What are the pros and cons of homeschooling (pls base your answers on experience)?

Answer 1

I was home schooled… and its so funny how almost everyone thinks that just because I was, that I wasn’t able to make any friends… HA! I’ve been told by may people at my college that I have excellent social skills, not only with my peers, but with adults as well - communication ability with adults is something I have been told that most kids coming out of ‘school’ don’t have. and as for friends- I have many.. some who were home-schooled and I met at home-schooling groups and some who were at public or private school that I met in my neighborhood, girls-scouts, church, through friends/family, etc.

Advantages- one-on-one teaching, you can focus on the subjects that your child enjoys or excels in, allow your child to take as much time as needed in learning a concept/subject they are having a hard time grasping, etc

Disadvantages- the only one I can think of right off the bat is that it can really stink having the same teacher for every grade and also having that teacher be your parent… :}… my mother turned every thing we did into a educational experience (which looking back wasn’t really a bad thing after all)

concerning other’s cons:
1: learning the parent’s point of view isn’t such a bad idea! when you’re in school (speaking from what people have told me and my college experience) you only hear the view of your teacher anyway. but when you home school your child you can specifically ask them: “what do you think” and “why do you think that”. it allows them to learn to think for themselves, and not just listen to what others have to say!
2. if you put some of the responsibility of getting subjects/chapter done by a specific time on your child they will learn to manage their time and studies just fine (i wouldn't have gotten 'A's in 3 internet courses if i didn't know how to manage my time)

really it all comes down to what you want it to be..

Answer 2

Pros are that the kids can learn at their own pace - I know that I would have liked to be homeschooled when I was placed in a 9th Grade English class with everyone else. I was bored to tears!

Cons are that if not properly socialized with other homeschoolers or other kids in general, kids can lack important social skills and cues that they'll need when they finally leave the nest. Another con is that sometimes, parents don't do enough to teach their kids what they need to get to college, if that's the key, because there aren't as many regulations.

Answer 3

Okay - From a former school administrator that homeschooled Two

Pros -
Excellent education for the real world. You have the opportunity to really focus on anything in depth. If you get jazzed about a topic you can run with it as far as you want.
You don't have to deal with negative peer pressure and idiots.
You can move as fast or slow as you need in different areas.
It doesn't take 6-8 hours a day.

As for the socialization issue, it's bogus. To be socialized means to be conformed and molded. You will be socialized by one way or another. Plus with the extra free time that homeschooling allows you can do a ton more extra activities that you are interested in.

Cons - You are a one income family and that leads to material sacrifices.

Answer 4

Pro- homeschooling gives the kids more of an advantage over public or private schools. Their rate for learning is more advance,(at leat two grades ahead).
Con- hoeschooling doesn't alow for very much soializing. Kids grow up thinking that the world is like Walt disney cartoons and it isn't because they lack the skills to interact with people of other skin colors and cultures due to the fact that they are alone and secluded for so long.

Answer 5

"Homeschooling is not something you do to get an instant success story, it is something you do because you want to be personally involved in giving your kids the best education possible, tailored to thier particular learning needs."
-My Mom

I was homeschooled for thirteen years, I have just graduated high school, and let me tell you, my mother choosing to homeschool me was one of the greatest gifts she has ever given me.
Pros-
1) Homeschooling allows you to work with your childrens strengths and weakness according to each need.
2) You instill YOUR values into YOUR children.
3) There is an entire community out there waiting to support you.
4) There are more opportunities than ever for homeschoolers. One of which is a relatively new speech and debate league (NCFCA) which I happen to have participated in for the last three years. My family and I just returned from the national tournament, where both my sister and I ranked highly.
5) I found that a personal highlight of homeschooling was the opportunity to learn what I WANTED to learn, and still have the acountability to learn what I NEEDED to learn.
Cons-
1) Extreme dedication is needed to both relationship building with your kids, and schooling.
2) No government funding, homeschooling is expensive.
3) Many people will not trust you as the parent of your OWN children to know what's best for them, you'll have to prove it.

Let me close by saying that the biggest pro to homeshchooling for us was the opportunity to learn from our mistakes. We didn't start out homeschooling perfectly, and my mom is still improving her teaching skills with my sister, but if you're willing to work through challenges and overcome obstacles, homeschooling, will be the best thing you ever do.

Answer 6

This isn't really an answer, but the only way that you could manage not to socialize if you're homeschooled is if you intentionally avoid people.

Compulsory schooling has only existed for about 160 years in America; people were plenty socialized then.

Answer 7

PROS: learn to be independent, set your own pace, no penalty for being sick or dr. appt.s, family vacations or time off do not necessarily need to be coordinated with school

CONS: school offers a social experience as well as academic...homeschooling only focuses on academic, school requires commitment and punctuality..where as homeschooling is more flexible so these areas are not as important, teacher instruction is crucial to academic development

Answer 8

Pros - pacing, personal values, one-on one time, more field trips, more success late in school.

Cons - socailization, sports, and if parents are not familiar with content, the education can be deficient. I've seen some students who never learned any science or math because the parents didn't like it.

Answer 9

Some of the pros is that you will learn and beable to learn more at your own pace but your social life won't be the same because most of the time you meet alot of your friends at school.

Answer 10

Pros:
-Children can spend more time at home with their parents
-Less travel time means less stress on the child/student

Cons:
-Child does not socialise with others and misses important learning experiences in this regard
-Child will only learn one point of view, that of the parents