Pro’s and Con’s to Homeschooling

 Let me start by saying I am not an expert and that I actually began this research with some level of fear. What I found blew my mind. I stood in awe of how little accurate data there was available while the data I present is to the best of my knowledge accurate, there is still much to be desired including the fact that many homeschoolers don’t test in any way this is neither a pro or a con it’s simply a fact and to present data I need to be honest in informing you that this data is gathered by a variety of different sources. Finding statistics is hard. And I am not a professional. These are simply my findings as I did research and the pro’s and con’s that I have found after asking both Homeschoolers and Public schoolers.                                           

Advantages:

1. Statistics. Numbers can do a lot of talking so lets start there and see what they say. According to nheri.org The Home-educated student typically scores between 15-30 percentile points above public school levels. 

• The home-educated typically score 15 to 30 percentile points above public-school students on standardized academic achievement tests. (The public school average is the 50th percentile; scores range from 1 to 99.) 
• Homeschool students score above average on achievement tests regardless of their parents’ level of formal education or their family’s household income.

• Whether homeschool parents were ever certified teachers is not related to their children’s academic achievement.

• Degree of state control and regulation of homeschooling is not related to academic achievement.

• Home-educated students typically score above average on the SAT and ACT tests that colleges consider for admissions.

• Homeschool students are increasingly being actively recruited by colleges.

nheri.org

SAT scores

Researcher Clive Belfield analyzed data from the 2001 SAT, comparing homeschooled SAT takers to other groups of SAT takers. Belfield found that the average score for all homeschooled students was 1093.1, 80.5 points higher than the public school average, 37.5 points higher than the private religious school average, and 30.7 points lower than the private independent school average. When Belfield corrected for background factors like parental income and education, he found that homeschooled students scored 38.6 points better than predicted. This difference was located entirely in the verbal section of the SAT, and Belfield found that homeschooled students scored slightly worse than predicted in the math section of the SAT. However, Belfield also found that self-identified homeschool students made up only 0.5% of all students taking the SAT despite the fact that the National Center for Education Statistics estimates indicate that between 1.7% and 2.2% of all students were homeschooled that year.

ACT scores

The average score for all homeschoolers is consistently about a point and a half above the average of all students taking the test. We can see what percentile rank such a score would come out to here, as the numbers don’t shift noticeably year to year. The average for all students taking the test is generally around 21 points, which would be around the 57th percentile, while the average for homeschooling students is generally between 22 and 23 points, which would be around the 65th percentile. While the average for all students identifying themselves as homeschoolers is slightly higher than the total average for all students, no researcher has yet corrected this data for background factors as Belfield did for the ACT. Further, the number of homeschooled students taking the ACT has consistently been extremely low in comparison to the total homeschool population, suggesting that ACT scores only measure the scores of the most driven homeschooled students. In 2011, when an estimated 3.4% of all students were homeschooled, only 0.78% of students taking the ACT were homeschooled.

2. National average college attenders.

Students coming from a home school graduated college at a higher rate than their peers—66.7 percent compared to 57.5 percent—and earned higher grade point averages along the way, according to a study that compared students at one doctoral university from 2004-2009.

3. Not conformed by age group. Now why in the world would I include not conformed by age group in a list of pro’s especially since I have heard this in a list of con’s before. Well let me tell you why. 

It is an amazing thing that in the public schools there is nothing but age segregation and yet, this is the only time in life in which that is true. Your boss may be older or younger than you yet because of the authority they posses we are supposed to respect them (also since they have the power to fire you), in almost any other sphere except k-12 we aren’t age segregated .

 What happens when you don’t separate based on age? You find that your children are capable of talking to old and young alike. And what will be the long term effects? Maybe just maybe kids will learn to listen and absorb the information and stories from our older generation, and in learning to work with children much younger than themselves we learn so many life skills, including patience and compassion.  

