family. While homeschooling all four of our kids has come with some special challenges, the benefits outweigh any challenges by far and I can’t imagine our kids being educated any other way.
2. What are some of the benefits that make it worthwhile?
I am really thankful that the stress of performing in a traditional classroom is removed in our homeschool – something that would have been especially difficult for my kids. As needed, we are free to either speed up or slow down academic learning depending on how my kids are responding to core content or how they’re coping on a given day. We have a tremendous amount of flexibility to work at our own pace, which is probably what I treasure most about homeschooling.
Second, because I can see my kids’ progress first-hand and know their academic strengths and weaknesses so well, I can work with them individually and help them learn in ways that are most effective for them. This leads to another benefit of homeschool – because I am their primary teacher, I have plenty of insight and information which allows me to better advocate for my children that have IEPs. This has been monumental for us.
Lastly, I love the extra opportunities to bond with my children and watch their growth. There is something really special about spending each day with my kids and knowing them in ways I wouldn’t if they spent the majority of their days away from me. I really treasure this season of life and am grateful for the opportunity I have to spend so much time with my children.
3. Some parents will say their children are too social for homeschooling. Have you experienced this with any of your kids?
I think there is a common misconception about socialization and homeschooling, where people believe that homeschoolers are held back from social interaction. Certainly, my children are not in a classroom with peers every day, but I wouldn’t say that we are lacking for social opportunities. They participate in lots of activities where they have social interaction, including our homeschool co-op, art classes, team sports, clubs, youth groups, and more, all of which allow them to build common interests with kids their own age. There are a ton of social opportunities for homeschoolers – more than we could ever participate in.
4. Does a parent need a background in education to be able to homeschool their kids?
Having a background in teaching helps but is not necessary. A lot of the curriculum is scripted, which helpfully guides a parent through lessons and content if needed – not to mention the huge amount of educational resources available online. Additionally, if you take part in a homeschool community, there is a ton of support which can include help in choosing curriculum, cooperative teaching groups, and helping each other troubleshoot different areas of need. For families who enroll their kids through a public charter school or school district’s homeschooling program, credentialed teachers are available to provide support as well.
5. What are some disadvantages you’ve seen with homeschooling?
First, homeschooling is hard work. There’s no other way to say that. It’s at least a full-time job on top of all other parental responsibilities. I have found that homeschooling, while wonderful, comes at the cost of parents’ health, energy, stress, and time.
Second, it’s difficult to make sure each child puts in the appropriate amount of effort toward their education rather than relying on their homeschool parent to pull them along through their academics. I find there is a fine line that is often hard to distinguish between taking the responsibility as the educator of my children and doing more than perhaps I should because I am their parent and want to help them succeed.
Third, because homeschooling parents have the responsibility of both educating and parenting their children, I have seen many different families that face additional strain on parent/child relationships. I think this happens in part because we spend so much time together (there are no “breaks”) and because we take personal responsibility for their academics. At times, it feels like a tremendous amount of pressure which can negatively impact the family. This is difficult to navigate, but it’s something important to consider when making the decision to start (or continue) homeschooling.
Meet Stefanie. She’s a mother of seven. Her two oldest are college graduates. Her youngest is six years old. She has homeschooled all of her kids through a charter school. Here are her thoughts on the pros and cons of homeschooling.
1. What’s your overall opinion of homeschooling?
I truly love homeschooling and I’m so grateful to be able to do it with my children. Since the day my first child was born, I knew I wanted to. Some people decide to homeschool because they believe they can give their kids a better education than the public school system can. Well, I am not one of those people. I don’t consider myself a natural teacher by any means. I homeschool for other reasons. I wanted a different sort of life, not one filled with running kids back and forth to school, sports practice and whatever else there is that can busy up a day so much that before you know it, it’s time to get the kids in bed and start it all over again the next morning. I knew that I wanted to be able to linger with my kids, to be home with them and just soak up these wonderful fleeting years when they are young. I also wanted to make sure that my husband and I were the ones with the most influence over our children in their early years.
2. What are some of the benefits that make it worthwhile?
I love being able to just go to the beach for the day if we want to. I also wanted to be able to teach my kids about the Bible without feeling rushed and just having a few minutes at night.
Another upside for us is being able to go camping or on last-minute trips. Also, with my husband working from home, when he’s not traveling it’s so nice that the kids can see him more too.
3. Does a parent need a background in education to be able to homeschool their kids?
I don’t think so. With the charter school we do, the kids go to school 1-2 days a week and my high schoolers do their core classes there. This is very helpful for me. There are many charter schools out there with different options to meet almost everyone’s needs.
4. What are some disadvantages you’ve seen with homeschooling?
There are many challenges to homeschooling. The biggest one that sticks out is just sheer business. It’s extremely hard to stay on top of even the basic house chores like laundry, dishes etc. It’s very difficult to have to just overlook the messy house and piles of laundry and make yourself sit down and do school with your kids.
Another downside to some people is their kids aren’t able to participate in normal school sports (although that is changing a little with some public schools allowing homeschool kids to be on their sports teams). This is was never a huge challenge for us, but I know that’s why some people chose to put their kids in public school.
Taking the Pros & Cons of Homeschooling into Consideration
Hopefully the experience of these two women can help you decide if homeschooling is right for your family. Please feel free to reach out if you would like to discuss what your child needs educationally.
