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Home education, also known as homeschooling, is an increasingly popular choice for parents who want to take a more active role in their child’s education. As ex-teachers we were fed up with the victorian-style factory learning in schools. We wanted something better for our children and home education was the way forwards.
It took some time to overcome the fear of doing things a little differently but the benefits were glaringly obvious. After hundreds of lengthy conversations with other home educating parents and already a few years into our family’s own home ed journey, we’ve compiled our top ten reasons why parents home educate their children.
1. School just isn’t good enough
The number one reason why parents home educate their children was that school simply isn’t good enough.
Many of their home educated children we know started out at school, but were failed by the system for one or more reasons:
- Unaddressed bullying
- Poor relationships with staff
- Their needs such as neurodiversity, disability or an additional challenge was not met
Many children have anxiety around school to the point where it is crippling. A quick google and the half a billion search results that appear might make you sit back and think for minute.
Our children have never been to school, they haven’t been let down by the system because they have never been in it. However, it was our experience as secondary teachers in the school system that led us to the same conclusion. Our personal and professional concerns about the school system include:
- Too many people in a class
- Reward/ punishment systems of shame and fear used to control students – this is not how we wanted our children to learn to treat people
- Schools are overstretched and underfunded
- Schools are target driven – pressure trickles down through teachers to students
- Children have such little say over the things that matter
We both did well academically and enjoyed a lot of school, but we’re still dealing with issues either caused or exacerbated by being stuck in the system.
2. A bespoke education
One of the biggest advantages of home education is the freedom to tailor an education to your child’s individual needs and learning style.
Try as they might, school teachers can’t possibly meet the educational needs of every student in their class. Home education allows parents to create a customised learning plan for their child. This can include adapting an existing curriculum, incorporate more practical learning activities, and use more appropriate teaching methods. Children’s learning can be constantly enriched with museum visits, engaging with the local community and providing the time, space and support to deeply explore their interests.
There’s a variety of home education styles but no strict commitment to any particular one is necessary. Many home educating parents cherry pick elements from each to provide the best possible experience for their child.
Looking back, we always home educated in some form; most parents naturally do this just by engaging with their children. For some reason we feel the need to outsource this when a child reaches school age.
Once we decided not to send our children to school, we were ready to home school in the most literal sense. We planned to be all ‘teachy’ with our kids. We soon began to follow certain Montessori school methods after reading books like The Montessori Toddler: A Parent’s Guide to Raising a Curious and Responsible Human Being. We planned multiple activities and let our children choose what they wanted to do and how they wanted to do it. It often led to unexpected results.
We saw more and more evidence of self-directed learning. In home education circles this is also known as unschooling. We realised unschooling was not only possible but actually a very exiting route to follow!
Rather than learning a prescribed curriculum in a linear fashion, our children’s self-directed, curiosity-led learning is allowing them to develop a complex web of knowledge. It naturally incorporates all the academic stuff we worry about.
The spontaneity of their learning also makes it more fun for us. We never know where it will take us from one day to the next. If the kids come up with an idea, we try to run with it even if inspiration happens to strike at 9pm!
Their educational needs and wants will certainly change over time. Through home education we will contuse to customise their education and support the kids to figure out what they want to learn and how they want to learn it.
Flexibility is the key to stability
John Wooden
3. Flexibility
Infinite flexibility is one of the key reasons why parents home educate. With instant feedback from your child, it is an amazing ever-evolving experience. Flexibility doesn’t stop with customising the content of their learning either…
Once you do away with the school timetable, life itself can be more flexible with far less pressure. This can be a major advantage for families with busy or unconventional schedules. Parents can work around other commitments and responsibilities, such as caring for younger siblings or older family.
There is the option to focus on specific activities at times when its most convenient for the family as a whole.
If a home educating family wants to go away for a few days or travel the world for a few months, there is no school to get in the way. As our children get older and it’s slowly getting easier to travel and be more spontaneous. We plan to take full advantage of this.
