Homeschooling or home education is considered to be one of the best ways to educate children in modern times. Though homeschooling can be stressful, it can be quite rewarding too given its umpteen perks. In the United States, there are about 1.7 million homeschooled students. India is also catching up, with many parents now opting for homeschooling especially in the urban areas. However, parents must be prepared to make that extra commitment and become an effective teacher, failing which, homeschooling is a bad idea.
Homeschooling enables one-on-one coaching
According to research, one-on-one teaching is one of the best ways to educate the child. Even in a classroom environment, the smaller the students’ ratio, the better the students learn. Homeschooling enables one-on-one coaching and parents can completely concentrate on the child’s learning and proceed further according to the child’s learning capabilities. The other advantage is that parents are able to provide their children with the required personal interaction that teachers in a large classroom will not be able to provide. Also, the child can express his/her doubts without any hesitation. Moreover, the absence of peer pressure helps the child to focus more effectively on studies.
Parents can help children master difficult concepts
Parents will be able to keep a better tab on their children’s educational needs. For instance, if the child is not good with spellings, parents can concentrate on building the child’s vocabulary and adapt teaching methods that will best suit the child. If the child cannot understand the logic or concepts there is a way to work around it. Since individual attention is given to the child, he/she will make progress even if slowly and steadily. Homeschooling also helps parents to spend some quality time with the children on difficult concepts and help them master a subject or concept.
Homeschooling strengthens closeness of the family
In this kind of schooling, child-parent relationship is taken to another level altogether. You can enjoy spending more quality time with the kids. Parents need not hire tutors but can become tutors themselves. Families are able to travel, play and have their meal times with the children together. Parents can also take children on vacations when the public school is still in session. This also helps in an approach called round-the-clock physical contact with children, wherein the parents can answer all the cues of the kids.
Homeschooling provides a safe learning environment
Children in public schools are exposed to teasing, bullying, peer pressure, and in some cases, misbehaving teachers. While you can protect your kids through homeschooling, you can also protect them from school violence, drugs, and other negative experiences which the children in public schools frequently encounter.
Homeschooled kids tend to think more independently
The college students who were homeschooled express they feel more mature than their college mates. They know how to think for themselves and are not influenced as readily by their peers. In fact according to research, some homeschoolers who have attended the college feel that they are more mature than the public school children.