Homeschooling Pros and Cons

Are you curious what some of the pros and cons of homeschooling are? Check out the list below and add your own pro or con in the comment section below!

Join our brand new Facebook group!

Help build and become part of a community of homeschoolers where you can share resources, ideas, and advice!

join: Homeschool Resources+ideas+advice

Pros of Homeschooling

Let’s start with the pro’s of homeschooling as these usually outweigh the con’s.

1. Socialization

A lot of people might consider this a con. But I believe it is a pro through and through!

Homeschooled kids have the opportunity to socialize regularly with people of all ages and not just the children that are of the same age and grade as they would in traditional school settings.

In my opinion, homeschooled kids are often better socialized than their traditional school peers. !

“…studies on social, emotional, and psychological development show homeschool students perform statistically significantly better than those in conventional schools”
– National Home Education Research Institute

2. Flexibility

A huge pro is the flexibility that homeschooling can offer! You can schedule and shape everything in your homeschool to fit the needs of your family. From when and how you do the teaching to where you do the teaching. Everything, for the most part, is at your discretion.

Another schedule flexibility benefit is being able to go places when everyone else is in school! We love the empty parks and malls during school hours.

3. Self-paced

When your child is in a traditional school setting they will need to work at the same pace as their peers. The pace could be too fast and your child could get left behind, or the pace could be too slow and your child is being held back.

With homeschooling you get to set the pace and adjust it as needed. If your child is struggling with a concept you get to slow down and explore other learning methods until they understand. If your child is grasping concepts very quick you can move through them faster instead of dwelling on things they’ve already mastered.

4. Better Education

With all the resources and information at a homeschoolers disposal it isn’t far fetched to say that we can provide a better education for our children.

I choose curriculum that I have vetted and trust to teach my child everything they need to learn. I have found my child learns concepts advanced compared to our local public school kids at the same age.

Check out our curriculum picks for 23′-24′

We get to make sure our child is understanding concepts being taught and help them if they aren’t. We get to help the child explore their interests and make learning fun and engaging for them.

5. Self-confidence

I have heard time and time again that one of the biggest pros for homeschooling is that the child feels more comfortable and confident to explore their interests without worrying what their peers think of them.

6. Strong Relationship Bonds

I have heard of many homeschooling parents feel like public school can potentially put a divide between them and their children. The children spend less time with their family and more time around children whose families have different values and world views than their own.

I agree with them! When my oldest attended public school it was evident that she was becoming more withdrawn from our family, once we pulled her back out her relationship bonds grew stronger.

7. Less Illnesses

Do homeschool kids get sick significantly less often? Significantly, maybe, maybe not. Homeschoolers do still get sick, but they don’t tend to get every single illness that floats through the schools. I believe we need germs and illnesses to build our immune systems and grow into healthy adults. Homeschoolers do still get sick enough to build those strong immune systems!

8. Customization

This is one of my favorite pros of homeschooling! Once you figure out how your student learns best you can customize their education to best suit them.

One of the ways I customize my children’s homeschool is by pulling curriculum from different companies that I feel are the best fit for my children. I don’t feel compelled to use a “box curriculum” for my family as I haven’t found a box curriculum where every subject provided meets the needs of my children.

Check out our curriculum picks for 23′-24′

9. Behavioral Issues

Many people have had children enrolled in traditional schools whose children expressed behavioral issues. Once the parent pulled the child out of school they were able to work more closely with the child in resolving the behavior issues. Whether the derived from anxiety, peer pressure, academic pressure, disorders, or another reason, the parent was able to address the issues more closely.

Cons of homeschooling

Before we jump into the cons I wanted to express that some of these might be seen as cons for some people while other people may not see these as cons at all! Also, not all of these will apply to every family.

As mentioned above, for our family, the pros heavily outweigh the cons.

1. Less “me time”

Having all of my children home everyday, with the added responsibility of teaching them, I undoubtedly have less “me time” than I would if they attended traditional school.

My “me time” most days looks like sitting, reading a book while my kids are in one of their activities for an hour.

This is the biggest con for me because I just don’t have the support system to help provide me with many breaks. With that said, I definitely don’t need 7+ hours of “me time” every day while they would be away at school either.

2. More Parent Involvement

This is one that some will and some won’t find as a con.

Homeschool takes a lot of time and effort on the parent’s part. We are fully responsible for our child’s education. I know some parents who are just not up for the involvement that homeschooling requires.

When children are sent to traditional school, most of the learning is hands-off for the parent.

3. Always in the Car

Much of homeschooling happens at home, but plenty of homeschooling takes place outside the home too! From activities to meet-ups to field trips I feel like we are always driving somewhere.

4. Always Cleaning the House

When your children are always running through the house, dirtying dishes, and making messes, it can sometimes be hard to keep up with keeping the house clean.

Yes, I think it’s important to teach your children to clean up after themselves but nonetheless the cleaning is much greater than if they were away for the day. Also the “free time” to clean is next to none.

5. Giving Up a Second Income

Many parents choose to give up their career in order to stay home and focus on homeschooling their child. This can be a big con for a family if they are used to having two incomes.

On another note lots of people do work full-time and still successfully educate their children. It all just depends on your circumstances and preferences.

Pros and Cons of Homeschooling

These are some of the homeschooling pros and cons that I have either experienced myself or personally heard from fellow homeschoolers.

Do you have any pros or cons of homeschooling that aren’t on this list? Leave a comment and let me know!