4. Creativity is so important to children and no I’m not just talking about arts and crafts. But instead of going into any details on this please read my last blog post on “4 Benefits of Homeschooling” . 
5. Not conformed to the classroom environment, I love love love this about Homeschooling! Did I mention it’s a pretty great pro ha! All joking aside, the fact that Homeschooling can take place in so many different locations is a definite perk. Taking school to the botanical gardens, the park near the zoo, or even in the car is wonderful! I don’t know how much school was done in the car when I was a kid but it was a lot. 
6. Influences. Can you imagine a scenario where your kids didn’t hang out with all the kids in the classroom that you’d rather avoid? You know the ones I’m talking about. Those children that easily persuade your children in a different direction then you prefer? Maybe it’s the kid that bullies your child. Or the one with that’s allowed to say things that you would rather your child not say. And while there is almost always an underlying cause for why the bullier behaves the way he or she does, and why the child says or copies certain things that you would rather guard against. Your child doesn’t have to be offered up on the altar of “Normal school behaviours’ ‘ instead you the parent can guard your child until they are at an age, not just a numeric age but also an age mental,emotional age and are mature enough to handle those people and situations. 
7. Student teacher ratio . Another fabulous thing is the teacher student ratio, now you can laugh all you want to but the truth is this makes a huge impact. The larger the classroom the less one on one time that teacher gives to each student. The less one on one time = the less time the teacher realizes how your child operates. Every child is so unique and looking at them individually, finding out what makes them unique. What are their interests and their likes if you added more manipulatives would this overwhelm the child or would it delight the child? You are the parent and you probably know far more than you realize. Start asking lots of questions and really listening!!! And while there are still hard things in life for everyone knowing how your child learns best will give you a far greater insight into how to teach your child then most regular teachers have time for. 
8. Tailoring curriculum to the child and their learning style. This is such a freeing thing! When you realize that if your child learns and retains information better auditorily or kinesthetically that you have the freedom to change some small simple things that can make a drastic difference for your child. I had an elementary student once that greatly struggled in math. He would get so frustrated so quickly because the sums were just numbers on a page. They had no material value to him. However I picked up a handful of colorful pens and we added the sums together to find the answer and suddenly math wasn’t so difficult. Now not every learning style is this obvious and not every child makes improvement quickly. Sometimes it takes trying a specific style or testing to find your child’s learning style. That being said once you know how your child works, understands and retains best it can make a tremendous difference.
9. Freedom to learn extracurricular things. This can go hand in hand with learning styles except it’s like going to the next level, and where a good teacher might try where he or she can to learn the child’s learning style and when or if they can add things here and there, adding extracurricular things is something that teachers don’t facilitate. Now when I say extracurricular most people think of football or ballet but that’s not actually what I’m talking about.  Now the dictionary says “Extracurricular” is “Not falling within the scope of regular curriculum” So when your child first marvels at the venus flytrap and you purchase a small venus flytrap plant for them and read about what genetically makes up a carnivorous plant and allowing them to get “sidetracked” by the wonder of learning. Not to mention you’re making special memories with your kids. That becomes quite a worthwhile definition of extracurricular. 
10. Community between Homeschool Families. Community is important, having a group of people behind you that you know have your back is critical. Honestly that goes not just for Homeschooling but for almost any situation, home, work, church, you always want to know you have people cheering you on and telling you that you’re capable. Pick a handful of women or men that you trust and can bounce ideas off of and can compare notes with this will be extremely helpful. 

One of the things that I have been privileged to see and be a part of is the Homeschool Community. The way parents support each other is amazing! I am so blessed to be a part of a Homeschool co-op and also to have a team that backs me. If I were to introduce you to my team they would include my incredible husband, who doesn’t just tell me I am capable but has come alongside me and Homeschools with me, yes with me (I am super blessed), My sister in law Hannah (who has her own blog livelyAllwein.com) is our Piano teacher and is a great Math teacher which is fantastic with three 9th graders on my hands, it’s essential to make sure that our teens are understanding Mathematics and I couldn’t do this without my Husband and Hannah’s help. My Professional Website Designer Rachel John. My younger sister Naomi who comes over and constantly helps with a variety of things but who is specifically teaching elementary Spanish. And my Mom who is not just my cheerleader but who also endlessly listens to me bounce teaching ideas,curriculum thoughts and teaching styles off of her and gives input. So who would you pick as your team? 

11. Not restricted to the 8-9 hours of school daily. I remember those days they were often short school days, I was young, I longed to be outside and as soon as school was done I rushed outside to a million imaginary worlds that my siblings and I created. If I had been public schooled this would have looked different I would have been stuck inside for several more hours being trained for a 9-5 job that would eventually take place after 12 years of grade school,and 4 years of college and I would do this because it was normal. Now there is nothing wrong with 9-5 if that’s what you want to do. But see the thing is when you are homeschooled so many more avenues open up. You have the time to launch a home based business and even fail at a couple before figuring out what you want to do. Why? Because you had the one thing you can never get back you had the time. 
12. Learning Life Skills, Did you know that many High School graduates can’t balance a checkbook? What about other things like changing a tire? Or checking the oil in their vehicle? Do they know how to make medical appointments? What about making their own budget? Or Cooking? To say nothing of other life skills that are no longer taught in most schools like Sewing and canning?  When you become the teacher you and your children have the freedom to add these items that will someday soon become much needed life skills. 

Disadvantages:

1. 24/7 with your Children. Being with your child can be wonderful or it can be exhausting, and frankly at the end of the day when you’ve been with kids all day long sometimes you just need an adult conversation. The truth is only you know how much you can handle being with your children. You just might really enjoy being around your children, or you might realize you don’t have enough patience for your children and it would be better for them if you found someone to tutor them,to attend a private or charter school or to attend public school. 
2. Social aspect/ awkwardness. In this question and answer I want to be careful how I respond. Simply because it is actually the complaint I hear most often about Homeschooling. 

