What is homeschooling your children exactly? Teaching your children at home may be a foreign concept now, but soon you will see it is a reality for many families all over the world.
Homeschooling is another term that is oftentimes used to describe home education, which is a method of learning that takes place at home with the family inside of their home instead of at a public, charter or private school. This is the type of schooling that everyone had before public education ever existed.
Homeschool History
The history behind homeschooling is varied and rich. This is because it is the first, original type of instruction. Of course, it was usually the rich, advantaged children who received an education or had a private tutor. However, the only way in which they could get such an education was in an informal home setting. Those children whose parents couldn’t afford a tutor would be taught by their parents.
Nevertheless, there was still a peak within the literacy rate before there was public education in the United States. It’s important to remember this point in homeschool history. Then in the 1800s education and schooling started to undergo a lot of important changes. One of the biggest changes that occurred was the introduction of laws that made it mandatory for children to attend school. By establishing such a law the government decreed that it is a human right for children to receive a public education.
The Great Debate: Public Schools Vs Homeschooling Your Children
There has always been a lot of debate about just how successful public schooling actually is. A lot of people have actually gone so far as to say that the current education system is harming younger children, especially boys since studies have shown that they mature at a slower rate.
This has led to studies being conducted to take a closer look at the effects of formal education on children between the ages of 8 and 12-years-old. These studies discovered that formal schooling really is both mentally and physically damaging to children. In fact, the negative environment even produced behavior problems at times.
They went on to demonstrate that African tribal mothers who had no literacy whatsoever were able to bring up their children to be more emotionally and socially advanced than Western children. Researchers concluded that this emotional advancement was mainly due to the bond that exists between parents and their children, which is weakened by formal education. On the other hand, homeschool history shows a positive trend.
This is because it takes place in a secure home environment. Therefore, homeschooling really does provide children with the best education possible.
Drawbacks and Cons To Homeschooling Your Children
As with anything else in life, there are some drawbacks to homeschooling. These include:
- Homeschooled children don’t spend as much time as other children with others who are their same age.
- There may be power struggles between parents and their children.
- It is important to build more social events into your schedule.
- If there is a subject that you’re not comfortable teaching, you’ll have to find someone who is.
- You need to invest time and money into a curriculum.
- It is more difficult for children to play sports.
- Parents will have less time to themselves.
- There will be times whenever you will have to defend your decision to homeschool to other parents and family members who question your right in this matter.
Advantages To Homeschooling
There are also a lot of great advantages to choosing to homeschool your children, including:
- Parents will be able to be their children’s main influence for a longer period of time.
- Schedules are more flexible so you will be able to go on vacation or take a field trip whenever you want to do so.
- Parents are given greater control over what their children learn. They also have more flexibility so they can spend more time on those topics wherein their children need more help or where they show a greater interest. This is great because once your child knows the material he won’t have to do a lot of worksheets as they wait for the rest of the class to catch up with them.
- There is less testing involved, which equates to less stress on the child.
- Children are given more time to develop their sense of self before they have to deal with peer pressure.
- Your child will be able to get the rest they need because there will be more time available for them to sleep.