What are the advantages/disadvantages of home schooling?

Question

What are the advantages and disadvantages of home schooling a special needs child?

Answer 1

Homeschooling can be a terrific opportunity for parents as well as children, but you're smart to ask questions before leaping in...

I home schooled my kids.
Good:
1. You choose the way (and sometimes the actual type of)the curriculum is presented.
2. You choose to quicken or slow the pace according to each of your children's needs.
3. Many areas now have groups that get together for social activities, and even for special subjects with certified teachers (chemistry, band, etc).
4. You choose who your child is being influenced by.
5. You get time with your child, and often learn with him/her.
6. Especially if your child has special needs, you can tend to them like others may not be able to. Many special ed teachers are wonderful people, but bless their hearts, they just don't get support sometimes from the schools like they should, and don't have the one-on-one time you can afford for your own child.
And many other wonderful things.

Bad:
1. If your child is older and you are considering pulling them out of public school, it will be a hard row to hoe. Unless they are completely miserable, they will have a hard time adjusting. Not a big deal if they haven't started yet.
2. Some states have restrictions on what you have to teach, whether or not their credits earned will apply to college later, or if you change your mind and send them to public school, the school may not accept it.
3. If you do not get your kids involved with a group, it can limit their social skills. (We love our kids {!!! }and want to protect them, but we are not protecting them if they are never subjected to people other than like themselves. They must learn to adapt.)

I admire that you are looking into this. I only wish I had started my kids sooner. Your state will probably have a home school group...check online and get specific details regarding the laws in your state.

Good luck, God Bless

Shiba

Answer 2

This depends on what the special needs are and the state you live in. I have worked with both homeschool families and as an advocate for families trying to get the best possible education enviroment for special needs children, and from experience, I generally feel homeschooling a special needs student(which I define as a child with an active IEP, who needs support from specialists outside of the normal class) child should be a last resort.

The reason for this is that in most states, homeschooling a child immediately disqualifies you from recieving any type of support from the school system. Basically, that means no speech, no OT or PT, no adaptive technology. If a parent voluntarly removes the child from the school system, neither the school system or the state are legally bound to provide those services. That means the parent must either learn to provide the services on their own or be able to afford the cost of private specialists. Many families simply don't have the money and the stress of trying to take on these additional duties as well as teaching make can be extemely challanging. Many special needs children simply can not work in the more traditional curriculums since they do not easily adapt to children who may be non-verbal, severley developmentally delayed or a student who needs a stronger focus on life skills. This leaves the parent in a tough spot when it comes to developing a curriculum for state approval.

Parents alsoneed to consider that fact that most special needs program in the school system work with students up to the age of 21. Around the ages of 15, it is important to be working with a strong transistional program. If you do choose to homeschoola special needs child, be sure to find out what you would need to do to have them return to the school system at a future time and how this may affect their eligablity for young adult programs at a later date.

Finally, parenting a special needs child is an incredably difficult life. Many special needs parents, myself included, see school as a welcome break. I am fortunate enough to have my son in a top notch, year round program. I love my son. He will always be my baby. However, I know that I could never homeschool him. I need the down time that school provides and he needs the structure. When he is home for more than a few days, he becomes difficult, confused and sulky. I know the not all parents have been as lucky as I have, but I do believe that a parent should fight to get all they can from the schools. If that fails, take the time to do a lot of research. Know what you can and can't get ..and really be honest about what you can give and for how long. Good luck..it's not an easy decision.

Answer 3

Advantage for the child:
Home school for a special needs child gives the child an extra serving of security. Emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual security is very important for any child --- a special needs child needs special attention. The parent or guardian is best equipped to give added love and attention.

Advantage for the parent:
YOU have the best knowledge of your child and can tailor academic studies to fit the person. You don't have to worry about what someone else might be doing to your child.

Disadvantages? Hmmmmm. You might not get the *time* to go out for coffee and tea with your own peers. But that can be turned around by inviting friends over for visits.

Putting your child first takes total and unrequited love! You will need to be prepared to call in assistance when and if you need it. Don't go it alone! Contact other home-school families that have similar issues and talk with them on a regular basis. There is wisdom in seeking counsel from many sources --- it is best to have hundreds of options and the savvy to choose the best.

