Home Schooling Information – 5 Truths You Need to Know

Making the decision to home school your child can be difficult, especially if you don’t have all the facts. That’s why home schooling information, wherever you can gather it, can be so helpful. With this in mind, here are some things you need to know before educating your child at home:

1. Public school provides socialization opportunities that your child will not have at home.

However, this doesn’t mean your child will have no social interactions. Your child will continue to have a personal network of friends and neighborhood children. They will continue to have access to athletic opportunities, such as Little League or soccer or football. And there are numerous organizations your child can join, such as the Boys & Girls Club, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and the local YMCA. Finally, most communities have community centers, church-related programs, and other opportunities for children.

Socialization shouldn’t be an issue for your home schooled child.

2. Home schooling your child doesn’t mean shutting yourself off from the world.

Not only does your child need socializing, so do you. Look for a local group of home schooling parents where you can get additional home schooling information, share your challenges, seek out solutions, and interact with like-minded adults.

3. Educating your child at home changes family dynamics.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, since often the relationship between you and your child will grow much closer. You’ll be spending more time together, learning more about each other, and experiencing good days and bad days together. You and your spouse will see a shift in your relationship as well. One of you will be teaching, which may mean giving up a job, or spending less time with other adults, or enjoying time with your child that the other will miss out on.

Yes, there will be changes. Most of them will be positive.

4. Your child can still attend college.

While your child will not receive a state issued an accredited high school diploma, you can still award your child a diploma of graduation for your home school program. Some colleges will accept these without question. Other colleges will view them skeptically and may require your child to pass a GED exam or to take some community college classes first.

5. There will be disapproval.

You will encounter the disapproval of some people. It may come from family members. It may come from friends. It may come from local educational system. Most of this disapproval is honest concern for the educational and social welfare of your child. Many people believe there’s no way to assure a quality education when you home school. Others believe that a home school child will miss out on developing healthy socialization skills.

Make sure you have a solid foundation of home schooling information before deciding whether or not to home school your child. These are legitimate concerns, but they can be easily addressed.