Homeschooling: The Art Of Real-Life Education

By JB Anthony 

Homeschooling is the education of through the non-traditional system of education found in mainstream public and private school. In homeschooling, a child is being taught the same subject matters as those students going to traditional, mainstream, public or private schools. Although homeschooling does not have the strict structure found in mainstream education, when done properly, homeschooling a child can, nonetheless, develop him or her into a well-rounded person based on the more natural and nurturing atmosphere that the home is. Parents who are not very familiar with homeschooling are often concerned about the kind of learning experience in homeschooling their children. They worry that they will not be able to give their children the adequate academic education needed for college. On the contrary, homeschooled children fare better when they reach college. Universities welcome the diversity of experiences offered by their homeschooled students who are academically-sound as well as actively enthusiastic in in-campus extra-curricular activities. When it comes to the academic course requirements of homeschooled children, homeschooling parents need not worry. The homeschooling kits from K to 12th grade are available in local bookstores, and even online. Furthermore, there are many free online curriculum for homeschooled children.

Social development is also one concern of parents who are contemplating on homeschooling their children. They fear that homeschooled children do not get enough interaction from their peers and from the outside community. What these parents don't know is that homeschooled children and homeschooling parents can join a homeschooling support group. Here, relevant learning experiences such as going to theme parks, a trip to the zoo, a tour in the museum or library can be done together with other homeschooled children, thus, providing a more natural environment or scenario for children to both learn and interact with their peers and form social bonds in a highly-educational context. Community services with other homeschooled children in the area will also expose and immerse the child in the real-life situation of the community, allowing them a better and healthy view of what they can do as individuals and as a group, to help society.

Homeschooling is not for the faint-hearted parent as it requires much dedication. Homeschooling requires much time, patience and creativity from the parent. For working parents, homeschooling might be harder than one thinks. However, if you hear about the violence in public schools, gangs, the ratio of teacher to students and the inability of your children to absorb as much as they can due to distractions, homeschooling is definitely the only other option for parents who want nothing but the best for their kids.