Like most things, homeschooling has both its pros and its cons. In some situations, the pros outweigh the cons and in some cases the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. It really depends on the students, their parents, and how dedicated they are to homeschooling successfully. In general, however, these are some of the advantages and disadvantages of homeschooling.

Ironically, educating a child at home is not nearly as expensive as educating them in a public school. Nevertheless, homeschooling is more expensive for families because they have to bear all of the costs themselves. Also, effective homeschooling will usually demand that at least one parent (usually the mother) stays at home with the children. This takes away a possible source of additional income from the family. Thus, families looking to educate their children at home should consider whether they can afford to spend several hundred dollars a year on books and supplies while sacrificing the additional income. If not, they may want to consider private school. In the long run, it may even be cheaper as it will give the mother the opportunity to work.

The classic critique of homeschooling is that it prevents children from socializing with their peers and that homeschoolers are therefore lacking in social skills. While this is certainly true in many cases, it does not have to be. There are a number of support groups out there that allow homeschooling families to get together for activities. Also, many homeschooling families are members of local churches. This gives children yet another way to make friends and socialize with them. If families make socialization a priority, it will not really be an issue later on.

The opposite is also true, however. The relative isolation that homeschoolers will feel will protect them from numerous negative influences in the public schools. While some feel it is important for children to be exposed to the "real world" at an early age, most homeschooling families would say that it is better to wait until their children are more mature, and better able to stand up to these pressures.

Many professional educators condemn homeschooling because they say that "amateur" mothers will inevitably do a worse job than "professionals". Given the ever worsening standards of public education, this argument does not hold much credibility among many. Nevertheless, it can be countered by saying that much small class size and knowledge (not test) centered education give homeschoolers the advantage. Statistically, this has proved true. Homeschoolers as a group consistently outperform other students in all forms of standardized testing. Of course, a few people will inevitably slip through who were poorly educated, but more and more that is the reality of public schools, more so than in home schools.

Learn more about this author, Andrew Murphy.
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