What are the pros and cons of home schooling?

It is the biggest common myth that homeschoolers don't socialize. (My daughter is out every day playing with kids on the block.) You will only hear that from people who have never been homeschooled. Also, not every one has happy school memories, and I can barely remember my friends in elementary school and it is a distant distant memory, life had replaced school with many more important memories. I am a very independent learner, and love the "it's not what you know it's knowing where to find the answer" motto. Sit down and add the transportation time to school, the amount of time moving to classes, the amount of time in lunch class and gym, the transportation home from school, and the time getting ready to go to school, the the time spent on homework after school. Now multiply that by 12 school years. (Or, however much time is left.) That's how much extra time you will have with your child. I think it gives me an extra year to spend with my daughter. Think about "quality time" issues. I homeschool my 3rd grader and it's the best decision I ever made. (She's the youngest of six, and the only one that was homeschooled.) I wish I could have homeschooled my active oldest. There is a HUGE support system out there. I started a blog at http://www.homeschoolwebsites.blogspot.com that has posts on where to get free worksheets, free educational online games, and great educational websites for elementary kids. First I'd like to say I don't think homeschooling for everyone. My pros, number one - it's the best choice in the world for an active child. She can be outside if it's nice out in the middle of the afternoon and not sit at a desk staring out the window. (Science class, gym class, playtime, whatever you want to do, she/he can go outside whenever they want.) 2. Flexibility. My daughter is night owl. We can read as late as we want and get up as late as we want. (In reality, I don't because high schoolers are out the door...) 3. Flexibility. She can be below-grade level on one subject, and skip three grade levels on other subjects. She can graduate early and start college early. (By the way, most colleges (including Harvard and the big ones) have a special application process for homeschoolers.) 4. Flexibility. You can teach however you want, whenever you want, and with whatever methods you want. Some people like traditional methods. I don't. I'm all into "unschooling" and self-directed learning. Your child will be able to LEARN instead of MEMORIZE. They will EXPERIENCE instead of COPY. You can choose to keep a whole school year based on a topic your son likes. If he likes dogs, make all your reading, math, art, science, and social studies about dogs. You can do that for days, weeks or years - doesn't matter. Same with computers, machines, or whatever else he might be interested in. If you focus on the child's interest, and turn it into a learning oportunity, the child will be eager to learn (most of the time...). I highly doubt my daughter would have picked up a love for trains in school. I just happened to get a vintage dvd on trains for homeschooling (a quarter), then got some national geographic movies on trains, then she wanted computer games on them...and she's totally into them. She kept seeing Abraham Lincoln on trains. Now she's totally into him. I can focus tons of studies on trains. She's also into machines and physics. In elementary school, they wouldn't have that focus, and I can nourish her interests to learn what isn't taught at her grade level in school. (And she's way ahead on the natural sciences because we live in a rural area.) By the way, I have no mechanical ability whatsoever. With the Internet, you can learn anything. She loved studying inventions and inventors. We spent an entire year studing inventors. She learned about a lot more than Thomas Edison and Eli Whitney. She can tell you about the bra and Barbie too...lol..of course, that won't be on her 4th grade tests, so I guess I have to talk about the cotton gin... Cons of homeschooling? Having to take state-regulated tests. I don't believe in testing. She could know a million things about a topic that isn't asked on the test. It's not a representation of actual knowledge. For skills, testing is understandable, but not for knowledge. She doesn't have to take one until next year here in NY but they have samples online I can look at. Every state is different. Every state has different in their requirements for submitting records. I submit quarterly reports and attendance records. (The attendance records are a joke...you're at home...c'mon...but federal necessity. I just summarize her attendance in one paragraph.) I researched requirements in other areas, and in TN, you just have to submit attendance records, in NC there's a lot more. If the homeschooling mom is not a self-directed learner, there are homeschooling groups, online courses for

i'm 15! i came out of school and have been home educated since i was 13! it is the best thing that has ever happened to me. i have loads of friends, and socialize more then i would in school! i took my gcses 2 years earlier then average students! i would never go beck into a school! every situation iss different but from my view home school is the best thing you can do for your son! i have still not found a bad thing or a downside to being out of school other than feeling sorry for all the poor children caged in a school! good luck and remember if it doesn't work he can go back to school if you don't try it you won't know!

I just knew it was the right thing at the time, and knew when it was the right time to put them into public school. Trust your instincts and remember what ever you decide is not permanent. And it is a very precious gift that not many get to bestow. There is a lot of support out there.

Hello. I home school my 6 yrs old son and can provide my perspective. In my mind, the biggest pro and con of home schooling is its flexibility. Want proof? Here's the scenario for a typical home schooling newbie: 1) You are very interested in home schooling because you can direct your child's entire academic and social activities with minimal involvement from the state. Sounds good, huh? 2) However, as you commit to home schooling, you quickly find out there are TONS of curriculum to choose from, leaving you overwhelmed beyond your senses. So, as you can see, flexibility in home schooling is a double-edged sword. If you can be on top of your child academic schedule, his curriculum, his social activities, and finally, if you can meet ALL the home schooling regulations of your state, THEN home schooling is a great fit for you. On the other hand, if you're unsure of the curriculum for your son, not sure if you can remember to continuously teach him a list of key skills (reading, writing, math, etc.) on a regular schedule, don't have time to engage in understanding your son enough to put him into the social actvities best for him, and is the type to easily forget to keep up with the home school laws and regulations of your state (because they do change from time to time), then home schooling may not be for you. So, the most critical pro and con is flexibility. Another con I would state right here is home schooling costs. Although curriculum and school supplies costs can be controlled by you somewhat, the biggest cost of home schooling is the fact that either you or your spouse will have to forego some or all of your income so that you can have time to teach your son. If you want to learn more about home schooling, I actually wrote an article on this topic on my website, especially for folks such as yourself considering home schooling. The article is called, "What is Home Schooling?" - I've listed the link in the source below. In the article, I address the pros and cons in more detail so you can find your answers there. For me, home schooling as worked out great so far, despite the "ramp up" period that I needed to get my mind around all the requirements that home schooling entailed, it's been a wonderful experience. Hope this helps. Sun Bae http://www.prontolessons.com

I've been homeschooling my kids for 10 years, with one in college now and two more who are still elementary school age. I really haven't found any cons. That's not to say we don't have our bad days or crazy weeks, or that everything works out beautiful. But nothing that really has ever made me reconsider homeschooling. A lot of things people tend to worry about haven't been an issue for us. The kids socialize plenty (take homeschool co-op and community center classes, have support groups that meet for park days and field trips, make friends at church or the park, etc.). A lot of people worry about things like teaching certain subjects, but there are always resources to be found. I suppose if both parents had to work, child care could be a problem. But I've always worked and managed to get around that too without costing too much-- working from home, trading baby-sitting with other homeschoolers, arranging our schedule & getting family or friends to help with tough days. Some of the pros for us is that we have a lot of freedom, homeschooling has been a lot easier than revolving our lives around the school schedule. We get to spend a lot of time together as a family. My kids get to work at their own pace (one is gifted, one has learning disabilities, and both have thrived). It's a lifestyle really, and like any other lifestyle, you either want it or you don't. If you want it and enjoy it you make it work, and little problems don't seem a big deal.

school is as much about socialization as it is about education. you can't get that at home.

When we are older, it's the school days that are so important in our memories, some good, some bad, but home schooling doesn't provide that, and doesn't teach interaction among other humans in our society. I think high school especially is so important, either private or public.