Home-Schooling: The Alternative to Public Schools

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The idea of homeschooling is becoming a more popular idea every day. With the different morals, opinions and ways that parents want their children to learn, a lot of parents are opting to keep their children at home.

According to https://school.familyeducation.com, there is a growth rate of homeschooling of 7-15% a year. Currently, there are about two million children that are learning at home. The great news is that children and teens that are home-schooled still do well on standardized tests, are welcome at colleges and universities and also have a reputation for being reliable employees and self-directed learners.

Just like any decision that is to be made, there are pros and cons to homeschooling. It is up to each parent individually to decide whether the good outweighs the bad, and there is never a wrong decision when you are going with your gut.

Homeschooling presents the opportunity for educational freedom with students having the choice to study and learn what they want in a comfortable environment. The great thing is that you can decide, based on your child, whether or not they are ready for a certain curriculum standard. With that being said, a few states do have restrictive legal requirements in which educational freedom may be a bit limited.

Other benefits that are witnessed from homeschooling are emotional freedom from bullying and peer pressure, religious freedom and having a closer relationship with your family. The desire to know exactly what your child is learning every day in class and around children their age is a very strong pull.

Unfortunately, there are also downsides to homeschooling your child. To be able to successfully home-school, you must invest a lot of time into your home life and child. In married couples, one parent typically decides to either not work or go to part-time status to be able to take the time and teach, which can be a restraint of finances. It is also arguable that a child does not have as many social interactions while home-schooled and doesn’t learn as many social skills.

Local resident Marcy Loveless took on the role of home-schooling her boys. According to Loveless, it has been the most challenging decision she has made, yet the most rewarding. She states, in blog form, that the choice was made after a strong feeling that it was what God wanted her to do.

To Loveless, the most rewarding part of home-schooling is watching her boys grow as close as they have and become best friends. She believes that home-schooling has aided in bringing her family together. Also, she states that she learns just as much as her sons do and enjoys the fact that she gets to teach more in-depth in certain subjects such as religion.

Loveless also states that she enjoys the fact that they are able to get the schoolwork and piano lessons done in the morning so that her boys have a chance for more free play-time, which she believes is a very important part of child development.

There are state rules and regulations surrounding home-schooling. The law’s for Utah are straightforward and easy to follow, including:

  • A compulsory attendance age of at least six years old, but younger than 18 years old.
  • No required days of instruction.
  • The parent is solely responsible for the selection of instructional materials and textbooks.

A copy of the rules and regulations that pertain to home-schooling your children in Utah can be found at https://www.hslda.org/laws/analysis/utah.pdf.

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