Today we’re going to talk about all of the things that are good and bad about homeschooling. I’ve been homeschooling for several years now, and I’m going to be completely honest with you about the things I love about homeschooling, and the things about it that aren’t so great. Even the things that sometimes make me question if we should keep doing this! Read on for my list of the homeschool pros and cons you should definitely know about!
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Homeschool Pros and Cons – The Pros First
First we’ll start with the things that are good about homeschool and homeschooling. There are a lot of things that I really do love about homeschooling, but here are the 5 things that really jump out at me when I think about the pros of homeschooling.
Homeschool Pro #1
Number one on the list of homeschooling pros is more time with my kids. This is one of the main reasons I decided to homeschool in the first place. Time just seemed to be going by so fast and I couldn’t imagine sending my first daughter off to preschool when she was old enough. So we never did that. And at some point I starting thinking about whether or not she needed to go to any school at all. And that’s how we ended up deciding to homeschool her.
What really solidified it was the year when my daughter would have been able to start kindergarten was when I became pregnant with her baby brother and sister. And they were due in November of that year, and I thought having that bonding time with her new brother and sister, especially when she had been an only child for five years, I just thought that was more important at the time.
But I really love that we get to spend all this extra time together that we wouldn’t have been able to do if we didn’t homeschool. We’re making a lot of memories that wouldn’t have been possible if the kids were in school, and I really cherish that time. So that’s the first thing I really love about homeschooling.
Homeschool Pros and Cons – Individuality
Another thing I love about homeschooling is being able to tailor things to my child’s individual needs. I’ve said we lean more towards unschooling, and if you’re interested in that you can read more about it here, but it’s really about allowing your child to kind of take the lead and direct their own learning.
My daughter really loves learning about animals, so we can incorporate that into all sorts of learning. She goes to some nature classes during the week, and we read books about animals, and that helps with reading too. So you can really make it an individual experience. If you’re choosing curriculums, you can take into account how your children learn best. You can do online school, or buy workbooks and more traditional teaching materials. The choice is yours.
Having a Free Schedule
The third positive thing about homeschooling is having our schedule free during the week. When thinking about homeschool pros and cons, this is definitely one of the pros most homeschool parents can agree on!
We don’t have to get up at any special time in the morning. We can take day trips whenever we want to. And we don’t have to worry about the kids getting to bed early because it’s a “school night.”
There’s really a lot of freedom there by not being tied to a public school calendar. And having those days free during the week means you get to go to a lot of places when other kids are in school. That means there are less crowds, which is a nice benefit.
Homeschool Pros and Cons – Safety
A sort of obvious thing that is the reason that a lot of people choose to homeschool is because of safety. You don’t have to worry about what might be happening to your kids like you would if they were in school all day. Unfortunately, school tragedies have become a part of life in the United States, and it’s a reason that many people decide to homeschool their children. There’s also safety from bullying, which is all too common in schools. So you just feel better able to protect your kids from those kinds of things, and that’s certainly a benefit.
Fewer Illnesses
When you homeschool, your kids aren’t going to a building every day with a bunch of other kids. Anyone with kids in school will tell you how many times the whole family gets sick throughout the year. Right now there’s a really nasty bug going around, but the only reason I know about it is because my friends kids have it. When you homeschool, you get the benefit of dealing with a lot less sickness.
This is not to say we escape it entirely. Especially in the winter months, there are still plenty of places to pick up viruses and germs. And when my kids were in gymnastics last year, all that touching of equipment meant my kids were sick often. But overall, it’s a lot less than you’ll hear your friends with kids in school talking about. That’s a big pro of homeschooling, especially for immunocompromised individuals.
More Time to Be a Kid
The last thing that is definitely a good thing about homeschool is that your kids have more time to enjoy their childhood. Homeschooling, even if you choose to follow a full curriculum, just doesn’t take up the same amount of time that traditional school does. And this is mostly because of the individual attention, and the fact that public school tends to cater to the middle student. So kids that are struggling are often left behind, while kids that are ahead end up getting bored.
With homeschool you can go at whatever speed you need to. If your child grasps a concept quickly you can move on. If they’re having more trouble in another area, you can spend more time on that. But all in all, it takes up a lot less of the day or week than traditional school. And that gives your kids lots more time to play, explore their interests and just be kids. And I just feel like that’s a really wonderful gift that you can give to your children if you choose to homeschool.
Homeschool Pros and Cons – The Cons
Ok, so we’ve talked about the pros of homeschool, but now let’s talk about what’s not so great about it. Here are the five things that I don’t really like about homeschooling.
