Home Schooling

I admit I don't know much about home schooling.  I have never tried it as a replacement to the standard method of schooling for my kids.  I do try to educate my kids at home, after school: Teach them facts, skills, habits, values. Show them how to behave by providing an imperfect model of behavior.  Try very hard not to damage their good qualities.

But some people do go all the way, and take their kids completely out of the education system, to take full responsibility for raising them, including the education aspect.  Here are a few thoughts:

Pro home schooling:

• Home schooling can give 1 on 1 attention.  Almost by definition, the mass education system doesn't do that.
• Home schooling can give ongoing attention, which enables noticing of changes in the long term. A bit like my grandmother's schooling.  She had the same teacher from 5th to 12th grade.  It is clear to me that continuity can be a great advantage, being able to notice changes in the behavior of the child - either positive or negative; being able to see temporary behavior in long-term context.
• In home schooling the teacher (parent) has the most intense motivation.  Can't beat that.

Cons:

• Socialization suffers.  There is an advantage in meeting other kids in the school settings.  It's true that sometimes home-school parents organize themselves groups, so the kids are not isolated.  Still, the schoolyard with dozens or even hundreds of kids is a different place.  Some may say that for the children, mixing with other kids who are not friends is an unnecessarily stressful experience; some may say it's an experience necessary for modern life.  It's a mixed blessing.
• No detachment between educator and educatee. The detachment that is possible at normal schools may be an advantage in some situations, but it might deteriorate to alienation.  So again - mixed blessing.
• It's harder to ensure pedagogic competence in home-schooling settings, but who can ensure that in the normal education system?
• It's harder to ensure being up to date with research, but who is up to date with research in the normal education system?
• Discipline
• It is easier to establish discipline when the teacher is an uninvolved adult
• It is easier to manipulate a parent than an uninvolved adult
• Urgency vs. Importance
• There is often something that looks more urgent for the parent to do than teaching the kid, so it often happens that learning suffers
• There is often something that looks more urgent for the kid to do, than learning.  Unschoolers may claim that whatever the kids do that is meaningful for them, is valuable learning.  I can relate to this thinking, but I can also see how some study subjects don't come up naturally in the normal course of the kid's life and interests.  For example, it seems to me that learning the multiplication table is very useful, but I can't imagine a situation when it will just "come up," unless it is brought up by a teacher/tutor/parent.

So, it seems there are more cons than pros, but most of the cons are fuzzy or double edged, while the pros are clearer.

It's up to the parents to decide.