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Forum -> Chinuch, Education & Schooling -> Homeschooling

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yo'ma

Mon, Nov 05 2018, 7:08 am

What would you say are the pros and cons of homeschooling?

ora_43

Mon, Nov 05 2018, 7:22 am

Pros:
The curriculum can be tailored to the child's individual needs/interests.

The structure of the day can be tailored to the child.

The speed at which material is covered can be decided on a case by case basis.

All the above means that gifted children won't be bored sitting through material they already know, children who struggle won't be bored (and feel stupid) sitting through material they aren't ready to learn, and children won't be wasting time trying to learn while tired/hungry/etc.

There tends to be a better teacher: student ratio - one parent is teaching a few children, rather than one teacher with 20-30 students.

Sometimes parents can provide higher-quality teaching than schools, eg if the parent is aware of more interesting types of teaching (investigative tasks, etc) that local schools don't use.

Some schools have issues of bullying, drugs, or other bad/dangerous behavior; homeschooling protects kids from this.

Cons:
Adding a teacher/student relationship to the parent/child relationship can be challenging.

A parent will need to be available to homeschool for several hours a day. If they would have preferred a career other than teaching, this could be a huge sacrifice.

Parents will need to make an extra effort to provide appropriate social interaction for their child - kids can't just make friends in class.

Ditto re: providing group learning type environments, and helping children with special needs (gifted, autism, adhd, etc) work on whatever social skills issues they may have.

If there are several children being homeschooled together, the parent might struggle to provide each with enough individual attention.

Children may prefer school.

Sometimes parents provide lower-quality teaching than schools, eg if hte parent is not aware of good teaching methods or age-appropriate expectations, while teachers in local schools are.

ora_43

Mon, Nov 05 2018, 7:25 am

It really depends on the parent, the child, and the situation in general. One family might have one set of pros/cons to weigh while other has an entirely different set.

In some cases there are other complicating issues, eg if the parent is not a native speaker of the language of the country they live in, if there are religious issues (Jewish child with no Jewish school available, etc), etc.

yo'ma

Mon, Nov 05 2018, 7:59 am

ora_43 wrote:

Thank you very much!! I wouldn't be teaching anyway, I would hire a teacher. I would also need a judaica teacher. I have two boys and I'm trying to get each of them a friend to join for social and financial reasons. One said yes already. My dh is not sure I should do this, so I wanted to tell him pros and cons. I see some of the things you wrote are not pertinent to my situation, but I appreciate it. Thank you

SplitPea

Mon, Nov 05 2018, 8:05 am

Pro- individual learning
Following interests - we study what they are interested in and they LOVE IT
Better family dynamics - my kids LOVE each other and support each other unlike any children I’ve ever met.
No making a school bus in the morning
No getting up before 9 am period lol
No homework
No busy work. If they understand something you move on if they don’t you do more in different ways until they do.
Getting to participate in awesome Homeschool only classes
Visiting places when they are not packed
Instilling hashkafa in your own so no school is making your rules

Cons. It can be overwhelming
The judgement you will get from the Jewish community.
My kids lack of Jewish friends (we have TONS of non Jews)
Having to really TRY for social interactions. We drive 1.5 hours (one way) one day a week and 30 minutes (one way) another day just to meet with our friends. Unless you are in an exceptional circumstance friends and social interactions don’t just fall into your lap you need to seek them out.
Feeling like you are not doing enough.

SplitPea

Mon, Nov 05 2018, 8:08 am

yo'ma wrote:

You wrote this while I was writing my post. It seems you need to think of your own pros and cons. Hiring teachers is HARD and it can be hard to find someone. Also getting BACK in school can be hard so just be ready for that. 2 kids together all day can get sick of each other especially non siblings.

Why do YOU want to homeschool?

yo'ma

Mon, Nov 05 2018, 8:11 am

SplitPea wrote:

I already have a teacher. What do you mean getting back to school? I see what you mean about non siblings.

Because this.

southernbubby

Mon, Nov 05 2018, 8:47 am

While it's good to consider cons, if homeschool is your only option then you need to focus on making it work. In some neighborhoods the public schools are worse than lousy and Jewish kids might get bullied so what are the other options for education?

ectomorph

Mon, Nov 05 2018, 10:16 am

I would avoid unless necessary. I do see a lot of homeschool kids are otd as adults.

But it may be a case of the chicken and the egg. The circumstances that force homeschool also tend to make kids more likely to go otd.

southernbubby

Mon, Nov 05 2018, 11:40 am

ectomorph wrote:

I don't currently know anyone who homeschools but I agree with you that there is probably more than one reason that the kids go OTD. I would also say that being frum means being part of a community and that is hard to do when being homeschooled unless there is a cooperative group that does it together.

yo'ma

Tue, Nov 06 2018, 6:19 am

ectomorph wrote:

Why would you say that? What do you think are the factors for that?

ectomorph

Tue, Nov 06 2018, 6:23 am

yo'ma wrote:

Why would you say that? What do you think are the factors for that?

I think its like what previous poster said.

yo'ma

Tue, Nov 06 2018, 7:04 am

ectomorph wrote:

I think its like what previous poster said.

You mean the community part?

southernbubby

Tue, Nov 06 2018, 8:37 am

Frum communities tend to group think so if someone is marching to his or her own drumbeat, they will be viewed as odd balls, outsiders, bad for shidduchim, etc.

If a kid grows up knowing that he doesn't fit in, is not accepted, and he is viewed as odd or different, why would he stick around? Also, his level of knowledge might be lower than a kid who spent his childhood in the hallowed halls of Yeshiva.

OTOH, I have seen frum kids who attended public school and are very frum today and remained frum while they were students at public school. Some public schools are war zones and are full of both physical and spiritual dangers but in some neighborhoods, there might be several Shomer Shabbos kids at the public school. And those kids who attended public school did find shidduchim, although they had more limitations than the average frum kid had in a certain way. For example, these kids were offered BTs and gerim and they married them and some kids who grow up thinking that those Yidden are off limits may struggle more to find a shidduch.

I used to sub in a public high school and one boy used to like to tell be that he laid tefillin before coming to school that day.

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