With a number of businesses and projects on the go, the flexibility of home education give us the freedom to structure our day in any way we please. The kids witness a lot of the work we do, which is an education in and of itself.
As children grow their needs change. The juggernaut schooling system will always struggle with adapting to a child’s needs. Yet, the bespoke nature of home education allows for change at a moment’s notice. The needs of a family also change and whilst finding the perfect balance might be unrealistic we’re in control to do what we think is best for us as a unit and if something needs to change we’ll change it.
4. You’re in control
Are you a control freak? Or perhaps just want to be more involved in your child’s learning? Home education gives parents control over the content and methods of their family’s education.
It may seem like a daunting task but home educating parents can curate curriculum materials that align with their values and beliefs. With tonnes of free and paid resources online it’s easy to pick and choose. Parents can decide what topics to focus on and how much time to spend on each. This can be especially beneficial for families with strong religious or philosophical convictions, or for those who want to prioritise certain subjects or learning goals.
We want our children to have a high level of autonomy. Home educating allows us to hand a signification proportion of control over to our kids. Our focus is on how to facilitate their self-directed learning, to encourage deeper thinking and provide them with the resources they need to explore their interests.
The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.
Albert Einstein
Home educating parents can create a learning environment tailored to their child’s needs. This may include accommodations for learning disabilities or special needs. Referring again to Maslow’s Hierachy of Needs, this is integral for the best leaning to take place.
For example, if a child has ADHD, parents can create an environment that is more or less stimulating (depending on the specific needs), where the child is able to move about as needed and work in short bursts or hyper-focus for hours on a single activity. They can respond to their child’s needs instead of expecting them to fit into a rigid framework.
If a child has a visual impairment or is dyslexic, parents can provide materials in an accessible format and make other accommodations to support their learning.
Schools have special educational needs co-ordinators who are often amazing individuals but it’s no doubt a tough job to meet everyones needs when they’re so poorly funded.
5. Socialisation!
Socialising in a way that suits you and your family is one of the greatest benefits of home education. Yet everyone seems to be concerned about whether home educated children will miss opportunities to socialise.
Home educated children regularly interact with peers and people in the community. They may choose to participate in activities, like sports teams, music lessons, or scouting groups. They can also join online communities or attend local homeschooling co-ops.
Particularly with younger children, parents must be pro-active to supply their kids with opportunities for socialisation – but those opportunities are everywhere. Rather than an allocated 15 mins playtime, our kids regularly play for hours. With their friends they go deep in to their games and activities without worrying about the school bell killing the fun.
With the opportunity to interact with people of all ages and backgrounds and in a variety of settings, home educated children often have a more diverse social experience than their traditionally schooled counterparts..
The children can socialise when they want and with who they want. However, they also have the choice to NOT socialise. Some children thrive with a lot of time by themselves to explore their own special interests. Some enjoy quiet time with only one or two other people. If they just want to curl up in a ball and hibernate to recuperate after a busy few days, they can.
This ability to be responsive to their own needs can only be good for their mental health – helping them grow into adults that know themselves and are able to self-advocate.
6. Safety in smaller numbers
For some parents, their child’s safety is a major factor in the decision to home educate.
As teachers, one of the first principles we learned was Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. It depicts the foundation of human needs like food and shelter; emotional and psychological support; through to a sense of belonging and building self esteem. After all those needs are met it may only then lead to self actualisation and the best state for learning. Teachers do their best to provide for these needs, but it’s an uphill struggle!
The safety and wellbeing of children is particularly at risk during their secondary school years. With limited time spent with each teacher and over-crowded classrooms, it can be difficult to provide individual attention and cover the necessary curriculum. Inevitably children fall through the net.
Many home educating parents are understandably concerned about bullying, violence, or other negative experiences at school. Some argue that negative experiences at school “build resilience,” but this is a dangerous and unfair concept. Schools should be safe spaces for children to learn and grow, without fear or harm.
For many families, home educating is the safer option. It’s not fair to ask children to build resilience from harmful experiences at school when they could be receiving a safe education at home.
