Home schooling - Pros and Cons

Some teens do not attend school, yet they still get an all rounded education. In this blog post, we'll be finding out what their lives are like.

Most parents of home-schoolers want their children to be free of the national school system because they think that it is too stressful and grades-driven. They also prefer their child's education to have a greater emphasis on family and moral values. However, home schooling also has its disadvantages.

Pros:

• The best teachers are parents. Parents can guide their children instead of having the child turn to their peers to solve problems, which sometimes result in trouble.
• Parents are also able to give their full attention to the child, while a teacher has to teach more than 20 pupils at once.
• Not exposed to negative influences in school (e.g. vulgarities)
• Flexible time schedule

Cons:

• No Edusave money
• Students home schooled at secondary level get no student concession for public transport.
• Some experts say that home schooling potentially limits the teen's opportunities for socialisation.

Extracts from IN article - Matthew Lim, 13, aspires to be a American Olympic gold medallist. Unlike other teen swimmers of his age group, who juggles the tough training tuition and homework, Matthew balances between both swimming and studies. Matthew is a home-schooled child, and thus has a more flexible time table to allow him to have more time to swim. Studies take up four hours each day from Monday to Friday, leaving him with plenty of time to pursue his hobbies and of course, swim.

In my opinion, home schooling is good for different children. For a child who would like to pursue academic qualifications, I believe going for the national school system is a good choice. In a case like Matthew's, he aspires to be the next Michael Phelps, as such, he will need a more flexible schedule and thus home schooling is more suited for him.