The Pros and Cons of Becoming a Homeschooler

Homeschooling is becoming a popular choice.  It gives the children a flexible schedule and allows the curriculum to cater to the individual child.  Is homeschooling the right choice for you?  Well, that all depends. 

The Pros and Cons of Becoming a Homeschooler

 I was brought up in the public school system.  K – 12 I went in and out of a school house nearly every day and loved much of it.  I wasn’t warped or bullied or failed out of any grade.  It was what felt ‘right’ to me.  I even got training as a public school teacher when I went to collage.  

So, why do I homeschool?  

Because my children are my very favorite people. 

As I put my daughter on the bus for the first time, something about it felt wrong to me.  Throughout the next year I had more and more doubts that the public school road was right for us.  By the end of that year, all my children were home and I had taken a crash course in what it meant to homeschool.  

Now, I am not one of those homeschoolers who think it’s right for everyone.  I can’t speak for anyone but me.  But that is my reason for homeschooling… because being around my children fills me up as much as it wears me out.  Because my joy in seeing my daughter learn to read was tripled because I was the one that taught her to do it.  And because I couldn’t imagine missing any step in their childhood because their education is someone else’s responsibility. 

 So how can I help you find out if homeschooling is right for you?  Well, I can tell you what I won’t ask.  

I won’t ask if you have the patience of a saint.  Because you don’t. And guess what?  Neither do I.  

And I won’t ask if you have tons of free time on your hands.  Because I know that there are days when it’s all I can do to use the bathroom alone (and calling the plumber while helping someone with algebra isn’t high on my list of favorite activities either). 

And I also won’t ask if you love giving tests and enjoy keeping grade scores.  Because I honestly can’t tell you what my 12 year old’s grade in math is right now and I am not entirely sure I care.

 So.  How do I help you decide if homeschooling is right for you? 

Let’s weigh the different pros and cons.  

Pros: 

You will have massive amounts of flexibility with what you teach, when you teach it, and how it is taught.  My kids and I love being out in the garden.  It’s a year round event for us and you would not believe how many subjects I have taught in the garden.  

For example:

History – I grew 9 ‘grains of the world’ and we got to study each culture they were popular staples in. 

Science – We studied plant reproduction by starting with pollination and bees (a great intro into  terminology for human biology in 5th grade.  Just sayin’.) 

Writing – we do a weekly ‘nature hour’ where the kids write in their journals outside and collect one thing they want to study for the next week.  

The list goes on and on.  And that is just one thing we love. 

Oh, and if you hate something (or even if it just doesn’t fit), no parent/teacher conferences are required before you set it aside.  Not even one. 

The Pros and Cons of Becoming a Homeschooler

 – You will be able to teach to your schedule.  This was a huge one for us because my husband’s schedule changes every month.  We have adjusted it so we get maximum time off while daddy is home.  This means a lot of field trips!  

The Pros and Cons of Becoming a Homeschooler

 (Oh, and BTW, we take every Dec off.  The whole month is dedicated to our Advent Activities.) 

Your relationship with your child will grow and blossom.  Quality time  requires quantity time.  Because I am home with my kids, I get to make the most of those ‘quality’ moments! 

The Pros and Cons of Becoming a Homeschooler

 – Homeschooling is budget friendly.  There are hundreds of resources out in cyberspace for free.  I built my son’s entire kindergarten curriculum for $12 and it included Oreos!  As kids get older, these things are a little harder to find and may take some digging, but trust me, you can do it for much less than any private school tuition.  

The Pros and Cons of Becoming a Homeschooler

 – You will be there for every sounded-out word, cursive curlicue, and every algebra problem.  Children are all different.  Knowing where our child’s particular strengths and weakness is our greatest asset in their education.  If my daughter needs to spend a little more time on multiplication before moving on, or if my son is ready to move past ABC’s and right on to sight words, we can do that without concern for the other 23 students in the class.  It makes their lessons extremely time efficient.  You will be amazed at how much you can cover because you are only waiting for a one student to understand. 

(For more pros – watch this.

Cons: 

– You will be overwhelmed with the amount of information there is out there and you will have daily doubts as to if you are doing it ‘right’.   It is important to recognize when you are being bitten by the comparison bug.  Try your hardest to be on no ones time-table but your own.  Just make your goal to continue moving forward.  Good record keeping really helps with that.  

The Pros and Cons of Becoming a Homeschooler

– You may become addicted to a certain subject long after your kids are ‘over it’.  You need to know where your strength and weaknesses are as well as your kids.  For example – I really love biology.  And my kids know more than their share.  However, I have a couple of kids who would really like to move on to Chemistry, which is not my favorite subject.  Like at all.  I decided to buy a box curriculum for this subject so that they get the benefit someone else’s enthusiasm since mine is lacking in that area.  You use the tools that you can to maximize your educational possibilities.  Don’t be afraid to ask for help! 

