Is Home-Schooling the Right Choice for Your Children?

When considering the future of your children in the years to come, one of the most important things to consider is their education. A child's education is one of the most crucial elements to determining how far they can go in life, and instill in them a drive to succeed and do their best. 

There are many options to consider in this process, after all, on average, the majority of the first eighteen years of our life is dedicated to learning. The majority of kids in the US go to public schools in their district, others choose private or prep schools for their children, still others choose to home-school. Home-schooling has been around for a long time, however it has been largely un-practiced here until more recent years. I myself was home-schooled, and I'm writing this for any parent out there who is able to consider it as an option.

I believe that if it is at all possible, every child should be home-schooled through most of the elementary grades at least (and it should be taken into account that just as home-schooling may not be a viable option for every parent so it is for every child). My reason for this is because when kids are young I think it is important for them to learn the basis of right and wrong, moral values, confidence in themselves, and at least the beginnings of who they are as people under the guidance of their parents, in the safety trial-and-error grounds of their home. Isn't it better for them to learn these elementary things from you as the parent versus a kid on the playground? When your child is at school, they are separated from you for the entire majority of their day, and are thus learning not just their ABC's, but things about life from teachers and their peers. When the foundation upon which the rest of their lives is built is being formed in these first eighteen years of life, as I parent, I would want to know that my children are strong emotionally, and are prepared to take on the world as successful, happy adults.

The beauty of this process is that it is entirely flexible and customizable for you and your child. You choose a curriculum, you decide how much work your child does, for how long and how often, and you can infuse the basic subjects with trips to museums, enrolling them in sports, art or music classes etc. Those outings are a very important part of home-schooling because they provide an opportunity to meet new people, try new things and learn important social skills.

To give you somewhat of an example of how this whole thing works, I'll outline my childhood experience as a home-schooler. 

I was home-schooled from kindergarden until eighth grade when my parents talked to us and we all agreed that we wanted to be public-schooled the rest of the way.

A typical day started at around nine AM. My mom kept a notebook for each of us that detailed the assignments for the day (this is something that anyone home-schooling should do because you never know when you may be required to show records of your child's education), and then it was our job to go through and complete them.

The most important decision you will make in the home-schooling process is choosing a curriculum. We used the Alpha Omega curriculum. The curriculum encompasses all the major subjects for grades K-12 including extras like art or foreign languages. Each subject has ten paperback books (called pacs) and we took four subjects math, language arts, history and geography and science. So to complete a grade you would in essence work through forty books. This may seem short, but the content in the curriculum put me far ahead of the public school curve, allowing me to skip a grade.

So, why did my parents stop home-schooling my brother and I? Well, home-schooling only works if you have the time, patience, and if you enjoy the process as a whole. I personally, was ready for a change and I was looking for opportunities for college and to possibly apply to a prep school.

Through the curriculum we used, I had the opportunity to go all the way through twelfth grade. During the high-school grades, you can switch to their online school. Online high-schools are also available in some states for free providing full high-school credit, full time support and in some cases a laptop computer.

In either case their are opportunities whether you choose to home-school through to twelfth grade or not. In the end you have to consider your schedule, you and your child's personality, and the length of time you would wish to home-school.