From time to time you may go over the pros and cons of homeschooling. Even seasoned homeschoolers sometimes take an accounting of how their families are doing and weigh the pros and cons of continuing on in the homeschooling journey. Here we will discuss a few of the pros and cons that may help you know what is right for you family.

Pros of homeschooling:

1. Family time. If you think about how much time kids actually get to talk to their parents or interact with their families as a whole the reality of it may shock you. They go from school to homework, then sports or lessons of some kind, to dinner time to bed time. One study from years ago said that on average we talk to our children for approximately 10 minutes per day TOTAL. This is one of the reasons parents love homeschooling. It allows for the conversations between family members to flow naturally.
2. Family values. Most families are looking for more ways to instill their values in their children in hopes that they will be able to be great contributors to society and be happy. Homeschoolers love the fact that while the child is learning the practical uses of education, the talk about your family values comes very easily and flows through the day.
3. Socially positive. When you homeschool your children you have much more control over the various kinds of social interaction that they will have. This is not to say the exposing children to all kinds of things is not good but if a child has been in public school and had a problem with being bullied it is easy to see how homeschooling them may lessen the stress in their learning environment and keep the student’s progress moving forward. When children do not feel safe at school or are worried they do not assimilate information as well.
4. Educational needs. Some people homeschool to meet the special needs of their children. These needs can vary from needing to custom tailor curriculum for a child with learning disabilities to having the freedom to let a very accelerated child go on in subjects at their own pace when they may be held back to some level in other schools.

Cons of homeschooling:

1. Time. Parents may grossly underestimate the time that it takes to provide your child an education at home. It is really not possible to do homeschooling for children when both parents work outside the home full time. That is unless you want to be schooling all night.
2. Money. If a parent thinks that you have to buy a boxed curriculum for your child (which you do not need) they may think that they need $1200 or more per child/per year. That can be very overwhelming.
3. Socialization. This is the great debate over homeschooling. We’ve all heard it often enough. Many people do not think that children will get the social skills they need if they are not with their peers. Some subscribe to the thought that you need all of these interactions early on to be able to become an adult who can handle different social situations.
4. Consistency. No matter your homeschooling method you have to be consistent or you are doing your child an injustice. It isn’t enough to just let children stay home all day and watch television. They do need opportunities and life experiences to help them learn. If you are not in a place in your life or your circumstances do not lend themselves to one parent being very consistent about the education at home it will never work.

These are just a few of the pros and cons of homeschooling. This is such a personal choice and no one can really tell you what is right for your family. Only you can choose. Hopefully we have helped you think a few things through.