In recent years, the homeschooling trend has become more diverse. The pandemic being an obvious reason for ameliorating this trend. However, there are other observed benefits; for instance, homeschooled students perform better on standardized tests, stay in college longer, and perform better once enrolled.

Since parents have the chance and time to impart their ideals in their own child, homeschooling may be more beneficial than regular public or private school education. The more engaged parents are in their children's life; the more effective homeschooling can be.

Besides, technological breakthroughs and better awareness of instructional practices are driving homeschooling trends and people from many areas of life are now considering homeschooling for their children.

Basically, it’s flexibility that comes with homeschooling, that allows parents to positively participate in children’s education. For example, Curricula can be modified at home to meet the learning styles of their children. Moreover, the internet and collaborative web technologies have made it even easier for homeschooling families to join together to learn and debate a variety of academic subjects.

With this in mind, let us explore some benefits and drawbacks of homeschooling.

Benefits of Homeschooling

Homeschooling provides the space and scope to develop and foster a child's potentials once the standard education sector becomes progressively rigid and inflexible. Some of the pros of homeschooling that you should be aware of are listed below.

The Flexibility – Time/ Space Independence

The ability to determine your child's curriculum is probably the most significant advantage of homeschooling. You decide what your child studies, when they study it, and how long they study it. You're the sole one who really understands your kid. And no one now cares more about your child's development than you. You have the option of spending extra time studying math. Children can also devote more time to studying subjects they are interested in, such as art or science. Despite having a more relaxed and less rigorous framework than public school students, homeschooling students learn just as quickly – if not quicker – than public school students.

Emotional and physical safety have improved

Bullying is now a common occurrence in most public schools. Whereas not each kid is intimidated, it will happen to a major range of them, and also the consequences may be terrible. It is not only emotionally devastating, but it also makes it nearly hard for some children to receive a solid education and learn. Unfortunately, narcotics and gangs can be found in public schools as well. All of these potentially detrimental effects are avoided when children are educated at home. Peer pressure, competition, and low self-esteem are some of the other negative influences that homeschooling avoids. Most girls struggle to maintain a good level of self-esteem during their high school years. Homeschooled girls have excellent self-esteem that lasts throughout their high school years, according to studies

Productivity has increased

In most public school classrooms, there is one instructor for every 20 to 30 students. Not only does each child receive very little one-on-one instruction from their teacher in a public school, but they also end up performing a bunch of pointless busywork. In a homeschool context, children can typically complete tasks in a few hours that would take a whole day in a public school setting. Because the classroom environment isn't favorable to getting a lot done, students in public schools often have a lot of homework. Homeschooled children rarely have homework because it is completed during class time.

The Most Common Complaints of Homeschoolers

Rising Stress Levels

For most of us, life is already stressful enough, but homeschooling your children can make it even more so. To begin with, homeschooling necessitates a significant amount of time and work. Lessons must be prepared and children must be taught on a daily basis. Homeschooling isn't as straightforward as most people believe. It isn't made up of a few well-behaved children who are excellent at paying attention and following directions. Many of the same challenges that teachers face are also faced by parents who homeschool their children. They must also give hands-on learning experiences and activities for their children.

It can be quite costly

Homeschooling isn't inexpensive, especially if your family is used to living on two incomes. Almost all homeschooling families are single-parent households. Homeschooling forces you to live on a single income. If money is limited, this can be a significant sacrifice, but most homeschooling families believe the sacrifice is well worth it in order for their children to benefit from the advantages of homeschooling.

Extracurricular activities are limited

Parents who homeschool their children must arrange extracurricular activities. This is a time-consuming process that many ambitious homeschoolers are unaware of until they are really educating their children for the first time and are overwhelmed by the workload. As youngsters enter their adolescent years and develop an interest in athletics, it becomes much more difficult. While community sports are normally available for younger children, homeschooled teens are frequently faced with a lack of opportunities to participate in team sports.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, homeschooling is not as straight forward as it seems. Since the future of the child in on stake, the decision must be made after through assessment of individual’s family dynamic and the educational goals of the child. But one thing must be kept in mind, the child’s future is not something to be played with.