Homeschooling: Parents Must Focus on These Pros & Cons

The stats show that in the last 5 years, alternative schooling methods in India have gained popularity. Irrespective of the pros and cons of homeschooling,  many urban parents are migrating from traditional brick-and-mortar schools to personalised comfortable online schools or homeschooling.

The major reason for this shift is COVID -19, but after offline schools have been resumed some people have found an alternative method of schooling more comfortable and rewarding that they’ve taken a permanent turn towards this new system.

Some most common reasons given by parents are:

“My child will be able to save so much time commuting.”

“I’ll be able to give him/her personalised attention.”

“My child will never miss a single topic of learning.”

“I can prevent my child from any virus/disease/infection”

If these are the most desirable reasons for switching to homeschooling there must be some more relevant questions you must answer before making it a viable option.

Related: How do I Homeschool my child?

Is Homeschooling legal in India?

Even before anyone conceived the notion of diverting from a traditional teaching and learning system one must know the legal rules of schooling in India.

According to RTE Act 2009, the government has not created any specific column/section mentioning homeschooling or online schooling but clearly has stated a compulsory formal education for all children of 6-14 years old.

So, the government will not interfere as soon as the child is gaining education either from home or school.

Benefits Of Homeschooling That May Change Your Perspective

Pranav Gupta, a parent from Bengaluru says, “My wife and I have to work from home jobs, and our child’s academic performance has improved subsequently since the time we have permanently opted for homeschooling.”

Sunanda, Mumbai based parent says, “It’s all about managing time when you’re opting to teach your kid at home. Things are not the same as a traditional school but we aim to focus on son’s badminton practice and learning from home has given him some relief from a hectic schedule.”

There are obvious reasons for a parent to homeschool their child. Check out the list below and if these are the things you would prefer for your child’s education you should consider the option:

• Personalised learning
• More creative and multiple approaches to teaching
• Solid concept building
• Can’t miss a single topic ever
• Flexibility of time
• No peer pressure or bullying
• Can be beneficial to children with special needs
• Better management of intellectual property in case of gifted students
• The child can nurture his/her passion by enrolling on a special class like some sports arts, etc.,
• Research-based learning attitude for life
• Easy crosslinking of the subjects
• Self-learning attitude
• The goal toward the mastery of each subject
• Self-discipline
• Time to explore other activities in which there are more interested
• Freedom to learn from surrounding
• Experiential learning
• Deeper bonding with parents
• Saves the extra cost of education
• Saves extra commuting time

Challenges

Some parents may sound dreamy, but everyone’s lifestyle and ideologies don’t match with homeschooling ideologies. Here we are adding some cons of homeschooling, Check out them below:

• Homeschooling may incur social anxiety in children.
• One may require external help as everyone is not a master of each subject.
• Can be overwhelming when committing to home teaching and managing their engagements.
• Exposure to limited things only.
• Managing equipment and labs can be costly and burdensome.
• The parents have to be enthusiastic and positive all the time.
• May not learn to adjust to the social atmosphere, how to work in a team, how to negotiate, etc.
• Learning gaps.

Related: Fundamentals of Homeschooling

Final thoughts

Homeschooling in India is becoming more popular with many parents choosing it as a more comfortable and rewarding alternative to traditional schools. However, there are still some questions about how it works and what benefits it offers.

Homeschooling, unschooling, boarding school or a regular traditional school, the choice is quite subjective.

Some parents may have a dream of making their child an Olympic champion, for them the best option is lucrative wherein if some parents want their child to be a politician, a regular school will work for them and few may be aspiring for their child to be a researcher they must choose for a personalised teaching strategy.

Just because someone’s friend has opted for home school doesn’t mean it will cater for one the same way. Whether the educational trend suits you or not depends on your demand and lifestyle. Therefore, one must read the list of pros and cons of homeschooling before choosing it.