Advantages And Disadvantages Of Home Education For Children

Introduction

The importance of education to your children can never be stressed enough. It is now universally agreed that education is the most important tool that the parents can provide their kids, so as to be successful in life. It is the knowledge that a child gains from learning something new each day that readies him or her for the future challenges in life. Typically there are two types of education settings identified in our system. They are the formal and the informal settings. The formal setting is one where you send your children to a public or private school either five or six times in a week. The informal system is called home education, where the children are taught by either the parents or a home tutor.

History

Home education or home schooling was the prevalent system of learning for children in earlier times, when there was no well defined system of formal education available. However, after a lean period, the informal system is again gaining popularity, especially in hectic lifestyles in developed countries. There can be many motivations for parents towards choosing such a setting for their children. It also has to do with their parenting style. For home schooling, there exists well defined curriculum in most countries, which acts as a guideline for the parents and the tutors to follow.

Features

The advantages of home education of your children are many. Many parents feel that the current school curriculum is outdated. For them this option is good as they can design their own curriculum by following the guidelines set by the government and provide their kids the education they feel is more suitable for them. Also the environment of public schools might not conform with the values the parents want to impart to their kids. The time that is wasted in public schools, be it the travel to and from the school or unnecessary activities in the curriculum can also be eliminated by teaching your kids at home. Home education also provides complete control over the schedule, which might suit to the parents working at odd hours and cannot take care of the children in normal schooling hours. There are religious and cultural reasons attached to this option as well. Parents believe that children learn better moral values and stay protected and closer to their culture if home schooled. The best advantage in learning at home is that your kids get the undivided attention of the teacher, which is not possible in the classroom of 30-40 children.

However, there are some severe drawbacks associated with home education too. The chief being the lack of socializing that the children might experience. Going to a formal school does help the children in making friends and being social. Also the implementation of curriculum is easier said than done. Most parent lack the training to of that of formal teachers to educate their kids. Also the responsibility on parents will be much more if the child is being home educated. The parents have to be a sort of all rounder to be able to provide their kids with a wholesome learning.

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