Why do people choose homeschooling?
When it comes to all of the different schooling options out there, parents have a lot to choose from. There are public schools, private schools, online public and private schools, and there are homeschooling options. What will work for you and your family may differ from what works for another family, but there are plenty of reasons parents choose homeschooling.
Parents' Reasons for Homeschooling
Let's take a closer look at some of the most popular reasons parents choose to homeschool their children..
Concern With the School Environment
In many cases, parents choose to homeschool their children because they're concerned with the local school environment. They might be concerned with aspects of the school's social climate, such as bullying, violence, or the presence of prohibited substances on campus/throughout the student body.
Dissatisfaction with Academic Instruction
Many parents are dissatisfied with the quality of academic instruction in their local public schools, or they're unhappy with the subject matter or how it's being taught. Homeschooling gives parents more opportunity to control the quality and subject matter of academic instruction for their children.
Support for Learning Disabilities or Individual Learning Styles
Children who have learning disabilities, physical disabilities, or other very specific learning styles sometimes struggle in traditional schools. Homeschooling enables parents to tailor their instruction to their child's particular needs to help them thrive. They can use specialized curriculums or they can design lessons to specifically meet learning styles like visual, auditory, or tactile.
Maintaining a Consistent Education Through Unpredictable Schedules
Some families travel a lot for the military; others find that they need to relocate in the middle of the school year. Some students are athletes with a demanding training schedule, but they still need to finish their studies.
Homeschooling allows parents to maintain a consistent education for their students through all these changes and relocations.
What are the benefits of homeschooling?
Many of the benefits of homeschooling mirror the reasons parents choose to homeschool their children.
Control Over the School Environment
For parents who have concerns about their student's learning environment, homeschooling can help them make sure that they're building a positive space for their children to do their schooling. Homeschooling removes the threat of bullying, and parents are able to coordinate positive social experiences for their children.
Homeschooling also helps students avoid other forms of societal or peer pressure and focus entirely on their academics.
Control Over the Curriculum
For parents dissatisfied with the academic instruction at their local schools, homeschooling allows them to tailor the curriculum to their own standards and needs. For some parents, this is a matter of quality, and with homeschooling, they're able to offer higher-quality instruction to their children.
In other cases, parents can have more control over what's included in the curriculum. They can include more classes their children are really interested in, allowing them to explore their interests from an early age. Or they may choose to include instruction that aligns with their religion or moral values if that's an important tenet of the family.
If parents have a child with special learning needs, they can tailor the curriculum to help support their learning style and make sure they thrive.
As long as parents work within state-approved curriculums or other state regulations, they have a wide breadth of freedom to be creative and choose a curriculum best suited to their students. Keystone's programs, for example, are accredited and offer strong curriculums that can guide students all the way from kindergarten through high school graduation.
Flexible Schedules, Accessible Everywhere
For parents who juggle moving frequently for the military or for another professional obligation, or who have children who are committed to a sport or another activity that takes up a lot of time, the flexibility of homeschooling is a huge benefit.
The flexibility of creating your own schedules and accessing your education plan from anywhere allows families to maintain a consistent education for their children, even through a move or through a period of intense athletic training for their student–athlete.
Is homeschooling right for you and your student?
Parents choose to homeschool for many reasons and there are many benefits. However, homeschooling is still a personal decision for you and your family.
If you're considering homeschooling your children, ask yourself some of the following questions:
Why do you want to homeschool your children?
Does your child want to be homeschooled?
Do you have the time and resources to homeschool your child?
Do you have a place where you can set up a suitable environment for at-home learning?
Do you have a support network in place if you need to ask for help?
Do you have a back-up plan?
Can you help provide the positive social experiences your child needs outside of school?
Do you plan to homeschool in the long term or the short term?
Your answers to these questions can help you figure out if homeschooling is right for you and where to start.
Get Started Homeschooling With Keystone
Keystone offers accredited programs that can help you start homeschooling today. Our programs provide a strong curriculum with guidance and instruction from certified teachers. Get in touch with any questions or check out a course demo today.
Request Information
Thank you for your interest in The Keystone School!
One of our enrollment consultants will contact you soon. In the meantime, please feel free to explore our website!
