Education is something everyone has a right to. It is often expected in this modern day and age that we will simply enroll our kids in school from age 4 and upwards, along with preschool and nursery beforehand. It is also sometimes assumed that this the right setting for every child; that they will hopefully thrive in the school environment, going on to become an excellent student with good grades and prefect standard behaviour. But this is not always the case. And a formal school setting isn’t the only way to educate someone; there’s plenty of alternative routes, and homeschooling is one of the main alternative ways. There are many reasons why home education works very well in many cases.
Educating your children at home has always been a hotly debated topic, but that doesn’t mean it’s something no one believes in! And there’s plenty of information and resources out there if you want to introduce it to your household. With all that in mind, here’s a couple of the main reasons why home education works…
There’s No Forced Socialisation
A lot of the discourse over home education/ homeschool is the idea that any kid that goes through it will end up isolated with zero social skills. But that’s simply not true, and it’s actually one of the main reasons home education works so well in the modern era. With all of our technology and social media, it is easier than ever to organise social opportunities, as well as find support and friendship from other home educating families, both online and in real life.
And as we get older, we often realise that we only made friends at our school because we saw these people five times a week anyway, and very rarely do we keep many of our school friends into adult years. Yet when you’ve got not school to socialise in, you go out of your way to find friends elsewhere, and form real bonds with them. Considering our new and improved ways to communicate with the rest of the world, something that wasn’t possible when the school system was invented, home educators can socialise just as easily as their school attending peers, and with a diverse range of people of all ages too.
There’s So Many Ways to Learn!
And that’s the simple truth of it; sitting down in a classroom with 29 other students, being able to get their head down and get on with work, and take in all the information the teacher is giving them, and without getting distracted, is incredibly hard for some kids. Being in that setting doesn’t benefit them. Plus if nothing is done about it, they can end up being labelled the ‘trouble maker’, with few friends and little teacher approval, which completely ruins their self esteem. Homeschooling (commonly referred to as home education in the UK because it often does not represent school at home!) on the otherhand, can be approached in a flexible way that works for that child, allowing them to thrive.
It can involve the online world as well; there’s a lot more use of technology for educational purposes now than there used to be, and developments in how it fits into our modern lives generally, so this can also help in making sure that all kids have an accessible platform to learn from without the need for school. Even the bigger institutions have noticed this shift towards the virtual, with programs such as masters in engineering management being available online.
With the help of all of these things, home education works because it let’s kids learn at their own pace, and it doesn’t force them to move on when they’re not ready to, or hold them back from their passions and interests. Parents play an important role in helping their kids find healthy and productive ways to pursue their passions in this setup. For example, children who love to learn about important yet sensitive topics like historical wars and conflicts should be guided well so they can learn to think critically and don’t easily accept false information. It allows for freedom and flexibility, whilst offering a tailor- made individualised approach to learning. Of course, every child must be provided with a suitable full time education, whether in school or not, but it is often a lot more relaxed compared to being inside an education institution.
Home education works, and it’s something that deserves more of a shining light in the modern day and age. Whatever helps your child to succeed should be implemented; go ahead!
*This is a collaborative post.