– You will be there for every sounded-out word, cursive curlicue, and every algebra problem.  Yup, this one is covered under both ‘pro’ and ‘con’.  Because the truth is, sometimes listening to a child sound out the same word for the fourth time on one page is as grating as nails on chalkboard.  

– You will not be able to teach everything your kid needs to know through high-school.  Neither can I.  But you know what?  I didn’t know how to fix everything in my house before I bought it either.  I took on each problem as it came up, researched it, and tried out different tools to see which one worked the best for that particular problem.  It is the same with homeschooling.  There are many things I teach my kids that I just learned days before.  (Like, did you know that alligators hatch all the same gender of eggs at the same time and the sex of the babies is determined by the temperature of the nest?  Yeah.  Me either… until I read about it last month in my 1st graders science trivia game.  These types of things happen OFTEN.)  You will be learning a ton as you homeschool… and you will love it. 

The Pros and Cons of Becoming a Homeschooler

 – Your kids will be social mutants.  Or at least that’s the fear.  Am I scared of that?  Um, no.  Not even a little bit.  My children are happy, social creatures… as are most of the homeschoolers I see.  I do not even go the extra mile and include my child in tons of sports, scouts, or groups they would not regularly attend.  If you are concerned, get them involved in something they love outside of schooling.  That’s what the public school kids do. 

The Pros and Cons of Becoming a Homeschooler

 In the end, a lot of it depends on what works best for your family.  For our family, with a very tight homelife and a very alternative schedule, homeschooling fits all of our needs perfectly.  But if another schooling choice fits your family better, then chose the one that fits you best.  In the end, the more involved you are in the choice and the process of your child’s education, the better education they will get, regardless of where they get it. 

(All of the children pictured here are homeschooled.)

About Val

Valerie Rose, creator of the blog Collecting the Moments… one by one spends her days cooking, gardening, and homeschooling her 4 children on her urban homestead in rainy western Washington. With camera in hand, she is constantly collecting the moments of life and encouraging others to do the same with activities and inspiration for a simple, creative household. You can find her on Pinterest, Facebook and on her homeschooling blog where she documents all the fun learning her kids do day to day.

Comments

  1. This is beautiful, Valerie! Makes me happier than ever that we’re homeschooling!

  2. Amber Patel says

    Hi! I just happened across your blog via Pinterest. I am currently on the “I’m gonna do it” side of the homeschooling argument, (with myself), lol. We have almost 3 and 4 yr old daughters and I seriously want to homeschool them. I NEVER thought I’d even find myself thinking about homeschooling. I just have this strong desire, need, want, feeling to do this for some reason. You hit on every fear, thought of mine and I want to say thank you. I’ve read a couple of your posts and it seems all that much more clear to me now. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

    Sincerely,
    Your newest follower,
    Amber

    • Valerie is one of our veteran homeschoolers here at Inner Child Learning and she never ceases to inspire. I was like you, and never imagined myself homeschooling. Then one day, I just couldn’t imagine not trying, even though I was a little worried and out of my element. My husband and I decided that we would commit to one year at a time. I don’t have to decide to homeschool through highschool right now. I just have to decide what will be best for my family this next year. I’m so glad you found this post and it helped provide a little clarity and peace. Thank you so much for taking the time to share here. I hope you’ll continue to check back and let us know how it goes! Good luck and have fun. 🙂

    • Amber – You are so welcome! I spent a whole year in that same boat; not knowing if I wanted to but feeling so drawn to being engaged with my kids and trying so hard to justify sending them away for so long each day… finally I just gave in. I pulled them out of school and I don’t regret that choice for a second. I hope you find peace with your choice and know that you are very much not alone!

      If you can, find some other mamas who are thinking of the same thing and form a small group for support. Find one day every month to meet (like the second Tuesday or something…) and continue to develop and adjust as you go. My small group of 6 mamas has now been meeting for over 7 years and it has been my rock!

      Blessings to you! And best of luck!

      Val

      PS Joyce – Why do all the comments get posted the week I go camping? lol! Thank you for picking up my slack, friend!

  3. My favorite pro & con Such truth in every word! ~ You will be there for every sounded-out word, cursive curlicue, and every algebra problem. Yup, this one is covered under both ‘pro’ and ‘con’. Because the truth is, sometimes listening to a child sound out the same word for the fourth time on one page is as grating as nails on chalkboard.

  4. Beautifully written Val! Makes me long for the days when I had my kids at home! There is a special bond that forms when you spend your time teaching and being with your children when they are in their formative years. My children are my very favorite people too! and always will be… they are now 26,24 and 16!