Homeschooling is the education of children in the comfort of their home, which is the exact opposite of ordinary school-schooling! Can be done through one of the parents or a professional tutor both are fine.
Homeschooling is one of the education strategies we mentioned in the article Education like never before. Unfortunately, home-schooling is not in all countries around the globe. You will have to check if it is legal in your country.
To check where homeschooling is legal, Wikipedia has this map:
School education vs Homeschooling
There is a debate about which is better? regular school education or homeschooling? …
Why Homeschooling
Several points represent the motivations behind homeschooling:
- Flexible academic calendar, families and children can selected their preferred time to study.
- Children living in isolated areas such as by the beach or remote villages.
- In some areas, schools are crowded with a big number of students per class. that means less attention directed to each student.
- Dissatisfaction with the limited education their children get. Schools usually have a strict curriculum. On the other hand, parents sometimes need to teach their children much more. Homeschooling give some freedom & flexibility for parents to add topics of their interest.
- Dissatisfaction with the schools dedicated to children with any special need. some parents prefer homeschooling for giving more care to their children.
- Families travelling a lot find homeschooling a convenient solution.
- Technology usage makes it much more flexible, no time or place boundaries.
- More mature. Homeschooling builds a sense of responsibility since a young age.
- Have more time to take part of extra-curriculum activities: volunteering, summer jobs, freelancing, and internships.
- Building their CV since a young age: they have a plenty of flexible time to be reallocated to different activities.
- Know their identity the best: enhance their self-discovery journey.
De-motivations:
- Time and effort taken to prepare the curriculum for your children
- Lack in materials and science labs that are available in schools
- Risk of isolating the child from the outer world and keep her/him introverted in their own world
- Employed parents with lack of time to follow the home-schooling
- Not prepared for attending university in most of the countries worldwide, due to the university prerequisites and needed courses or languages.
Homeschool curriculum
Usually, families utilize the home-schooling into their ordinary schooling technique, as a way to develop their children’s skills more and offer them with supplemental educational material too. Home-schooling should have a formal curriculum to be followed. Otherwise, it is considered as un-schooling and only motivated by the children’s curiosity to learn more about a certain topic.
how to start homeschooling
to start homeschooling, it is recommended to go through some steps:
- Check the interests of your child. which topics are more interesting for him.
- Check if homeschooling is legal in your country. or if you plan that your child continue his study or join a university in another country, check the home schooling at that country.
- Search for a curriculum that is accredited and matching your child interests.
- It is recommended to join a homeschooling community or get in contact with similar families. that will help in sharing ideas and support.
- Let your child engage in activities with other children to fill the gap due to the missing social life in regular schools.
- Get ready for some time management.
The brilliant girl
I’ve a known story, which was shared in TEDx-Cairo, this story emphasizes the importance to apply home-schooling whether as the main technique or a supplementary technique!
A mum and her daughter decided to go to the desert and the girl started to wonder around and learn a lot of things about geography, history, herbs, animals and much more! Things that are way more than what is expected from her during the ordinary schooling! She is joining a home-schooling program and learning by her own based on her own curiosity! In Parallel, she is having the plenty of time to do more things than her cohort. Moreover, She is free to adopt to the lifestyle she wants to! She has a flexible schedule and she is free to play with it.
When I saw her for the first time, she was full of energy, very extrovert and outgoing! She is a butterfly, that has a free soul! She is mature enough to decide for herself. Different than all the children her age, she is really MATURE!
Is Homeschooling really good?
here are some interesting findings shared by National Home Education Research Institute about homeschooling in USA.
- Taxpayers spend an average of $11,732 per pupil in public schools, plus capital expenditures. Homeschool families spend an average of $600 per student for their education.
- The home-educated typically score 15 to 30 percentile points above public-school students on standardized academic achievement tests.
- Homeschool students score above average on achievement tests regardless of their parents’ level of formal education or their family’s household income.
- The home-educated are doing well, typically above average, on measures of social, emotional, and psychological development.
- Homeschool students participate in local community service more frequently than does the general population.
Brief
To sum this all up, whether you are with or against home-schooling in general, you can enroll your children in ordinary school schooling and complement this with a home-schooling curriculum to become MATURE early! They can be enrolled during the semesters and live them free to travel and wonder around during the summer! Go visit new places and try new activities as much as he/she can.
I have graduated from GUC, faculty of Management Technology. Double majoring in Marketing & Economics. Currently, I am a digital marketer in a multinational company. I do have passion in humanitarian work & blogging.
