Disadvantage of Home Schooling

While there are many advantages to Home Education, there can also be a disadvantage of home schooling, so don't expect it all to be smooth sailing. Like all things in life, there is a downside that has to be seriously considered when you explore this education option. Though one man's bane may be another man's boon, there are certain common reasons for concern.

The responsibility of teaching your child rests solely on you. You cannot blame anyone else if your child is seen wanting in the skills that his peers excel in. If your child cannot do the things that are expected from other children of his age group, it reflects badly on you as an educator as well as a parent.

A critical part of Home Schooling is the time that you have to spend with your children. You may have to give up your friends, shopping and other entertainment and dedicate all these to your child. This can become frustrating at times. You have to learn to take the aggravation with equanimity and wait for the rewards with patience and enthusiasm.

A parent who is dedicated to tutor his or her child single handedly does not realistically have much time left over for a career. This means that the family is robbed of an additional source of income. In turn, this may lead to stress over finances. You will have to train yourself to live on a strictly controlled budget. While this is a matter of habit, it does need some getting used to.

You cannot take a break when you feel like it. Feelings of guilt will assail you if you neglect studies just because you are feeling blue. You also fear that the child will take advantage of the situation. Even when you have given homework, you have to be around to give a helping hand. This means that anytime your child is around you, you are on duty! For some, this may mean working every waking hour.

The child studying at home also needs to get out more. This comes from staying at home all the time. Interaction with adults and other children needs to be given special attention.

Children tutored at home cannot develop in the various directions that are open to children attending public schools. To achieve that kind of exposure, you either have to be a super-parent skilled in everything, or enroll your child to various activities.  This may not only prove too costly, but also be counter-productive.

It is sometimes observed that home schooled children do not do as well in SAT tests as their school-going counterparts. Without a  diploma or a GED, some students find it difficult to get into the military.

Lastly, if you envision enrolling your child to a public school, there may be a certain period of emotional as well as social  adjustment. A child who is used to being at home for the whole day and enjoying so much of uncontained freedom may have to undergo  some distressing emotional upheavals before he or she gets used to
the rigors of a regular school life.

Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate
any plan or system respecting it, I can only say that
I view it as the most important subject which we as a people may be engaged in.
~ Abraham Lincoln