by Mark Borries

Created on: November 07, 2008

In a perfect world home schooling would be the best option for the education of your children to reach their full potential. You can customize the curriculum to match areas where the child excels and spend more time helping them through the areas they have problems with. Traditional schools have more than just your child to worry about, so it sometimes becomes a sink or swim situation for the child.

But how many among us have that perfect world where everything falls together in just the right place? The sheer number of factors that have to be present to make home schooling work, make it an improbability for a majority of people. There are too many outside factors that effect your ability to give the time and attention needed to home school your children.

The first factor you need is a parent that has the time necessary to devote to "school" time. Just like working from home, homeschooling requires being treated just like the child is in school. You don't have to be as strict or inflexable, but without some structure, things just tend to drift aimlessly. You need to set a time when class will begin, when and how long breaks are, and when the learning day ends. Therefore, it requires a parent to be available at the same time every day off the week, preferably without distractions.

Secondly the parent who is doing the actual teaching, needs to be fairly knowledgeable. Not saying that you have to have a Phd. to home school your child, but someone who just made it through high school is going to have a hard time preparing a child for college level classes. Even with the best teaching aids and books, if you don't have a clue about a subject your child needs, how are you going to effectively teach them.

The next and most important ingredient, is a willing and motivated child, who wants to learn. You can have the perfect homeschooling situation. A parent with the time, patience, and knowledge. An area set aside in the home just for schooling. And all the resource materials and teaching aids. But if the child doesn't want to be there and doesn't want to learn, it's going to be a constant war of wills. A child who's eager to learn and desperately wants an education, will get what they need in any learning environment, because they will find a way to get what they want. Until you find what peaks their interest, a child who doesn't want to learn, will fight it every step of the way.

You also have to factor in some type of plan to get the homeschooled child some time for intergration with children their own age. Children are more well rounded and develope better if they have time to interact with other children. Wether its going to the school for band or chorus, or being in one of the clubs or after school groups, or even playing and practicing with the sports teams. Peer interaction is the biggest thing missing with home schooling. Even if you have several children and are home schooling them all, they still need time to be with other children outside the home.

Homeschooling may work for a small minority of the population, but for the majority of us homeschooling isn't a feasible option. That doesn't mean you cant devote your time to help your child with their school work, and be active in their school. Stay involved and keep up with whats going on with your children. Just because you can't home school then doesn't mean you can't help them get the education they need.

Learn more about this author, Mark Borries.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.