Parents choose to homeschool their children for a variety of reasons; often, it’s because they are families that move often or care for loved ones. During homeschooling, parents or a tutor take over the child’s education, or the child is placed in an online school.
5 Advantages of Homeschooling
There are many advantages to homeschooling instead of public school for both parents and students.
No Peer Pressure
As much as public schools try to avoid it, peer pressure is still very present in public schooling. Peer pressure can show up in various forms, whether it is pressure for a child to act out, engage in activities they may not want to, or try out substances they may not wish to. Peer pressure can occur at any age and can be both purposeful and accidental. There are so many types of peer pressure: direct, indirect, self-directed, physical, and verbal.
Homeschooling is one of the ways parents can protect their children from peer pressure. Children experiencing peer pressure can have damaged relationships with their families and friends for years and suffer physically and emotionally. A benefit of homeschooling is that children don’t have to be exposed to that and can begin to develop their sense of self without the commentary or judgment of others.
No School Violence
An advantage of homeschooling is the elimination of school violence as a risk for children. There are many forms of violence that children of all ages can potentially face, including school shootings, which have been steadily increasing over the years. By keeping children home and educating them somewhere where they are safe, the risk of facing violence is minimal.
While being homeschooled, children are also safe from non-lethal victimization by their peers. Statistically, at public schools, there are 29 victimizations per every 1,000 students, and almost 10% of students are targets of sexual misconduct by educators at some point in their education. These are every parent’s worst fears, which is why many have begun turning to homeschooling options.
Academic Achievement
Youth who are homeschooled have an increased risk of improving their academic achievement. Many students struggle in public schools because of their teachers’ teaching styles. Not every child learns the same way, so certain styles of teaching don’t work as well for some children. Especially once they reach middle and high school and are presented with six different teachers with varying teaching styles.
Understandably, this can be confusing, and it can cause youth to fall behind in school. Once they are behind, it’s difficult for them to catch up because teachers can only dedicate so much time to one student when they have almost a hundred or so more.
Homeschooling can fix this problem. The curriculum can be tailored to the student’s needs, and there is more of an opportunity for one-on-one sessions. Statistics show that students who have been homeschooled have a 10% higher rate of achieving a college degree than those who graduated from public school. Those who have been homeschooled also tend to score higher on standardized tests.
Better Physical Health
Students in public schools spend most of their time sitting down at cramped desks. Time is set aside for lunch and free time, but typically students spend close to 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, sitting. This is not healthy, and the only time they really get to move around and be physically active is when they are in their physical education course.
When parents choose to homeschool their children, their children are likely to have better physical health. This is because parents can prioritize physical activity, whether it be having their child engage in a sport or dance, or play outside. Additionally, children who are being homeschooled can prioritize sleep more and wake naturally instead of being forced to wake up at the same time every day. This helps keep children active and healthy.
Encouraged Autonomy
A final advantage of homeschooling is encouraging independence and autonomy in youth. When being homeschooled, youth have a voice in what they want to learn about and how they want to learn. They can learn around what they are interested in and build their knowledge this way instead of being forced to learn a certain way or being graded.
Homeschooling is a great alternative for many families, and it gives parents and children the freedom to design a curriculum around the child’s curiosity.