Homeschool Con #1
Ok, so the first thing that is kind of a negative about homeschool is the cost. While there are certainly ways to do homeschooling cheaply, for me personally, I’ve found it to be expensive. We don’t live in an area with free online public school, so that’s one thing. And while there are plenty of free curriculums, like most things in life, the free ones aren’t always the best ones. My daughter does NOT like doing school online, so we have to have a lot of paper materials. And even if we print free materials, there’s still the cost of ink.
But that’s not even the real issue. It’s the field trips and extra classes. As a homeschool parent, one of the biggest if not the biggest thing you worry about is making sure your child gets to socialize with other kids. And that often means sending them to homeschool classes or other activities. Unfortunately that is not cheap.
My daughter is in a once a week full day nature class that costs $70 a class, then she has another one that’s just an hour a week and that’s about $80 per 5 week session, and she also has dance and gymnastics. We also try to get out and do a field trip/day trip sort of thing once a week or at least every other week. So this stuff all ads up. And you can certainly save money on it if you get creative. But for me personally, it has been expensive.
Homeschool Pros and Cons – Socialization
The second thing that’s not so good about homeschooling is the socialization thing. We hear about this all the time as homeschool families. And as much as we try to act like we’re not worried about it, it’s a huge thing. And I’m not saying I particularly agree with the type of socialization that happens in schools, because I don’t. That’s part of why I homeschool. But we have to admit that at least it’s some type of socialization with other kids.
So as a homeschool family, you have to put in work to make sure your kids are getting enough socialization. And depending on where you live, it might not be that easy. You may have to drive pretty far to meet up with other homeschool families. There’s a lot of driving around in general with homeschooling. So instead of just sending your kids off to school and knowing they’re having the opportunity to make friends and get to know other kids, with homeschooling you have to actually seek out those opportunities. And that can be difficult. So it’s definitely one of the homeschooling cons that you have to consider.
It does get easier over time as you find your routine. At this point we have to limit the activities because there are so many. Opportunities for homeschoolers are just popping up everywhere we look! So it’s definitely not as much of a con for me as it was a few years ago! Once your kids make a few close friends that they can see regularly, you’ll feel so much better about it.
Screen Time
The third thing that I don’t like so much about homeschooling is the screen time. Because we aren’t going somewhere every single day, and homeschooling does not take up the entire day, so the kids have a lot of free time.
I still have things that I need to get done around the house. And as much as I try to make sure the kids are doing activities without screens and getting outside, there are days where they end up getting a lot more screen time than I’m comfortable with them having. And I feel like that wouldn’t happen as much if they were in school. So it’s another thing I have to actively make sure that I keep on top of.
Homeschool Pros and Cons – Isolation
Another drawback or con of homeschooling is that you can end up feeling kind of isolated as a mom, or as a parent, and you don’t really get any breaks. Most parents who homeschool are either full time stay at home parents or work at home parents. And that can be very isolating because most of the people that you know, your friends and family, probably are not homeschooling. So it can be hard to connect with other parents because so much conversation between parents revolves around what their kids are doing in school. So you end up feeling kind of left out of the conversation.
Or you’ll hear stay at home moms talking about going to the gym or getting their hair and nails done while their kids are at school. Even meeting up with each other for coffee or lunch – and you don’t get to be a part of that. So you’re kind of in that perpetual state of a stay at home mom with small children, but just year after year. And it can take a toll on your mental health if you aren’t careful.
Now I’m not saying I would trade having my kids at home with me for anything, but sometimes I do envy the moms who stay home but their kids go to school. Right now my youngest, they’re twins, are 4 years old. So they don’t have homeschool activities for kids that age where I could send them for a few hours like I can with my older daughter. And we’ll get there. But then I think about the cost. It’s expensive for one, I can’t imagine paying for all 3. So I’m not sure what that’s going to look like in another year or two.
Responsibility for You Child’s Education
And lastly, probably the biggest drawback of homeschooling, in my opinion, is the responsibility for your child’s education. And while I personally don’t believe that the quality of education that my kids could get in public school is that great, at least I’d know they were getting the same education as their peers. With homeschooling you question yourself ALL THE TIME. It can be so hard not to worry that you’re doing it right, even after all you read and learn about the benefits of a homeschool education.
Even when you see that yes, your child learned to read, do math, and all this other stuff, and you think yes, it works, I can teach my kids at home. Even then, you’re never going to stop questioning if you’re doing the right thing. And maybe public school parents feel this way too, I don’t know because my kids have never been to school. But we worry enough as parents about whether we’re doing the right things for our kids, and when you homeschool there is just a lot more of that worry that never goes away.
So that’s my list, the top homeschool pros and cons from a homeschool mom. I hope I didn’t discourage anyone from homeschooling, because I do really love it and ultimately I believe it’s the best decision for my children. What is one thing that you love about homeschool, or one thing that you love about public school? Let me know in the comments!
