Why Homeschooling? [Pros and Cons of Homeschooling in 2024]
- Shifa Ali |
- July 25, 2024
Updated By
Reviewed By
Homeschooling allows parents to tailor their child’s curriculum according to the family’s specific needs. The Homeschooling experience helps children grow in an environment that is free from bullying, peer pressure, and negative influences that pull back children in traditional setups.
The article “Why Homeschooling?” will walk you through the pros and cons of Homeschooling to help you decide whether opting for homeschooling is the right decision for your child.
What is Homeschooling?
Homeschooling is an educational approach where children are taught at home rather than attending a traditional public or private school. Homeschooling offers a flexible and often more relaxed learning environment.
This method allows parents to take direct control of their child’s education, tailoring the curriculum and learning environment to suit the child’s individual needs, interests, and pace of learning.
Parents can choose from a wide range of curricula or create their own, allowing for customization that aligns with the family’s educational philosophy and the child’s learning style.
Children can progress through subjects at their own pace, spending more time on challenging areas or advancing quickly in subjects they excel at.
One-on-one teaching can be more effective in addressing a child’s specific strengths and weaknesses, providing a more personalized learning experience.
Homeschooling fosters strong family bonds, as parents are directly involved in their child’s education. It also allows for the incorporation of family values and beliefs into the curriculum.
Homeschooling has seen a sudden surge after the COVID-19 pandemic. In a survey conducted by EdChoice, 52% of parents said they were likely to consider homeschooling post-pandemic.
The National Home Education Research Institute reported that homeschooling rates doubled during the pandemic, with an estimated 5.4 million students being homeschooled.
To know more about What is Homeschooling? be sure to check out our blog!
Looking for private tutors for homeschooling? Book a Free Trial Lesson with Wiingy today and match with expert tutors to achieve your academic goals!
Why Homeschooling: Homeschooling Pros and Cons
The NHERI reported that the homeschool population has been growing at an estimated rate of 2% to 8% per annum over the past several years. It is important to thoroughly consider all the pros and cons of homeschooling before you decide for your child. Below we have curated a list of the advantages and disadvantages of schooling children at home:
| Pros | Cons |
| Homeschooling offers parents the opportunity to monitor their child’s development. Rigorous inspection would give them a sense of satisfaction that their child is maturing in a way that aligns with their values. | Parents have to devote a large amount of their time as they play a direct role in the child’s learning. By homeschooling your child, you are signing up for parenting and the responsibilities of a teacher. Time Commitment is one of the major challenges in homeschooling. However, with the assistance of homeschooling tutors, parents can easily overcome this. |
| Homeschooling helps you foster your relationship with your child. Apart from your child being physically close to you, you are also emotionally bonded with your child more than ever. The child will carry long-lasting memories of their parent serving as their teacher into their adolescence. | Not all parents have the required qualifications and expertise in every subject. This will limit the depth of learning. However, this can be tackled with the assistance of a homeschool tutor or a subject-matter expert. |
| Homeschooling parents can use vacations to introduce their kids to historical places, and different cultures exposing them to real-world learning. | Parents are solely responsible for devising the child’s curriculum, a task that is typically done by experienced school administrators. |
| Homeschooling is more affordable than traditional schooling, with an average cost of $600-$900 per year. Homeschooling cuts down on tuition fees, transportation, meals, and clothing expenses. | Homeschooled kids miss the opportunity to participate in public inter-school events, and music and art festivals. This limits their social interaction with their family. Homeschooled children are unable to build the networking connections facilitated by these events. |
| Homeschooled students can join sports clubs outside of school, recreational leagues, and community teams for rejuvenation. | Homeschooled kids exhibit introverted tendencies due to less peer interaction. Less frequent group activities result in kids having a smaller pool of friends. |
| Homeschooled children learn in a positive atmosphere. By learning at home, kids are not exposed to potential bullies unlike in a traditional school setting. The NHERI found that 40% of students are less likely to die by child abuse or neglect than the average student nationally. | Homeschooled children receive less recognition as compared to students who attend institutes. Children enrolled in schools are felicitated with awards at the end of every academic year. For homeschooled kids, recognition is limited to family. |
| Homeschooled children can pursue their interests as subjects through personalized learning. Homeschooled children often develop the habit of having multiple hobbies which boosts self-confidence and stimulates creativity. | |
| Homeschooled children perform better on standardized tests. The home-educated students are said to score 15 to 25 percentile points above public-school students in a survey conducted by the NHERI Institute. The child has the flexibility to move quickly through concepts that are easy for them to grasp and spend more time on challenging topics. The learning pace of the student is not influenced by his/her peers. | |
| Homeschooled kids have more time to engage in community activities. They have the flexibility to be a part of community projects without falling behind in studies. Homeschooled kids are also active volunteers in the community. The NHERI states that 69% of the homeschooled kids participate in local community service more frequently than the general population. | |
| Homeschooled students take pride in their achievements as they develop self-motivation. They have taken ownership of their education which develops a sense of responsibility. |
Bottomline
One of the major challenges that homeschooling parents face is time commitment and lack of expertise in certain subjects. However, the concept of hiring tutors for homeschooling has helped parents overcome this problem.
