Zara

Home Education: good or bad?

Home Education (aka Home Schooling) is quite a controversial topic, which some people think is amazing, while others believe that the only place that a child can (and should) learn is school. Since lockdown, there’s been a huge spike in home education numbers and it has also become somewhat normalised. So, is homeschooling good or bad?

From the age of 10, I’ve been home educated and have learned a lot from my experience. The debate of “is home education good or bad” it is definitely not a black or white subject. And this is because, unlike schools, there is no set standard for learning and so everyone’s experience is unique. 

I’ve been to home-schooling gatherings and social events, where there were homeschoolers who could not read by secondary-school age and spent all day playing video games. But equally often, there were the ones at a learning level far exceeding what would be expected of their age range. 

From my experience, home education is incredible. I have had the freedom to learn at my own pace and the time to start projects. For example, an environmental campaign with my home-educated brother that has led us to world-stage events - like the UN negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty. I know none of this would have happened had I been in school full-time. I still learn the things I should and most importantly, have the desire to learn. School can sometimes ruin the learning experience by making it a chore, and not the exciting thing that it is!

I have friends with that “will to learn” from homeschooling and when they finally decided to go back to school, they did exceedingly well.

And then for those home-schoolers who are greatly behind, it’s usually not the fault of home education. Often, they started homeschooling after the public school system failed them. Some are dyslexic, or have some other learning difficulty, that schools fail to notice. Others had a really bad teacher or were bullied. The result being that those students are put off of learning, and when their parents eventually pull them out of school, they have no desire to learn whatsoever (since it either brings back unpleasant memories, or they have it in their heads that they can’t learn).

My mother (and teacher) is very passionate about education, and was previously the chair of governors at my old primary school. So, of course she makes sure that I have the best education imaginable. And when she has gaps in her knowledge on any certain subject, she has me learn about it independently, from a website, workbook or tutor, so that what I’m learning is correct. There is a problem however, when home-educating parents don’t know a subject, and fail to teach their children it, or are too lazy to bother teaching them and they’re left to their own devices.

Sometimes, a family will become experts at one subject, and not pay attention to the other important things to learn. For example my friends, who spend most of their time doing a competitive sport, and are at the best for their age in the UK, but don’t do much academic learning like English and Maths. I can’t make up my mind about whether that is a good thing or not, but it’s definitely a point to consider.

When it comes to safeguarding, we have a homeschool inspector from the local council who visits every homeschooling family in the area, mostly to make sure that each child is safe, and also to give advice on learning resources that the may find useful. Although some families aren’t registered on the system, because they misunderstand the purpose of the inspectors job, and try to avoid them.

The final point is hard to leave out: the social aspect. Homeschooling is undeniably lonely. Especially in rural Herefordshire where all of my friends live about 30-45 minutes away, and I miss the interaction with people my age. This tends to be the leading factor for homeschoolers to go back to school (especially with teenagers), and has left me even considering that option. Although that’s not to say you don’t have friends while home educating, it’s just that you’re less likely to see them without something like school that everyone’s guaranteed to go to. On the flip side, I have found that I’m much more confident around adults, since I spend most of my time around them, and have always been treated more like their equal than someone they look down on. 

In summary, I believe that home education is an amazing option, but it depends on the situation for each family. Of course, it is up to you to decide your opinion, but I believe that most parents who take their kids out of school do so because they believe it’s what’s best for their child. From my perspective, the successful home-educating families far outweigh the ones who are struggling, and it is wonderful that home education has become a lot more socially acceptable in recent years!