Home Schooling and Young Children

By Marion Jones

In the last decade, home schooling has become extremely popular especially with middle and upper-middle class families. There have been many arguments before about home schooling. Teachers say that there are advantages as well as disadvantages in home schooling but it appears that the former outweigh the latter and so, a lot of families are now choosing home schooling over the traditional schools.

Cultures vary and somehow the relations within the family are affected too. In some cultures, family ties are quite strong, but there are also those who don't have very good relationships with other family members. However, through home schooling, family ties and relationships can be enhanced. Parents will spend more time with their children because of the home schooling program and the children will have to listen to their parents too. Communication is much improved and both parties have to learn about the importance of speaking and listening.

Many families opt for home schooling because of its flexibility. However, since the cost of home education is a bit more than traditional schools, the financial situation of the household is very important. However, even without thinking about the financial factor, many parents will still opt for home schooling, because it can ensure their kids' safety. Public schools often have dangerous situations that can affect kids enormously, but if they are in a home schooling program, they can stay away from these predicaments and their parents will be there to guide them.

Instead of placing the kids at a public school, many parents would prefer home schooling because the learning environment in public schools is not that good. In public schools, very young pupils may experience difficulties that can affect them socially, mentally, and academically for a long time. Experts who have conducted studies, claim that children learn better in a good environment surrounded by loved ones. Another advantage of home schooling is that children can learn according to their capacity. You can't just give a new lesson, if the previous one hasn't been learned yet. It may take longer, but the results are better.

As mentioned earlier, home schooling is a bit more expensive. If you think that you might be able to reduce the educational expenses of your child, you're wrong. Home schooling expenses are almost the same as those of traditional schools. However, if you participate in the forums of the parents of home-schoolers, you will discover that there are ways to reduce costs. Of course, you will need to spend on the resource materials, computer, and internet, but you can also use outside resources like cultural events, public libraries and many others.

You will get even more cost-cutting notions, if you get in touch with other parents. The Internet provides endless possibilities and with a bit of research and homework, you can definitely come up with a way to ease the costs. If you don't want to hire tutors, then you will have to learn the lessons too. You have already learned the various subjects in your kids' educational program, so you only need to review them. You can get further learning material online or the bookshop and later on, teach your kids.

Therefore, it is plain to see, that home schooling is by far the best option, especially if your child is still rather young. It all depends on you and your child, whether they continue this form of education until they graduate for college. - 30224

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