Perhaps some parents need to weigh up the pros and cons of homeschooling. Many other parents just know that homeschooling is acting in obedience to what God is asking of them as parents as they disciple their children through the formative years.

The pros and cons vary depending on what your expectations are and what lifestyle you live. There are also different sets of pros and cons of homeschooling for each parent and for the children.

This is not a tongue-in-cheek article like so many on the web where moms talk about doing school in slippers and not having to get up early to get kids off to school, but rather a look at how God centred homeschooling grows healthy spiritually alive families.

Pros
When a mom chooses to homeschool she generally starts for one of a few reasons. Standards of education, individual requirements, special needs, religious belief or curriculum content seem to rank highly.

But as she continues to homeschool she will become more and more aware of her own shortcomings – whether it be a lack of patience, lack of organization or another such issue.

This then gives her the wonderful opportunity to ask the Lord how He can help her in her area of lack. Providing she does turn to Him she will begin to experience a life changing journey that she would never get outside of homeschooling.

Cons
The exact same advantage of homeschooling mentioned above, can become a disadvantage to a mom who hardens her heart to the work of the Lord as He shows her where she is lacking.

Then mom begins a downward spiral. She becomes more disorganized, cannot manage her time, doesn’t get through her chosen curriculum with her children. She starts to yell instead of train, because let’s face it – being with your children 24/7 can be a challenge when we try to parent on our own - and not in partnership with God.

Solution
When you make the decision to homeschool and you look at the pros and cons of homeschooling, you need to understand and then believe that the goal of homeschooling your child is not all about them and their education. You need to know that God is going to use your children and your home as a way to reach your heart.

And when He shows you your heart, you do not need to despair, you need to embrace the character training time that He is bringing and obey Him as He leads you into victory in each situation.

The majority of fathers that I have met at curriculum conventions always ask about qualifications. Yes, there are a few that are more concerned with the parenting and discipling side of homeschooling, but generally they want to know about the curriculum side and college admission.

Pros
For these dads that place a high premium on their children’s future qualifications, they will find that when homeschooling is done correctly i.e. diligence, well chosen curriculum, attentiveness to detail and most of all the discipling of their children’s hearts, that it produces the correct result.

They need to understand that the goal is not only an educated mind but also a heart that is yielded to the Lord and His work in their lives.

Cons
Some men are happy for their wives to homeschool the children as long as it does not “cost” them anything. I am not referring to financial cost here, but rather saying that if it does not interfere with his life, then he is fine with it.

The disadvantage of homeschooling in this situation is that homeschooling is then seen as “something my wife does.” Again I must reiterate that homeschooling is not only about home education but is more about a journey that God wants to take a family on toward completeness in Him. A dad who does not enter into this vision will stand the chance of missing out on one of the greatest blessings.

Please, ladies who are reading this article, I do not mean that your husband need be directly involved in the educating of your children. They are generally at work for large portions of the day and are not able to be involved in the hands on day by day schooling. What you are to pray for and not nag about, is that the Lord will do His work in your husbands life to turn His heart towards the family.

In homeschooling there are two categories of children – those who have always been at home and those that have been removed from school after a period to now be homeschooled. The pros and cons of homeschooling are different for each of them but the same principles apply.

Pros
A great advantage of homeschooling for children is that they are able to have a tailor made curriculum to suit their individual and unique learning styles, areas of difficulty and interests.

Another is that due to the nature of homeschooling it promotes family relationships, so much so that these same relationships become the training ground for all future relationships. If a child cannot treat their sibling with love and kindness then they will probably never learn to do this with other people, particularly their future spouse. The family is a perfect “training ground” for true socialization where the children socialize vertically through many age ranges rather than a horizontal style where ages are lumped together in grades at school.

Homeschooling also provides children with lots of free time in the afternoon where they can further pursue their interests, passions and hobbies. They can also choose and specialize in specific sports instead of having to do a whole host of them which they are not really interested in.

Children who have learning difficulties like dyslexia, ADD or ADHD have a unique advantage in homeschooling where a loving parent can come alongside them and help them to excel in spite of their difficulty.

Cons
Lastly lets take a look at some cons of homeschooling for children. In my opinion these are few and also not mountains that cannot be overcome. Creative parenting can solve them quite easily.

Team sports can become an issue for a child who wants to be involved in rugby, soccer football or cricket. Membership to private clubs can sort this out.

Being an only child can make the homeschooling day quite lonely but a diligent mother will make sure that she finds a handful of quality friends for her child to spend time with.

Some parents value competition as a way to inspire a child to do better in sport, school work and other achievements. Instilling a competitive nature in a child is a very dangerous character to introduce if that child is not grounded in relationship with the Lord. Competition has a habit of breeding a nasty nature where a child will feel the need to put another child down so that they feel better about themselves.

We have children who love to mountain bike and they do team swimming and are able to enjoy these sports and compete within themselves to see if they can do a better length time or higher jump than last time. They push themselves to do their best and not to gain glory on others eyes.

Hopefully these few points on the pros and cons of homeschooling will give you a bigger picture and help you in your decision making process.

To other articles
Return to top of Pros and cons of homeschooling

---