Tutors allow flexibility in scheduling lessons and bring expertise to the table so the children’s learning is not confined to their parent’s limited knowledge. It is essential for working parents to consider tutors if they choose to homeschool their children.
Wiingy Tutors for Homeschooling
For homeschooling, Wiingy tutors have proved to be remarkably beneficial. They are all experts in their respective subjects and have been trained to teach students according to the US education system. Wiingy Tutors help build crucial concepts and help prepare for standardized tests such as the Advanced Placement Exams, SAT, and ACT. Wiingy’s personalized homeschool tutoring services are designed to offer a supportive learning space where students gain clarity and confidence in their studies.
Unlike tutor marketplaces, each tutor at Wiingy is vetted individually through an extensive assessment process including interviews, mock lessons, and coding tests. Less than 3% of applicants qualify to be a tutor on the Wiingy platform. Tutors are assessed based on their years of experience in teaching, several students taught, and their qualifications in the relevant discipline. With Wiingy, finding the perfect homeschooling tutor is effortless. Our algorithm understands your specific learning needs and matches you with the ideal tutor. If your tutor match isn’t perfect, our Perfect Match Guarantee program promises a replacement tutor at no additional cost.
Looking for private tutors for homeschooling? Book a Free Trial Lesson with Wiingy today and match with expert tutors to achieve your academic goals!
Other Useful Reads
What is Homeschooling?
How to start Homeschooling [Tips to Get Started]
Online Tutoring for Homeschooling: Benefits and Strategies
FAQs on why homeschooling?
How do I ensure my child is socialized?
You can schedule lessons according to you and your child’s availability. With so many different approaches to homeschooling, you are left with plenty of time for your child’s overall development. Bonding with fellow like-minded homeschooling families, field trip groups, and park dates will offer your child an opportunity to interact with people of his age. You search for such groups online and connect with them on Facebook. The website a2zhomeschooling.com helps you get involved locally with groups that fit your family.
Can homeschooled children attend college?
Yes, homeschooled kids can attend college just like any other school-going kid. Parents should create a detailed high school transcript that includes grades, credits, and GPA. The transcript would reflect the student’s depth of knowledge. Admission to colleges is entirely dependent on SAT and ACT. Students can take these standardized tests to provide an objective measure of their academic knowledge. Research the specific policies of colleges regarding homeschooled kids, and their requirements. The parent or tutor has to mold the curriculum according to that.
Are homeschooled kids behind compared with public school kids?
The home-educated students score 15 to 25 percentile points above public-school students on standardized academic achievement tests. The National Home Education Research Institute found that homeschooled students score above average on the SAT and ACTs which are considered for college admissions. The level of education imparted in homeschooling is unrelated to whether the parents were certified teachers. 78% of homeschooled children are believed to score significantly better than those enrolled in institutions.
Does the state fund any homeschool programs?
U.S. states spend an average of $13,201 to educate each pupil in the public system per year. There is no such thing as a state-approved or accredited homeschool curriculum. So if you choose to opt out of the conventional public school system you are also opting out from accessing public funds for your child’s education. However, programs like Education Savings Account (ESA), allow families to use public funds to pay for homeschool curriculum or online learning programs like Prisma.
What happens if the homeschooling parent is sick?
One of the key benefits of Homeschooling is flexibility. In case, the parent falls sick, the day’s activity can be pushed to another, more convenient day. Those days can be compensated by indulging the child in reading, drawing, or hands-on projects. Parents can plan a set of contingent activities that will be useful during times of illness or absence. Even during recovery, parents can maintain communication with their children, to monitor progress and offer guidance.
