The Effects of Homeschooling

For years people have been leaning towards different alternatives to educate their children. One
method most people are leaning to, besides public or private schooling, is home schooling.
Homeschooling is an option for education where children receive primary and/or secondary education
directly from their parents, generally in their own home. This educational alternative has considerably
increased since the 1970s, but is this alternative really helping the child in the long run? The National
Center for Educational Statistics estimates that as of 2007 2.0 to 2.5 million students receive their
education from home. According to Kreager, this number approximately represents 2.2% of the entire
student body in American. This estimation is increasing as the years go on. Homeschooling has a
negative effect on children because they are being children, and they do not get a quality education.
Parents should really consider the advantages and disadvantages of isolating their children with
homeschooling. Just like anything homeschooling has its advantages, but it seems the disadvantages
trump the advantages.

Parents always want what is best for their children and in some cases they think homeschooling is the
best educational alternative for them. Some parents choose this alternative because of religious
views, they feel that they know their child’s strengths and weaknesses so they feel they would be a
better teacher for them, they feel homeschooling is safer for their child, or because the parent feels
that they should have control over what and how their child should learn. Statistics show that 31% of
parents choose homeschooling because of the offered community schools locations, 30% choose it
because of their moral or religious view, and 16% choose it because they are dissatisfied with the
academics of other schools. “Whatever their rational, most homeschooling parents believe the
education they provide their children is superior to that offered by formal schooling,” (Lebeda,
Samantha), but will their rational effectively teach today’s impressionable child? Does the child really
want homeschooling?

One disadvantage is that the student does not receive a quality education. With their parent taking on
the role as the teacher as well as the parent they can become drained, both emotionally and
physically, trying to successfully fulfill the requirements of both jobs. Just like regular school teachers
the parent has to plan out lesson plans and different activities to engage the student in the lesson,
while at the same time the parent has to maintain the home which can be a hassle at times. “A large
number of parents are not equipped to be home school instructors. Without structure and
consistency, children can be easily distracted (Tabor, Mathew). Some parent teachers lack discipline
and organization causing the student to not get the quality education he or she deserves.

Another disadvantage associated with the quality of the education, is the cost. According to
AllAboutParenting.org, parents who choose to home school, as opposed to a free public school
education, are responsible for all of the funding for the child’s education. “This includes costs for field
trips, computer software, and materials for projects, as well as any other resources the parent may
need (AllAboutParenting.org).” According to research, the average cost to home school one child as
of 2012 is around $200 to $1000 per year. This cost may seem even higher to families that have one
parent giving up their full time job to home school their children. Over time this can become a serious
disadvantage for the family as a whole.

In additions to the financial burden and the emotional and physical drain the parent may feel, there is
another key disadvantage in homeschooling that pertains to the child’s education quality. The other
disadvantage is how and what the child gets to learn. In public school there is more than one teacher
per subject, so the child gets to learn the material in numerous amounts of ways, as amy1980 says in
her blog, “some subjects are best learned through skilled teachers.” For example, if the parent
struggles in certain subject or never learned the subject while they were in school, the homeschooled
student might also find the concept difficult to understand. Granted there are tutors the student could
seek help from but that would also heighten the financial burden on the family.

Another key disadvantage that comes with the homeschooling alternative is the child’s socialization
development. According to Samantha Lebeda, socialization involves interactions between the child
and others in their social network. She says that social scientist observed that school plays a
significant role in the socialization of children by providing them context in which to develop
fundamental aspects of their personality. Failure to let the child develop socially could have harsh
side effects such as social isolation and the development of aggressive behavior around a large
crowd. For some children, especially younger children this social isolation from other children their
age can really affect their development of social skills.

Not being able to learn with friends or being able to associate with children the same age could lead
towards developmental problems; such as the “children feeling isolated, passive, lethargic and alone
or ill-equipped to handle situations where interaction is required” (educationnews.org). However, “by
being involved in other activities such as dance or sports, by living in a neighborhood with many other
children that can be socialized with in free time, or by having siblings or cousins that are in the public
system, the social skills can rub off on kids that are homeschooled” (Ryan, epinions.com).

The final disadvantage that comes with homeschooling is the child’s experience. Because the child is
not actually in a “real” school they miss out on the opportunities to experience normal school activities.

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