Homeschooling

Is there a danger that a child who is home schooled might miss out on socialising with their age group and thus have less friends than a regular school goer? It’s a valid concern, but there is much that can be done to ensure a child does not become isolated. Enrolling kids in extra curricular activities, sports lessons, church groups, music and art lessons, will ensure they meet and socialise with kids of their age. Where one lives can also be influential: some residential areas are particularly family friendly, guaranteeing there will be plenty of other kids around to play with.
Advantages of Homeschooling
Teaching their children to read and write can be an immensely rewarding and bonding experience for parents. It allows parents to spend far more time with their children at a tender young age, with the potential to make learning fun and flexible. Lessons don’t have to be conducted at home: they can learn outdoors, even at the beach, and timings can be fitted around one’s lifestyle.
As Tiffany Knowles, a homeschooling parent and the founder of Cayman Homeschoolers, says: “You can homeschool around big life events, like moving or having a baby. If children work hard and get done with schoolwork early, then they can go out and play, or be off school for the rest of the day. There are no set timetables, and every outing can be turned into a learning experience.”
There is no big rush to leave the house in the morning, no time wasted sitting in rush hour traffic, and music, art or other extra curricular activities can be booked during the day, when other kids are in school.
Cayman also offers a growing number of after-school programmes (see previous page) in which homeschooled children can participate and an increasing choice of activities where they can socialise with their peers in regular schools.
As the homeschooling community is grows children in Cayman, are regularly invited to participate in spelling bees, science fairs and swim meets.
Disadvantages of Homeschooling
Whilst for some families homeschooling makes financial sense, for others the opposite is true: if one parent stays home to teach, there is one less income to support the family.
Depending on the curriculum chosen, the preparation and planning of lessons can make it a full time occupation for the teaching parent.
Home schooling gives the homeschooling parent quality time with their kids, but it also means little ‘alone’ time.
For families with multiple kids, it can be challenging to provide quality teaching to different ages at the same time.
Social interaction is an essential part of education and growing up. Children in the conventional school system are surrounded by other children of the same age and tend to make friends easily through school. Homeschooled kids don’t have that opportunity, so it requires more effort to ensure they can meet and play with kids in their age group.
Being a small community, the resources available to homeschoolers are more limited than they would be in other countries, and the size of the homeschooling community is also smaller.
For parents who choose the homeschooling route, one of the toughest aspects of it can be the questions, attitudes and misconceptions non-homeschoolers will have about their choice.

Read More

6 Steps To Start Homeschooling

https://www.thehomeschoolmom.com/homeschool-help/getting-started-homeschooling/

Benefits of Homeschooling: How It Could Make Kids Smarter

https://www.raisesmartkid.com/6-to-10-years-old/5-articles/50-benefits-of-homeschooling-how-it-could-make-kids-smarter