Home Schooling Disadvantages and Learn Home School Disadvantages Basics

Home Schooling Disadvantages and Learn Home School Disadvantages Basics

Article by Carol Currie

Home schooling has a growing number of supporters, but it would be unwise to ignore the many home school disadvantages, not just of the children but also for the parents.

Home schooling requires a lot of sacrifice on the part of the parents in physical, financial and emotional and social terms. Parents have to devote time to learning the matter they will be teaching, teach it, organize future schedules, arrange for field trips and other outside activities and then arrange for some social inter action for their children with their peers. That’s a full day job.

Another of the many home school disadvantages is the cost when the expense of all the inputs required for home schooling are weighed against that of sending a child to a public school. Additionally one parent may have given up a lucrative job to stay at home and this loss of income should be treated as an expense, especially for families that were used to a double income.

Home schooling means that parents are constantly with their children and have not time to themselves which can be emotionally demanding and may cause emotional traumas in the family.

Another of the many home school disadvantages is that parents’ social circles are often made up of their children’s’ friends parents. Home school parents are cut off from this and, especially if there are no support groups available, get trapped into an inward looking lifestyle.

There are many home school disadvantages for the children, the chief among them being limited or no opportunities to develop social skills. Home schooled children are often awkward in social situations and have limited opportunities for making friends. Even when the opportunities come their way, they often have little in common with the majority of children who attend regular schools and so have nothing to talk about or activities they can indulge in together. Many communities have home school support groups but these are artificial social units and the children associate only with families with the same values and beliefs. They are deprived of the opportunity to meet with children of varied backgrounds and beliefs. While such interactions may sometimes be painful and lead to arguments and fights, it is an essential part of the growing up process that enables a child to be able to function in a varied and culturally complex society.

One of the home school disadvantages that many home schooling parents also recognize is that their children cannot take part in extra curricular activities and sports. Things like debating, dramatics, camping, school excursions and sports are important to developing a child’s character and self confidence.

Sports are not just about physical exercise but about understanding and working with a team. Home school parents often feel that their family is a team and if their children can work with this team they are fine. What they overlook is that the family is a team with strong emotional bonds. What the children are being deprived of is the ability to learn how to function in a team where people will have different priorities, attitudes and goals.

Home school disadvantages for children are not in the quality of the education they receive, but in their social development and ability to function effectively in a complex society.

About the Author

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