Negative Effects of Homeschooling

Homeschooling in and of itself doesn't have any negative effects. Learning is learning no matter where it takes place. However, the way parents manage the homeschooling experience can be a net positive or negative.

Abusive or neglectful parents are often held up as examples of the negative effects of homeschooling. This is bad parenting, not bad homeschooling. Homeschooling doesn't cause the abuse any more than sending children to traditional school causes abuse. Homeschooling may give a little extra "cover" for these horrible parents, delaying investigation by authorities, but they are the exception in the homeschool community rather than the rule.

Some will say having an "under-educated" parent teaching her child is one of the disadvantages of homeschooling. They insist the child's education will suffer. Of course, this does happen and it's unfortunate. However, homeschooling statistics show, if the parent is willing to work, study, research, and seek out the help they need, the child can recieve an excellent education. The parent in this situation needs to honestly assess their commitment to home education.

Some will say lack of social skills is a negative effect of homeschooling. Yes, there are some homeschoolers with poor social skills, but there are also traditional school students with poor social skills. Do we blame the schools? No, the blame eventually comes back to the parents.

Homeschooling is a blend of parenting and teaching. Overall, when you hear bad things about homeschooling, they are isolated incidents resulting from other (mostly parenting) issues outside the scope of homeschooling.

Providing a quality home education takes commitment and work. If parents are willing to roll up their sleeves and put in the time and effort as a parent AND a teacher I can't think of any better way for children to learn and grow into productive adults than homeschooling.

Where to find research against homeschooling.

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