What are some reasons you might not want to homeschool?
Here we will explore the top 5 reasons you might NOT want to homeschool! As always, these might not apply to you and your family at all! This post simply explores a few of the common reasons people might not want to or not able to homeschool.
1. Lack of support
Physical Support
Some people have amazing support systems for their families.
I am completely aware that I am so lucky that I have these people in my life that I can rely on to help out. I know that many other families just don’t have these supports. Single parents, low income families, and others.
A large support system, or even a smaller one like mine, make a world of difference when it comes to homeschooling your children.
If you don’t work, then you need a spouse or someone to help financially support you. If you do work, then you need someone to watch your children when you’re working. I know a lot of parents who work just don’t have that support system in place to help watch the children outside of school hours. So, if they were to homeschool, who would watch the children while they’re at work?
Emotional support
As far as emotional support, this one can sometimes be hard to gain. Sometimes the people in your life just don’t understand something and refuse to support you emotionally in it.
To be honest my mom really wasn’t on board when I decided to homeschool. I remember her saying “but, they need to go to school don’t they?”. It kind of crushed my excitement and made me briefly question my decision. Now, 4 years later, my mom is quite proud of the progress my children have made. I even heard her tell someone proudly that “they’re homeschooled”! Looking back if I didn’t have my husbands full suport I may have made a different choice based on the opinions of others. Overall, I’m happy with how everything turned out.
Financial support
This kind of ties into the above statement. If you have to work, who is going to watch the children while you’re at work?
If you don’t have that physical support system and you need to work to financially support your family, then homeschooling might be out of the question. This sometimes means that public school is your only option.
Contrary to popular belief homeschooling actually doesn’t have to be expensive. There are so many free or cheap resources out there that can completely fulfill your child’s education. So really if the parent is determined to homeschool, finances may not be the biggest issue, but getting to work and having childcare then becomes the issue.
2. Lack of interest
Some parents are just not interested in homeschooling their children. That’s okay, because there are lots of options out there to get the job done. From public school to private school to charter schools and more! So long as your child is getting an education, and the parents are keeping the child’s best interest in mind that’s all that matters.
3. An unstable or abusive home
There are lots of different family dynamics. For some, the home life is just not a healthy and stable environment for a child to learn. For some children going to school is a safe haven, an escape from their home reality. And so in those instances, these children may be better off going to school.
4. Health reasons
While there are many different health reasons for why a family may not choose to homeschool, I’ll just touch on a couple.
Maybe the parent has a medical or mental health issue that would prevent them from homeschooling successfully. Maybe the child has a health issue (like a disability) that the parent isn’t confident in providing the proper education to fit their child’s needs. There are likely so many different reasons that would fall under the health reasons of why someone wouldn’t be able to homeschool.
5. Misconceptions about homeschooling
Photo by Ayo Ogunseinde on Unsplash
As unfortunate as it may be, there are many many misconceptions about homeschooling that people have adopted to be true.
I get it, being a fully public school educated person myself, I also believed some of these misconception. Things like, lack of socialization, kids bound to be “weird”, parents not being smart enough or having enough money.
If you want to learn more about the myths that follow homeschool around, check out this article I wrote touching on 10 myths or misconceptions about homeschooling. Educate yourself and then make a decision based on what you’ve learned!
Well, those are my top 5 reasons why you might not want to homeschool. Is there another reason why you’ve chosen to not homeschool? Share it in the comments I’d love to know!
