Educating Your Children: The Home Schooling Option
An ever growing number of thoughtful parents are concerned about
the status of public schools in many cites across North America.
At the same time, a good number of families are struggling to
make ends meet. They simply do not have excess funds available
to send their children to private schools. One solution that
many families are embracing is home schooling. With each passing
school year, more and more families in North America -- indeed,
in many countries around the world -- are electing the home
schooling for their children.
There are some definite benefits and specific drawbacks to
choosing home schooling for your children. Turning to the
positive elements of home schooling first, chief amongst them is
the fact that parents have greater control over the education of
their children.
One of the more significant complaints frequently expressed
about both public and private schools is the lack of input and
control a parent has over the education of his or her child or
children. While there are certain educational standards that
must be met when it comes to home schooling, a parent has a
significant degree of discretion over how his or her child or
children will be taught.
In addition to more control over the educational process, most
parents who are involved in the home schooling of their children
believe that their children are obtaining a far better course of
education. Many of these parents simply believe that public
schools are not up to muster and that home schooling ensures
that their children will be properly educated.
Of course, when contrasting home schooling with the private
school alternative, educating your children at home is
significantly less expensive. The tuition costs and other fees
associated with most private schools continue to increase each
and every year. As a result, many families simply have been
priced out of the private school market all together.
People who are involved in home schooling believe that education
children at home works to develop a stronger bond between
parents and children. The very fact that children will be
spending more time with their parents because of being schooled
in the home enriches the relationship between the generations.
There are some drawbacks to home schooling as well. The primary
complaint that some education experts have in regard to home
schooling is based on the need for children to interact socially
with other children. These experts maintain that one of the most
important components of attending school -- be it in a public or
private setting -- are the opportunities for children to
interact with each other. These opportunities are more limited
when a child is home schooled.
With that said, there are now different organizations and
associations that have been formed that bring children who are
home schooled together for different activities and events. Home
schooling advocates assert that these activities and events
allow children who are home schooled ample opportunity to
interact with other children their own ages.
Most education analysts believe that the trend towards home
schooling will continue onward into the immediate future. These
experts believe that an ever growing number of parents are going
to elect to educate their children at home as an alternative to
problematic public schools and expensive private schools.