7. Religious or philosophical beliefs
Home education can enable parents to incorporate their own values and beliefs. They may choose curriculum materials that align with their beliefs and can teach their child about their religion or philosophy in a way that may not be possible in a traditional school. This can be especially important for families with strong spiritual convictions or for those who want to instill a certain worldview in their child.
Occasionally radicalisation is voiced as a potential worry about home educating families. Perhaps another way of thinking about this is that home educated children aren’t subjected to the narrow-minded, economy-focused brain washing of school.
Pot?
Kettle?
Black?
We have our own personal opinions and political points of view but want to give our children the freedom to question this and form their own opinions as they grow up. Things don’t need to be the way they are because that’s the way they’ve always been. Our minds continue to open as we home educate and pull back from some of the bullshit of societies institutions.
8. A stronger family bond
Home education allows parents and children to spend more time together and strengthen their relationship. By partnering with their child on their education, parents understand their child’s strengths, interests and needs more intimately. This can lead to stronger bonds and more meaningful communication within the family.
In school it’s not cool to like your younger sibling. They spend much of the day separated. That no doubt has an effect on their relationships. We have three children. It’s beautiful to see how they continue to interact with each other. They’re each other’s best friends. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows but even when there’s a dispute it doesn’t last long. They’ll very quickly be laughing, joking and playing together again.
Managing the needs of everyone in the family can be a challenging, especially when there are conflicting needs. But this continual consideration of each other, communication and compromise in itself leads to wonderful cooperative relationships for the whole family, rather than relationships based on control and compliance.
9. Academic success
Some parents may choose home education in order to provide their child with a more personalised and effective education. This may be giving them time to really delve into subjects they are interested in, or providing an environment to work in that is better suited to them.
This frequently leads to better academic outcomes. Research has shown that home educated students can perform as well as or better than their traditionally schooled peers on standardised tests. This is not surprising when once you witness the higher levels of motivation and engagement in home educated children with their learning.
Not being constrained by the bland you-must-know-a-very-specific-little-bit-of-everything-even-though-you’ll-forget-it-as-soon-as-you-leave-school curriculum means kids can focus on what’s important to them. The 10,000 hours to mastery stated in Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘Outliers: The Story of Success‘ are very difficult to achieve when your child is forced to line up in silence outside the classroom or sat in assembly for hours each week for over a decade.
10. Personal growth and development
Home education can provide a supportive and nurturing environment for children to grow and develop at their own pace. Without the pressures and expectations of school, children can explore their interests and passions and develop their own sense of self and identity. We’ve seen the confidence, independence, and self-motivation it breeds. The hundreds of home educated children we’ve met are such ‘well-rounded’, intelligent, mature but playful individuals.
It’s awe inspiring! In fact, it has inspired a whole load of exploration and personal development in the adults of the households. Home education is for the whole family, not just the kids!
There are so many reasons why parents home educate
Home education offers a long list of benefits to families, including the ability to customise the education to the individual needs and learning style of the child, flexibility in scheduling, more control over the content and methods of the child’s education and opportunities for socialisation and travel. Additionally, home education can provide a safer and more secure learning environment and allow for incorporation of religious or philosophical beliefs.
When family bonds are strengthened, children’s academic outcomes are improved along with their personal growth and development, its obvious why parents home educate.
Home education is an amazing and fulfilling option for those looking for a more personalised and effective approach to education.
If you’re reading this and already home educate your children, share your reasons in the comments below.
Miles, an ex-teacher turned business owner, home educator and co-founder of home-educating blog healthycurious.com, is on a mission to empower others to break free from societal constraints and build the life they desire. He and his wife Louise, unschool their children.
With a rebellious spirit and a strong drive for success, Miles ran a DIY record label and music publishing company for five years after leaving teaching.
As a hobby Miles began creating a large catalogue of white noise and sleep-inducing sounds under the moniker Noise Foundation. Things went a bit nuts and he now receives millions of streams annually on Spotify and Apple Music from all around the world.
In addition, Miles and Louise run Cassette Property Group, a property investment company helping others to build assets for a freer life.