3 Reasons to Choose Home Schooling Over Traditional Schooling

Motivations regarded most important for homeschooling among parents in 2007. Source: 1.5 Million Homeschooled Students in the United States in 2007 Issue Brief from Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. December 2008. NCES 2009–030 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

by Luchrista Cobb

Reasons to choose home schooling over traditional schooling may vary from family to family.

The three reasons presented in this article concern: (1) design of instruction, (2) small class size, and (3) utilization of resources.

Design of Instruction

"Curricula became as creative as parents chose to be, with choices ranging from printed materials to computer-generated programs, libraries/museums, field trips, resource facilities, networking opportunities, and public school resources (Hanna, 1996). Those who choose homeschooling today have many more choices available" (Hanna, 2012, 613).

Parents administering a home school education are free to design the instruction of their students based on their preset objectives and budgets. The limitations of each home school project can be limited only by the time the planner spends on researching the state, its guidelines, its resources and other available resources in material and personnel.

Class size

Homeschooling class sizes can be limited to the students in one family or the class size can involve students from many families. In the latter case, the educational experiences that involve other families and larger sizes can be supplemented by individualized instruction from the educator inside the home.

When researching material and instruction providers, also check on options for lesson credits to be recorded, transferred, and managed. Does the provider offer the option to purchase materials without the company's record keeping, instruction online or distant learning packages?

Utilization of family resources

Parents may choose homeschooling for their students to utilize the talents of a parent with educator skills that prefers to telecommute even as a volunteer teacher or learning coach. One income families may find that schooling for their students can be done more economically in the home.

Parents with research and planning skills may also find becoming home educators to use of that resource. The lack of available funds for the homeschooling project does not have to be a reason to abandon the idea. The most important of the family's resources is its students.

Each student should be considered individually to determine is homeschooling will be more beneficial than a traditional schooling experience.

The three reasons presented in this article should be the beginning of the quest to determine if homeschooling is right for the students in any given family. If the opportunity to make decisions about the instruction, class size and utilization of resources is not enough reasons to use homeschooling for the benefit of the students in your care, add more reasons to your research. Consider this article your beginning, not your ending.

References

Hanna, L. G. (2012). Homeschooling Education: Longitudinal Study of Methods, Materials, and Curricula. Education and Urban Society, 44(5) 609-631

Luchrista Cobb from Achieve Results LLC

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