Should You Home School Your Child?
Maths in your pyjamas…
The world is a dangerous place. As parents we find it very hard to allow our children to go off out into the world on their own even at the best of times, so when we hear about bullying and knife crime in schools, young people joining gangs, children getting run over on the way home from school, it can make sending them out the door every day a regular nightmare.<br/><br/> This is the reason why many parents are choosing to home school their children instead. Children stay at home all day, receive lessons from their parents, have PE in the back garden and generally stay safe indoors away from the perils of reality.<br/><br/> However, this article would like to point out some of the reasons why this is in fact a bad idea:<br/><br/> Social Skills<br/><br/> Despite the risks, one of the key life skills your children pick up when they are at school are their elemental social skills. Home schooling robs children of learning how to build friendships, how to deal with conflict, how to explore their emotions when it comes to the opposite sex and how they fit into the wider social sphere of the society they live in.<br/><br/> Independence<br/><br/> A large part of the social skills children learn at school help to develop their independence and personality. Independence can only be explored when children are allowed to go out and make decisions for themselves, make mistakes and learn from them first hand. Home schooling means they won't have as many opportunities to explore this as they will continue to look to parents for advice instead of making choices for themselves. This is also how their personality develops. Learning from experience, failing, succeeding and generally going through trials help children to develop the way they react in situations. Home schooling stunts independence and restricts how a child's personality is allowed to develop.<br/><br/> For example, a disagreement over educational supplies at home would probably result in mum or dad stepping in and sorting it out. At school the child may be on their own and be forced to deal with any dispute over school furniture themselves and would certainly learn more from having to deal with it.<br/><br/> Discipline<br/><br/> While some parents may feel that they are good at disciplining their kids, learning to accept orders and being disciplined by people outside of the family unit will help children in later life. Also, where a parent may stop when a child starts crying, a teacher would be able to remain professional and follow through with any punishments.<br/><br/><br/><br/>
About the Author
Sam Qam is a teacher. He recommends that if parents want to home school their child they should consider getting proper educational supplies and maybe even some proper school furniture to ensure their child is clear when study time is.
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