Can homeschooling fix the education system?

Growing up in a society where going to school and achieving great scores has really put lots of pressure on both the parents and the students due to the fact that non-performance or having low academic grades are shunned and may end up to be stigmatized.

How many of us have thought of homeschooling?

I was once approached by a parent of one of my students that I coach who is in an elite school in Nairobi but unfortunately, the child had special need challenges coupled with some other reasons. Notwithstanding, the idea of taking time out of the normal schooling as it is in Kenya, to enroll her child to homeschooling easily took center-stage. The idea of homeschooling and I had to do some research which part of it will form the basis for my article today.

Homeschooling can play a crucial role in fixing our education system.

Homeschooling is defined as instruction in an educational program outside of established schools. Homeschooling is, in effect, a one-to-one ratio of teaching. The idea is believed to have been started in Finland.

There are reasons why people would opt to homeschool.

1. First, homeschooling is not about rejecting other people and things; it’s about making personal and positive choices for your own family. There is always a combination of reasons why parents opt to homeschool.
2. It is a viable option to those who feel that their children aren’t learning enough, are falling prey to peer pressure, or are exposed or susceptible to too much violence in school or have special needs that require special attention among other reasons.
3. There are lots of benefits which range from a student being helped individually, and teachers ensure that all students master a basic skill or concept before going to a more advanced one. This ensures that genuine learning is taking place.
4. Is your kid a gifted child with strong extracurricular skills? Here is where you get tailored learning to specific children’s educational needs – bearing in mind the strength, weaknesses, learning styles, and interests are assessed. Children are allowed to maximize learning, strengthen weaknesses and allow focus on special areas of interest or giftedness.  What a great way to build up kids who are highly motivated to learn and thus results in kids developing a love for learning.
5. How do the regular school system deal with bullying and/or peer pressure in school? During such time, you need a trained child to manage such. Homeschooled kids tend to think more independently They are also unlikely to follow the ideas of a group without first making up their own minds. College students who were homeschooled express that they feel more mature than their peers because they know how to think for themselves and aren’t influenced as readily by peer pressure.
6. Homeschooling eradicates boredom due to the continuous learning process – Since learning is specifically tailored to individuals, it makes them put consistent effort into learning. Also, kids do not have to waste time on what they already mastered while other kids are catching up.
7. Overally, homeschooling makes kids work for the knowledge, instead of grades and it does not allow the student to be under pressure to perform because the school wants to be highly ranked and end up using unorthodox means to achieve their purpose.
8. When done correctly, Homeschooling provides a safe learning environment for children who are not exposed to vices like teasing, bullying, negative peer pressure and bad influences.
9. In the current economy, hardly do you find that a family can conveniently survive on a single paycheck. This means that both parents are always away working while the children get busy in school. Homeschooling strengthens family closeness, and parents’ relationships to children are made deeper – Parents spend more time with their kids, and are able to watch their children grow.
10. Homeschooling accommodates special needs. Need I say more?
11. Homeschooling prevents children who are hyperactive or not behaving according to the norm but otherwise have good intellect, from being unfairly labeled as needing special education.

The success of anything comes within a healthy balance. And this is easily a good reason why most people will find homeschooling to be a challenge. A healthy balance for all a child’s life from the tiniest of needs to such major ones like exams. It is clear that since most parents undertaking homeschooling do swim against the tide of the systematic education system, there is a strong need for planning and psychological preparation for many on your way. For instance, for some it means that you may face funny looks, invasive questions, and even outright disapproval from people who may say that your choice to skirt the mainstream is ill conceived and irresponsible. Similarly, there will still be people who, upon seeing your children out and about in the middle of the day, will ask why they aren’t in school and feel quite comfortable expressing admiration or disapproval, loudly. This points to the outright fear of isolation. But the best  bet comes in with good planning and organisation of your time.

For many, homeschooled students have turned out to be very bright, resourceful and well adapted to the real world.