Is Home Schooling a Good Idea?

Making the decision to homeschool your kids isn't easy -- there are both pros and cons to homeschooling.

As a parent, you are the biggest determining factor when it comes to the success of homeschooling a child. Your courage and commitment will ultimately determine how your child will come out of it. This is why it's a decision that you should not just make without doing the necessary research first.

Remember, there are both pros and cons to homeschooling your child, as there are also advantages and disadvantages to sending children to conventional schools.

What's important is that you do your research and compare both types of educational methods:

Negatives of Homeschooling:

Lack of socialization - It's very easy for children to feel isolated because they're learning on their own. Although it is possible to supplement by encouraging your child to socialize occasionally, the experience is still very different from going to a conventional school.
Financially burdensome - Because one parent has to stay at home to homeschool the child, only one can work, which significantly cripples the potential household income of the family.
Total responsibility for your child's education - You, the parents, will be the one fully responsible for your child's education. No one else can be blamed if your child lags behind other children his or her age.
The possibility of indoctrination - With only their parents (and books) their source of education, it's very easy for children to be indoctrinated and be lead to believe certain things. Whether this is done out of malice or not is not the point, but more of how easy it is for parents to fall into a power trap and ultimately convince themselves that they're doing the right thing by fully deciding themselves what their child is allowed to learn.
Team sports will be difficult - It will be near impossible for children to play in team sports because they're not used to working in a team setting.

Positives of Homeschooling:

Free of peer pressure - Because children can go on to choose friends that only suit them, they'll mostly only have positive influences throughout their life and are less likely to fall into the trappings of peer pressure that many conventional students face on a daily basis.
Tailor-made education - Children are not forced to learn things that they don't like and won't use in the future. Parents can plan out their educational curriculum so that it meets the legal requirements to receive the necessary certifications and graduate while also only adding subjects that a child is only interested in learning.
Flexible schedules - It's no secret that waking up early is not the best for a child's health and yet, many schools continue to follow this practice. At home, parents can decide when classes start, and adjust it accordingly depending on their schedule for the day.
Extended curriculum - In the case of an exceptionally bright child, parents can choose to teach children certain subject matters in advance as opposed to sticking to the school-mandated curriculum that may only serve to impede the development of the child.

Choosing where you want your child to go to school is an intimidating decision as it is already. Deciding whether to homeschool your child or not is even more intimidating, especially because you're fully responsible for your child's education and how he or she gets it if you choose to homeschool your child. This means that the knowledge that they'll be using for the rest of their lives will be solely dependent on what you teach them.

If nothing else, you can always get your child a fake high school diploma as a means of encouragement and to make him or her feel no different from kids going to a conventional school.