What You Need to Know the Good and Bad of Homeschooling

Reading Time: 4 min 

You can’t believe that your precious child is almost ready to head off to school.  It feels like you just brought them home from the hospital, and were up all night just trying to get them to go sleep.

Now your baby is all grown up and you are in the throes of trying to figure out the best type of education for your child. You want them to not only thrive in school and you also want them to grow up to be a well-rounded, functioning member of society.   

As you start to research you keep hearing about this thing called homeschooling. You initially dismiss it, with an I could never do that shake of your head.  But as you get deeper into the research process, you come to the place where you want to explore all your options.

I agonized over the decision of whether or not to homeschool. I remember the process like it was yesterday, feeling overwhelmed with this enormous weight of responsibility.  

Choosing to homeschool (or attend public or private school) is a big decision but we are going to walk you through the process of discovering:

1. What is Homeschooling? 

Home Schooling is more than teaching your child at home. It is a way of life.  If your only exposure to education has been in a corporate setting, it might be helpful for you to think of homeschooling as private tutoring (with a lot of snuggles, family adventures and laughter thrown in). 

 You do not need to have a teaching degree in order to teach your child. You do not need classroom management skills because you don’t need to worry about the needs of twenty children, just your own.

There are an estimated 2.3 million childrenhomeschooled as of 2016 survey by the National Home Education Research Instituteand that number is growing each year.

Each family chooses to homeschool for a variety of reasons, such as religious views, financial reasons, to spend more time together as a family, to allow the child to pursue opportunities, or because they live in a school district not known for its high-test scores etc.

Homeschooling looks different for each family. Some choose to participate in an online school, or 2-3 day a week co-op, and others learn at home using a variety of sources.  You can tailor make homeschooling to fit your child’s needs, your teaching, and your family’s lifestyle.

 Here is a fun list of people who have homeschooled throughout the ages and went on to accomplish some pretty amazing things.

• A number of our Presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson,& Abraham Lincoln.
• Leonardo Da Vinci
• Claude Monet
• Alexander Graham Bell
• Thomas Edison

2. The Good and Bad of Homeschooling

As with anything, there are pros and cons to homeschooling. You just need to decide if the pros outweigh the cons for YOUR family.  This list is not meant to be exhaustive but to serve a starting point.

The Pros of Homeschooling include:

• A personalized education,
• One on one time with your child
• Flexibility
• You get to be the primary influence in their lives
• Foster a love of learning
• You are not restricted by a school calendar
• Freedom to explore and develop your kid’s interests
• Build strong family ties

The Cons of Homeschooling could be:

• You are primarily responsible for their overall education
• Could mean a sacrifice of a career and a second income
• The financial costs of homeschooling (the state does not pay for homeschooling)
• Time spent teaching your child

I would encourage you to sit down with your spouse (or trusted friend) and create your own pros and cons list.  Take some time to discuss the sacrifices that homeschooling could entail for you and your family. Don’t worry about trying to come to a decision, just focus on getting it all down on paper.

3. How to Decide If Homeschooling Is Best For You

So how do you know what type of education is best for your family?  I am not going to lie, this was a very tough decision. This is a choice that takes time. You can’t rush it, even if you think you already know what decision you are going to make.

Here are five steps I learned after going through the process:

1st- Spend Time in Prayer

Talk to God about your thoughts, concerns, and fears. Ask him for the wisdom to make the best decision for your family.  

2nd- Write Down Your Values

What is important to you and your spouse? Does homeschooling move you towards or away from those values?

3rd- Get advice from People You Trust (and who know you well).

You will get conflicting viewpoints, so limit how many people you talk to, and remember that at the end of the day, YOU have to live with your decision (not them).

4th- Consider your Child’s Personality  (learning style, & your personality)

This should be considered but should not be the sole determining factor in the overall decision.

5th- Take It a Year at A Time

Sometimes we can make the decision to homeschool seem so much bigger than it actually is, you are not committing to homeschool for life, just next year.

Are you wondering HOW do you actually get started homeschooling? Join our community of moms who want to invest in the lives of their children through homeschooling.  I also created a How to Find Excellent Curriculum checklist (grab it below)  to help YOU on your journey.

You Got this Mom!

What about you? What is your #1 concern when it comes to figuring out this homeschooling adventure?  Leave a comment, and don’t forget to follow Most Important Work on Pinterest!