Why Is Home Schooling Your Children More Popular Than Ever?

Guest Post

As a parent you generally want what is best for your children, whether it be a happy childhood or financial security. And above all else you want them to have a good education right?

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There are plenty of options to consider and which one is best for your family really depends on a lot of different factors, but one option that has been gaining popularity in recent years is home schooling.

From 2007 to 2010 the estimated number of children
in the USA alone increased from 1,500,000 to 2 million!

So why is home schooling such a popular option? Well there are plenty of reasons but here are some of the most commonly cited reasons why parents want to home school:

  • The nearest school is too far away (especially for rural families)
  • You can give your children more one-on-one attention / tuition
  • Children have special needs not being catered for by state school
  • It allows parents to teach a curriculum based on the family’s religion
  • Parents generally dissatisfied with the quality of state schools

What Are The Upsides?

Obviously, home schooling your children takes a big commitment and it’s not something that every family can or should take on. But for those who do, it offers the opportunity for a rich education filled with one-on-one care and practical lessons.

If you have the means you can take your children on field trips once or twice a week where they can learn in a much more practical way than might otherwise be possible. You can also teach practical science lessons rather than having to focus almost entirely on theory.

Help From The Internet

One of the biggest downsides to home schooling is the isolation and the challenge as a parent of becoming a teacher. Thanks to the internet and word of mouth though, home schooling is becoming a much more accessible thing to do.

If you decide to become a home school parent you can find a wealth of information online, as well as forums where you can meet and talk to other home school parents for moral support and tips.

What Are The Downsides?

Of course there are downsides and every parent has worries about whether they are making the right decision. Unless you happen to be a qualified teacher, you may not feel like you can actually do a good job of teaching and you might not even know where to start when it comes to lesson planning.

Another downside is the level of commitment and the fact that as a home school parent you will probably not be able to pursue a career, which means accepting a big financial cost for some families.

Fortunately, with the right support and a lot of hard work, you can learn to be an effective teacher and home schooling can be an amazing way to spend more time with your children and really support them through their education.

About The Author
Written by James from www.uktutors.com. James works as a tutor in England, he also loves to travel and write about education related issues.

19 Comments

  1. It makes sense that homeschooling is more popular and I’m sure that the internet is a huge helpful tool in the process too.

  2. If you have the temperament and dedication to follow through it’s great. I’ve seen it used as a way to “dispose of ” special needs kids, when they become a problem for the school though, so there is both a good & bad side to the issue.

  3. So much goes on now in schools, so I wouldn’t mind homeschooling my children or at least enrolling them in private school (if I could afford it).

  4. If I had the choice of sending my kids to an under-performing school or home schooling, I’d pick home school in a heartbeat.

  5. What a huge jump! I’m not surprised though, with budget cuts left &right the quality is lowering in lots of schools.

  6. I could never homeschool, but I think it’s a great option.

  7. I wish I could afford to send my daughter to a Montessori school. But, at least if she’s “stuck” in a public school, I think we lucked out and got a pretty decent one, considering it’s a small, rural area in the middle of cornfield USA. Most of the teachers live within walking distance of the school, or in one of the surrounding villages in a 15-mile radius, so they are pretty well ensconced in the community. This makes a HUGE difference — they pretty much HAVE to care since parents are bound to bump into them at local events, the grocery store, church, etc. That’s some serious social accountability right there!

  8. I am homeschooling one of mine because he has very bad dyslexia, and after years of fighting with the school I realized there was never anything they were going to do to help him.

  9. I would definitely think dissatisfaction is one of them or possibly bullying. I think women who do this are strong.

  10. I was homeschooled! 🙂 It was great for me and my learning style, and — thanks to the way my parents schooled us (academically and socially) — I had no issues in a more mainstream education setting. College was a breeze!

  11. I’d love to homeschool my kids, but my husband isn’t on board with that idea.

  12. I know some who do this but I wonder how they avoid the school system and not having people come to your house. I admire people who can do it

  13. I think it’s great that homeschooling has become so widely accepted, it has opened so many doors for those that have homeschooled for years.

  14. It’s definitely interesting to me how many are turning to homeschool. I don’t think that I could do it, however we live in an area with fabulous schools and I’ve always been happy with my boy’s teachers.

  15. I don’t have the patience or skill to homeschool my kids! Those that do are awesome, it’s just not for me!

  16. I dont’ have the smarts to homeschool my kids, shoot I can barely help them with their homework as they are getting older. I wish I did because you can make your school schedule and take it with you on vacation or put it off til after vacation.

  17. I would absolutely love the opportunity to homeschool my children. However, I’m not exactly the patient type. I don’t think I’d be very good at it.

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