Schooling Decisions Without The Deafening Hum

There’s no doubt that, for a family, wading through all of the white noise about schooling your child or children at home can be intimidating. Aside from the extremes at the periphery of the topic, there are some very real differences between traditional schools and homeschooling. While, of course, the final choice is one made by the family, here are some practical points to consider, each one honestly represented to allow some balanced perspective without all the chaff.

Choosing the right technological limits

The simple fact that you’re reading this article means that you appreciate the practical use of the Internet, though it certainly doesn’t mean that you allow your children free – or any – access to a web filled with much more than helpful tips on family living. For those weighing whether or not homeschooling is the best fit for their family, defining what aspects of technology should be limited and which should be embraced is an often overlooked point.

Even those families with the most up-to-date technology and Internet access struggle with the dilemma of wanting to use technology wisely and also promote a healthy lifestyle that stays clear of the often dulling distractions of modern technology. Fortunately, this isn’t an either/or proposition, but one of striking a balance and being prepared to adjust that balance as circumstances require.

The truth about socialization

So what do seat belts and concern for healthy social skills have in common? It’s instructive to recall how wearing of seatbelts was once widely seen as a safety risk. Thirty years or more ago, most people knew “knew” of someone who died in a car accident because they wore a seatbelt. Really. The apocryphal tales insisted that the individual involved in the accident wasn’t able to escape flood, fire, rabid skunks, and etc. because of the restraint. Enter the contemporary claim that homeschooling harms socialization. With no more explanation, do you see the problem with both scenarios – with both myths?

Just as one example fails to account for the infinitely more likely factors such as becoming a human projectile, the other assumes that traditional schooling provides for desirable socialization and that homeschooling is completely absent of any opportunity for human interaction. Is it really unlikely that, by homeschooling, you’ll not easily be able to plan for healthy socialization with a child’s age and intellectual peers? Just as the seatbelt argument ignores the possibilities that arise from not wearing a safety belt, the homeschool argument ignores the social options, including boy/girl scouts, sports, and other extra-curricular activities, exist outside of school.