HTH
Barb

Answer 4

The people that I know that are home schooled seem to think that there's something wrong with public schools. This one lady I know met a kid that was home schooled and she told him that she went to a public school and his responce was,"So you didn't get shot!?" Well, no, she wasn't shot BECAUSE PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE PERFECTLY SAFE!! Pretty much the worst thing that could happen is your kid could get into a fight, but the fights I've seen have only happened to the kids that aren't exactly good, if you get what I mean. You're also having someone that has been to college to learn about how to teach and had years of experience teaching your child. The school may also have a program for children that are more advanced than others. For example, most people in my grade are going onto algebra, but I took prealgebra, algebra, and geometry two years before them so now I'm going onto algrbra 2. You are not sitting at a desk for 6 hours like someone said. You have electives, recess and breaks, too. The electives can be really fun and educational. The after school activities are amazing, too. I took chorus for 3 years, did bell ringing, and took Latin. Some people took tech, computer, band, home-ec class, drama, or forein languages like Latin, Spanish, or French. Our school also has lots of sports teams like cross country, track, basketball, and wrestling. The home schooled people I know are also VERY sheltered. Some of them seem to not really know how to act around people and most of them seem not to have very many friends, though I'm sure not all of them are like that. I'm not saying you shouldn't home school you child because I'm sure there's some sort of logical reason for that, but I do not recomend it. Thanks!

Answer 5

Advantages:
You control what is being taught (great for Christian moms)
You also control how it is being taught (if your child needs extra breaks, or needs information presented more slowly or quickly, or has a poor attention span - you can adjust for him
You can work through summer or take extra time off if needed
You can make class a fun, interactive experience, with trips to museums, zoos, etc
No children will make fun of him because he is different

Disadvantages
Your child's education is limited by you (good if you are a college graduate or very motivated, bad if you are really bad in certain subjects - although, you can always get involved in a homeschooling association, and have someone else help you with subjects you aren't so good with)
Your child may lack socialization skills (you can prevent this by getting him involved in clubs, homeschooling organizations, etc)
No high school diploma (you may have to settle for a GED, or get involved in a state sponsered homeschooling program which may offer a high school diploma)
You don't get a break from your child (sounds nice now, but a few years from now, you may be wishing you had time to yourself!)
Stringent state requirements for homeschooling moms (varies from state to state - Alaska had no standards, while Rhode Island required yearly reviews and standardized testing)

I'm 23 years old, and my mother homeschooled me throughout grade school and high school. It was a great learning experience, but she didn't get us kids involved in any activities, so we had no social skills at all. That's something I had to learn as an adult - rather difficult!)

Hope this helps!

Edit: Not to offend, but the above answerer doesn't really know what they are talking about. Both my sister and I were homeschooled, and we were more motivated than most kids I know! My sister completed a Bible college, is happily married, with two children. I've completed two vocational courses, and work as a paramedic, with plans to earn my associates or bachelor's degree. As long as you are strict with the rules, there's no reason why your child should grow up lazy and unmotivated. And my ACT scores were high enough to get me into nearly any university. There are a lot of colleges that prefer homeschooled students.

Answer 6

The child studying at home also needs to get out more. This comes from staying at home all the time. Interaction with adults and other children needs to be given special attention.

Children tutored at home cannot develop in the various directions that are open to children attending public schools. To achieve that kind of exposure, you either have to be a super-parent skilled in everything, or enroll your child to various activities. This may not only prove too costly, but also be counter-productive.

It is sometimes observed that home schooled children do not do as well in SAT tests as their school-going counterparts.

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Home schooling and learning disability can be a good match because it allows you to give your child one on one attention that they can't get in a public school. Public teachers have to tend to the entire class and don't have much time for one on one interaction, which is why many children with disabilities do poorly in a public school. Even if you send them to a special school designed to work with disable children, they are usually under staffed and can only give a limited amount of one on one attention as they have to help other children as well.

Answer 7

None really as long as you are willing to actually homeschool your child. A lot of parents do it and then end up having to put their kids back in classes because they don't keep on their kids about it (and then the kids are behind in school.)

You and your child need to have a very structured schedule in order to succeed at homeschooling. And you need to be available full time to make sure he does his work and passes the tests he will have to take to allow him to continue homeschooling and keep moving up in grades.

Answer 8

Most school's have bad kids in them, they teach a child how to use drugs sometimes, give bad influences, you know? that's the advantage for homeschooling.

But, there are disadvantages. Your child will grow lazy, sleep late, etc. And when the time for college comes, she or he will not want to go because their used to sleeping and doing nothing mostly. They won't want to tire their minds so much. And if there's others at home, they sometimes do their homework for the child while they do nothing. In some of my past classes, they always prepared us for college, the way to test, study etc.

All in all, it will keep the kid lazy, and un prepared for college.

Answer 9

home school u cant meet alot of friends and cant learn much from other kids
advantage is that u can pay more attention with oyt others bothering u

Answer 10

I'm homeschooled and it rocks