Written by Jenny Catton
When children or families feel let down by the education system, some parents take the decision to home school their kids. But is leaving school to learn at home a positive experience for children?
Yes – Carla
My daughter has above average intelligence for her age but didn’t receive the support she needed in school. She found the lessons too easy and it was obvious that the other children were holding her back. Because she was so bright, she stood out from the rest of her classmates which sadly made her a target for bullying. The teachers tried their best but with a class of 30 kids, it was impossible to give each child individual attention and ultimately, the naughty children got most of the teacher’s time.
We saw that our daughter was becoming bored, frustrated and unhappy at school and we knew if we wanted things to change, we’d have to take control of the situation ourselves. It wasn’t an easy decision but my husband quit his job in order to home school our daughter and it’s turned out to be the best thing we ever did.
Now, our daughter is much happier, more confident and loves learning again. Home schooling offers so many benefits from providing a more flexible timetable to being able to teach your children the moral values that are important to your own family. As parents, it’s also given us a much greater role in our daughter’s education.
Of course, it takes a lot of time and commitment but for some children home schooling is definitely a much more positive experience than learning at a traditional school.
No – Duncan
I was home schooled and although at the time I thought it was great – no uniform or early starts – I now wonder what I missed out on.
School isn’t just about lessons, it’s also an environment in which children learn to interact with one another and develop social skills. This is something I missed by being home schooled and as a result, I now find large groups intimidating and often find it hard to make myself heard in the workplace.
When you’re home schooled, you tend to only have one teacher for all subjects. In my case it was my father. He was very interested in science-based subjects and this was reflected in the education I received. I feel that I didn’t have the opportunity to learn as much about other subjects such as music or art and worry that my education was rather unbalanced as a result.
I know that some parents turn to home schooling when their child is facing problems at school. And although it’s natural to want the best for your child, I sometimes wonder if home schooling just teaches children to run away from problems. After all, adult life can be hard too and if you don’t learn to deal with difficult situations whilst at school, it can be much harder to adapt to the ups and downs of adult life.
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