Is homeschooling right for my family?

If you’re reading this article, the thought of educating your child(ren) at home has probably crossed your mind and you are looking for information that could help you make a wise decision for your family.

Making decisions about your child’s education can be a stressful time in your parenting journey. You may look at the world around you and lay awake at night wondering how you could help prepare them for a future with many unknowns. Will a traditional school experience help them learn the skills they need to thrive? Will they have a solid foundation of values to guide them towards wise decisions?

However, it is also an exciting time where you and your child can look to a future full of possibilities and course your own path, a path as unique as your family.

It’s true that homeschooling is not the best option for all families, and it is important to think through your family’s needs before making the commitment.

Just remember that it is okay to change your mind. If something isn’t working for your family (anymore) you can always look for alternatives, so take a deep breath. Most decisions aren’t as permanent as we tend to think.

In this article we will look at a few questions and doubts you may be having as you entertain the exciting (or daunting) idea of educating your children at home.

Is it legal to homeschool my children?

While homeschooling has become much more popular in many parts of the world, there are still countries where formal school attendance is considered compulsory. If this is the case where you live, homeschooling might not be an option.

In most countries or states where homeschooling is permitted, there are still some regulations you need to abide by. It is important to do your homework and know what is expected of you as the parent, and make sure you can tick all the boxes.

If homeschooling isn’t an option for you, and you believe that traditional schooling isn’t working for your child, you can still get more involved in your child’s learning. If your child is struggling in a specific subject and the school can’t provide the support you need, try looking for a tutor on your own. You can also look at the plethora of homeschooling resources available online that you can work through with your child. This can help your child catch up where needed and grasp concepts they may have missed as the teacher ran through the topic in class. How ever you decide to go about it, you won’t regret spending more time with your child and getting more involved in their learning.

Can I change my mind later? Can my kids go back to school if I cannot homeschool them anymore?

As I mentioned before, homeschooling doesn’t need to be a permanent decision unless you want it to be. In most cases you can quite easily send your children back to school after homeschooling for a period. Many families choose to homeschool their children for a while, perhaps they’d like to set a strong foundation and decide to keep their children home during the early years, or to take a few months off to travel together as a family.

If you’re simply trying to keep your options open in this ever-changing world (who could blame you!?), get a good grasp of what your public school system teaches during a particular year or grade level. You might not need to do this for all subject areas but keep an eye on subjects like languages, mathematics and others that require them to build up skills level over time. This will help you feel more confident in your choice of curriculum for your children and understand what the school might look at when assessing your child’s grade level later.

What is the best age to start homeschooling?

You can start homeschooling your child at any age. It is never too early or too late to start!

For most people, the time to start homeschooling seems to be related to when they start to feel a discomfort with the status quo for public education and has very little to do with the age of the children.

If your children attended school for a while before you decided to homeschool, they would have likely picked up habits and behaviours from other children, teachers, and the system in which the school operates. Keep in mind that it will take time and patience to establish the new rhythms, habits, and relationships. Give it time. Don’t rush in too quickly. Build a good foundation first.  It might sound like a waste of time but if you’ve ever tried to jump a school-going child straight into a new homeschool routine and curriculum, you’ll know valuable this time is.

Is homeschooling better than public school?

Sending your children to school may seem like the simplest and cheapest way to tick the boxes of education for them but you may end up paying in other ways. Let’s think about what children are learning. The curriculum of a public school reflects the views of those in charge of setting the curriculum and may not align with the beliefs of your family. This can be very confusing, especially for young children.  

Also keep in mind that no matter how great the public schools are where you live, there are no school that that can match the benefits to your child of a tailored, one-on-one education from the person(s) that loves your child the most in this world.

Will your kids miss out on some things? Yes, they will be less exposed to peer pressure and bullying.  They will spend less time working on certain subjects that they have no interest in. They won’t sit in a classroom with 30 other kids for 6 hours a day. But, your kids will gain the opportunity to focus on subjects that interest them without being limited by what a school can offer. They will gain the opportunity to make friends with other children who share their passions for swimming or dancing or art. They will have the freedom to spend time every day playing, being creative and enjoying their childhoods. They can learn basic life skills like how to do laundry, prepare healthy food, take care of belongings, and contribute to the family from an early age.

Am I qualified to teach my children?

Since the day the doctor handed you that precious little bundle of joy your mission has been to help that child grow and learn the skills it needs to function in a society. From learning how to ask for food, to taking those first steps, to playing with other children. You’ve taught your children most of what they know about the world. So why is it that as soon as they turn 5 years old, we start believing that we are no longer qualified for this role?

Don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for nearly all the teachers I have met, and I believe they have a very challenging job. Teachers are expected to teach a set curriculum to large groups of children with various skills levels and learning styles within a set amount of time and deliver good test results. Each of these on its own is a major challenge and that is why it is so important to have well-trained teachers in schools. On the contrary, as a homeschooling parent you don’t need to cope with a classroom of children, you get to choose a curriculum and rhythm that works for your individual children, and you can progress at the pace your child learns. You can learn all you need to learn by reading books or listening to podcasts about homeschooling, doing some good research and becoming a student of your children.

Is homeschooling expensive?

Homeschooling can be as expensive (or not) as you can afford. There are so many curriculum options available online, and some are even free. In many countries, the government gives homeschoolers access to free curriculum and resources they can use and some even pay parents an annual fee or provide tax relief for each child being homeschooled.

Of course, we’d love to provide our children with all the latest and greatest learning resources and experiences but don’t feel the need to spend very much. All you really need is a computer (or tablet), access to the internet, a library card, and a passion for learning.

The true cost of homeschooling is, however, not the learning materials but the opportunity cost of having a parent home instead of working in a traditional job. To make this work, most families may need to lower their expenses to ensure they can live on one income, find a way to work part-time from home or build alternative sources of income. I get it, this seems like an impossible task and if you’re just about to give up hope on the whole idea of homeschooling on this point, I would encourage you to not simply throw the towel in. We used to be a two-income household and never thought this kind of life would be possible for us. Make it your mission to learn how to live on less. Cut out any spending that is not essential. I fully understand that this may not be enough in some cases, but you owe it to yourself and your children to try.

Is homeschooling better for my child’s mental health?

Homeschooling can have many benefits for your child from a mental health perspective, but below are the ones we’ve experienced first-hand in our home:

• Homeschooling allows families to spend much more time together and build strong relationships for life.
• Educating your child at home means you can provide a learning environment where a child feels safe to be themselves and their individual (and changing) needs can be catered to. Being in closer proximity to your children also helps you to pick up on things they might need help with.
• Children learn more effectively and with less frustration at home as a parent can meet them where they are, instead of having them deal with the stress of being pushed along before they are ready.
• Homeschooling typically takes up less time in a day allowing more time for a child to rest or develop a skill they are passionate about.

At the end of the day, homeschooling your children is a commitment and only you will know whether it is a commitment you can make. If you feel called to homeschool your children and nothing is really preventing it, it might be worth doing a trial run. Test it, try making some changes in your home and routine, and start somewhere. You will learn a lot along the way so don’t worry about having everything perfect from day one.

If you’re still wondering about how to help your homeschoolers make friends and ensure good socialization, check out the Homeschooling and Socialization article.

If you have questions not answered in this post, please feel free to leave them in the comment section and I will do my best to respond to them.