1. Children with disabilities or gifted children can often be given a better education outside the school system.
2. Protecting children from perceived/real threats in the public schools, such as bullying, sex, drugs, peer pressure.
3. In the kindergarten years children can benefit from one on one teaching in the home. Many four and five year olds hate school. They cry each morning, can’t make friends and then get a negative label which they carry with them through their years in the school system.
What about academics? Surprisingly, children who get lessons at the kitchen table from mom and dad are pushed ahead in their studies.
A study published in the Canadian Journal of Behaviour Science found that children aged five to ten who were homeschooled with a structured curriculum surpassed their public school peers on standardized tests by .5 to 2.2 grade levels in math and reading. A Fraser Institute study found the same thing.
This research gave me some peace of mind and from my own observations I see my grandchildren Ibraheem and Yusuf’s home-school experience has been very positive. In fact homeschooling has allowed them many hours to read, free play, and happily engage with the adults around them. Ibraheem at 7 was reading the Toronto Star and at 9 his vocabulary and knowledge base has already surpassed most elementary school children. I find that really amazing.
Many people criticize homeschooling for lack of socializing. And I too worried about this for my grandchildren. But studies show homeschooled children socialize more as they have many free hours in the week. My daughter’s children meet up with fellow homeschoolers on a daily basis to play sports, ice skate, hike, attend arts classes, library sessions, and endless field trips. Sometimes they spend so much time socializing I wonder if there is any learning going on.