Pros and cons of school at home

November 10, 6:30 PMSeattle Homeschooling ExaminerLisa Russell

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School-At-Home Homeschooling

It's so easy to picture the kids sitting nicely at the dining room table, with a neat stack of books and an apple by Mom's teacup. For families with compliant children, and no educational objections to the merits of mimicking the schools, school-at-home might be the perfect solution.

There are several vendors of pre-packaged curriculum products. Some programs offer record-keeping, homework help and parental support via the telephone or Internet. Sonlight, a literature based curriculum, even offers a full refund guarantee. Although, to be fair, their curriculum is quite flexible and involves a lot more snuggling up with good books than sitting at a desk memorizing facts.

Reasons to do school at home

• Fear of "messing up" child's education
• No time to plan lessons coupled with a belief that lessons must be planned
• Strict reporting requirements (not an issue for homeschoolers in Washington)
• Only homeschooling temporarily
• Participating in a public school program that requires it

Reasons not to do school at home

• Your homeschooling experience won't be much better than school
• Real learning comes from experiences, not books
• School-at-home method is time consuming
• Learning is directed by an arbitrary set of goals, not parent or student's needs
• The world is a great place to explore

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