I have made a post about the Pros/ positives of homeschooling.  Now, for its cons.  There is no guarantee that homeschooled kids turn out to be perfect kids since they are very much sheltered in their homes and are under their parents’ eyes almost 24 hours.  In fact, homeschooling is not a solution to your child’s misbehavior.

For those who are contemplating of homeschooling their kids, it would be good to also consider its negative aspects:

1.  Financial Restraints. With our growing cost of living, it would be very normal to see both parents trying to earn a living these days.  When you decide to homeschool your child, it could mean that one of the parents have to give up work and focus on teaching the kid/s instead.  It could mean that with only one parent working, the income drops.  It is a risk the family has to take.

However, I know of some homeschooling parents who also pool their resources together.  They form a group and ask those stay-at-home moms to take turns in supervising the kids.  Those who need to work will just pay a substantial amount to their friends who take care of the homeschooling.  Now this is a brilliant idea because then, you entrust your kids to people you know.

In our case, we actually have one lady who takes care of the homeschooling and we just pay her.  This is because regular school is unbelievably expensive here in Thailand and homeschooling is the only way to “send” kids to school– unless we enroll them in Thai schools where the only medium of instruction is Thai.

2.  Time Restraints.  It could be very draining on the part of the parent  who is teaching the kid/s.  Although homeschooling sounds easy, it is actually not.  Imagine having to creatively do some extra-curricular activities in order to supplement the lessons?  That could be draining and definitely a full time work on the parent.

3.  Limited Team Sports, Less Social Life.  Whether you like it or not, your homeschooled kids could miss out the fun of playing in a team like the ones in regular schools.  Your kids could miss out on essay writing, dance , singing competitions that you used to enjoy as a kid.

We are actually working on this right now.  We are planning to have the kids sit in at a local school so that they can also enjoy other friends aside from the kids that they are learning with.  Aside from that, we also like them to learn Thai language since we see ourselves working in this foreign country long term.  Of course, we still have to continue homeschooling them.  Their Thai school will just be  part of their time so they can also bond with local kids.

There are also other ways to improve your homeschoolers’ social life.  Enroll them in a ballet or karate class.  Find clubs.  Some parents talk with principals in schools and enroll their kids part time so they can enjoy the Physical education or art classes.

If you are planning to homeschool, there is no other way to do it than to be creative in order to have well-rounded and socially healthy kids.

Homeschooling used to be unthinkable at least two decades ago.  Why would parents teach their kids at home when public schools are for free, or even private schools are not that expensive at all?  Why should kids be deprived of healthy social lives or enjoy the competition in a regular school?

Interestingly, that has all changed now.  In fact, studies show that at present,  the rate of parents homeschooling their kids has grown from 7 to 15%.  There must be good reasons for this shift.

Based on this article, here are some pros or advantages of homeschooling :

1.  Educational Freedom-  Kids can study a subject for as long as they want.  They don’t have to be pressured to cope with other kids’ pace.  On top of that, parents can always arrange field trips related to the subject they are studying.  As a child, I have always had difficulty with Maths.  What I find so discouraging is that I still have a hard time understanding something and just before my questions are answered, we had to move on to another lesson.  It was frustrating not to be able to cope with the rest of the class.  This issue can be looked into in homeschooling.  Kids cannot proceed to another level if he or she has not understood the lesson well.

Having a hard time? Roi doing his Maths

Roi enjoying a book!

2.  Physical Freedom-  This especially works for mobile families like ours.  Our work demands that we have to be out of town for conferences and trainings, and we don’t have anyone to look after the kids.  We can schedule our holidays and breaks and don’t have to be tied down to a one school year with a calendar.  Not that schedules are not important to us.  It’s just that we could plan our own and it makes such a huge difference.

3.  Emotional Freedom-  Let’s face it, bullying is one of the greatest problems in schools today.  It’s sad how kids have to be someone else or at least pretend to be someone else just to be accepted.  Homeschooled kids are free from this kind of pressure although it is still best to prepare them for this, because sooner or later they will still encounter this same problem later in life.

4. Religious Freedom-  In homeschooling, parents can incorporate their religious beliefs with the lessons.  It is just unfortunate that in the name of religious freedom, prayers in schools have to be abolished in the public schools in some countries.  This is probably one of the main reasons why more and more parents have decided to shield their kids from these ideologies taught in schools.  At least if parents teach their own kids, they can be sure what kind of stuff their kids listen to.

5.  Well- Rested Kids-  I can really attest to this.  My kids are well-rested and more relaxed with homeschooling.  They don’t have to study more hours after school hours as there are no assignments done after class.  The dilemma of parents these days is that kids still have to answer tons of homework in the house they don’t get enough sleep, and many of these kids become so stressed out very early in life.

Sharing with you our homeschoolers’ project called “Fun Farm”.  They recycled cans, tissue paper cartons and boxes for this one.  They genuinely showcased how kids could be so creative!

These artworks are displayed in our learning center.

A well, a goat, and the farmer with a shovel fork

The happy farmer with his wife!

The colorful barn

The barn, the windmill, the farmer and his horse

The chicken and the dog

The farmer and his horses

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