Much of this depends on the Parents as much as it does the child, the more you socialize your child the less likely they will be socially awkward. There are many activities that helped me to stray away from social awkwardness. They included volunteer work, for me it was the library but for your child it can be a variety of things they have an interest in. Camps, clubs, and church groups. While I wouldn’t categorize Patriot Academy as a camp it is truly an academy, I can say it was life changing for me it was a hands-on government class that is truly one of a kind but my own words would fail to do it justice so instead I’ll provide a link ~~~~~ . Church and it’s many activities provided a way for me to attend social gatherings, and much later coordinate and lead social gatherings. English country dance and a beginner etiquette course taught by Tanya Boyd helped tremendously to pull me out of my shell and help me engage with those around me. There are many many other available resources besides co-ops which can be wonderful resources and help lighten the load of homeschooling while simultaneously providing a social environment for children of all ages to interact. 

3. One parent working from home or staying at home. While I know a handful of moms who both work part time jobs and homeschool or are single parents and Homeschool for the vast majority this isn’t an option, simply making Homeschool not for everyone. 
4. Can homeschoolers play on public school sports teams?, I cannot speak for every state but in Idaho state public schools are supposed to legally allow Homeschoolers to be able to play sports currently .They are allowed to have requirements that need to be met to continue to play sports. Every state is different and their requirements may be different. Please make sure you check your state’s official laws to ensure that you are within state laws. 

 Although I know in Idaho state it is legal for Idaho Homeschoolers to play on public school teams. It is important to know your state rights and remain within them. Always check your state laws if you’re unsure what their policies are. Check out hslda.com which is my favorite legal resource regarding  homeschooling and homeschoolers. 

5. The fifth point I want to cover is that of the fact that the majority of us are not licenced or trained professionals, this is simply a fact. While I highly recommend that Homeschool parents/guardians educate themselves as much as possible, this can take on many forms. It can include becoming a licenced teacher in your state, taking online classes both free or paid for and continuing your own education this way, and also reading. Read,read, read! Educate yourself on everything you can from teaching styles, to books by seasoned Homeschool parents,to books by professional teachers and professors. I will be compiling a list of Homeschool resources which will include my personal thoughts and even takeaways from these books. 
6. Do Homeschoolers hang out exclusively with Homeschoolers. This should be a no brainer however it was a commonly asked question and in all fairness there are Homeschoolers that have their own cliques and sadly pretty much stick only to those.  However the bulk of us have friends of lots of different educational backgrounds. 
7. Time, it would be negligent of me if I failed to mention that although there are lots of pro’s, there are lots of good things that come with Homeschooling. Time is a major one although as a general rule you won’t be in school from 8 am- 3pm. It still takes a great deal of time.
8. Commitment, if time was hard commitment is even more so, and if you are not committed to Homeschooling then, it might not be a great option for you. Commitment in Homeschooling is a lot like commitment in almost any other realm, just like most people don’t get excited to go to work everyday. It’s unlikely at best that you will be excited everyday to Homeschool. Yet the idea that you’re committed to giving your children the best education you can becomes your driving force. 
9. Having things organized is important, this includes the things we hope go without saying like picking out and ordering your curriculum for each student. But it also includes your classroom and supplies. While you don’t need to be meticulously OCD  you do want to have some kind of designated space or area for Homeschooling, and some semblance of order when putting away homeschool curriculum is important. Each student has their own shelf in our Homeschool area however you may organize your space in whatever way works for you.  Pinterest has lots of fabulous ideas. 
10. Planning! Why would I have a last section for planning when I’ve already told you it’s important to be organized, because you need to have a plan, it’s essential. While your plan will need to remain flexible, and change as life changes, it is still essential to have a plan. 

You should have some kind of year goals (mine tend to look like a week by week overview, not detailed), but a word of caution, write one week of lesson plans out at a time, while still having a yearly overview. This allows you to know what your year end goals are without freaking out on a week by week basis if they aren’t all being met on the time scale you originally planned. It also helps you not get too discouraged when you inevitably have to rewrite or erase (always use pencil) an entire planner because one week hasn’t been completely checked off. Life happens, breathe, reset and begin anew.

In closing I want to caution you Homeschooling isn’t for everyone, I have tried to be balanced in my views but it would be wrong and inaccurate to say that I’m unbiased which is why for me I tried to provide numbers and statistics I did my best to find other sources. And not just state my own opinions when statistics are involved. My hope is that you’re encouraged through this blog regardless of if you ultimately decide to homeschool or public school.