Should I Homeschool My Child?

Should I Homeschool My Kids? Blog, Video, and Podcast Episode at www.HomeSchoolThinkTank.com

Have you been asking yourself, “Should I homeschool my kids?” If so, you aren’t alone. Parents around the globe have been asking themselves this question.

The coronavirus pandemic has put homeschooling on the map. As a result, more parents than ever are considering homeschooling as a viable option. As children enter their school years and as many families are unhappy with the public education system, this questions is top of mind for many parents.

Should I homeschool my child, send him to private school, or enroll him in public school?
What’s the right decision for my family?
I’m a single parent, is homeschooling an option for me?
My child has special educational needs, how can we homeschool?
I have a full-time job, I’m not sure if I have time to be a homeschooling parent.
I’m so tired of dealing with the school system, there has to be a better way!

If you’ve been thinking about homeschooling your children, then you’ll want to keep reading this article, watch the video below, and listen to the podcast episode.

Questions to Ask Yourself if You are Considering Homeschooling Your Children

As you ponder homeschooling your kids, here’s a list of important questions you might want to ask yourself. These questions come from the book THINK HOMESCHOOL: Live & Learn Your Way.

How much family time do you want? How do you see your family spending that time?
What level of education do you want for your children?
Does your child’s school provide the education you desire?
How do you think your child learns best?
Would your child benefit from education you could provide through homeschooling that is not offered through the school system?
Are your children learning things at school that you would prefer they didn’t learn?
Is your child mentally healthy?
How can you help your children develop a good work ethic?
Do your children have good relationships with family and friends?
How can you raise your children to care about themselves, their family, and community?
Do your children need flexibility in scheduling to pursue activities they are passionate about?
Is your child active and physically fit?
How do you think your schedule would look if your children homeschooled?
Is your child happy?

This might be a good time to pause and jot down your answers to these questions. By thinking through each of these questions, you’ll begin figuring out if homeschooling is a good idea for your family.

Learn More About THINK HOMESCHOOL!

Educational Options

Your children’s education isn’t something to take lightly. Deciding how to educate your children is an important decision. The good news is there are many educational options and many styles of homeschooling, a variety of homeschool curriculum, online programs, and real world opportunities for your children to learn from.

School Options

While children have traditionally attended public school in person, most states now offer virtual public school options. With so many school closures since the COVID Pandemic began, many local school districts have turned to remote learning.

When you consider the 2015 CREDO (Center for Research on Education Outcomes) study of online public charter schools, this is concerning.

When Education Weekly summarized the 2015 CREDO Online Charter School Study, their words were impactful.

“The results are, in a word, sobering. The CREDO study found that over the course of a school year, the students in virtual charters learned the equivalent of 180 fewer days in math and 72 fewer days in reading than their peers in traditional charter schools, on average.
This is stark evidence that most online charters have a negative impact on students’ academic achievement. The results are particularly significant because of the reach and scope of online charters: They currently enroll some 200,000 children in 200 schools operating across 26 states. If virtual charters were grouped together and ranked as a single school district, it would be the ninth-largest in the country and among the worst-performing.”
Education Weekly. This article was also reprinted by the Walton Family Foundation.

Take note that a school year comprises of 180 school days in some states. In essence, the student’s in the virtual charter schools could have simply skipped math altogether.

Younger children, special needs children, and quite frankly, even high schoolers, and teachers can have a difficult time staying focused with virtual school all day long!

Not only have public schools had to pivot between in person and distance learning over the past year, but private schools and charter schools have also had to modify their method of delivering education from traditional education at a school building to online learning. Their options have not been very different from public schools. Academic progress has been difficult for the educational system to sustain through the pandemic.

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Homeschooling Options

Now let’s talk about homeschooling. From the pandemic to religious beliefs, or your own educational philosophy, there are a variety of reasons that parents choose to homeschool their children. Whether you have a young child or older children, there are many good things about homeschooling. It’s quite possible that you can do a better job guiding your child’s education than your local school district. If you’re not so sure about this, then you might want to check out this article about how schools are dumbing down children.

One of the benefits of homeschooling is that you can consider your child’s learning style. For example, math lessons could be taught through traditional curriculum. However, if that’s not much fun, then you could teach math through games at the kitchen table.

At HomeSchool ThinkTank, we think that one of the best ways to help kids learn is through games, field trips, social interaction, and real world experiences. However, there are many styles of homeschooling. Regardless of how you approach homeschooling, your children can receive a good education.

Fun Math Games For Homeschooled Kids - Really For All Kids... Blog, Video, Podcast

Homeschool Schedules

In some states, the legal requirement is that homeschooled students match their school day and homeschool year with the traditional school calendar. However, in many places, homeschooled children can school year-round or create their own calendar. This can be the best option if you want to help your children avoid the summer slide that happens with a traditional long summer break.

Learn more about the homeschool requirements where you live here.