Pros

• Children can study and learn at their own pace- they won’t have to rush to keep up with others’ learning speed, or sit around waiting for others to catch up.
• Children can focus more on areas they find interesting- for example, if they want to explore a topic in more depth, then the schedule can be changed to allow for this.
• Your life isn’t dictated by the school calendar- so if you want to take an off-season holiday (which is far cheaper, among other things!), you can, if you want to take a trip to the zoo on a Tuesday, you can, and if you want to learn through the summer but have a long break at Christmas, you can!
• There aren’t the worries about your child being bullied (or indeed, bullying!), there is no pressure for your child to do things because their classmates are (not least, experimenting with smoking, drugs etc), and they can find their own identities, without feeling they should follow all the latest trends for fear of “friends” making fun of them.
• You will be closer as a family, because you will be spending more time together- rather than spending more time apart than you do as a family!
• Your children will be well-rested, and will therefore take in much more- studies have shown that attempting to concentrate early in the morning can be devastating to the amount a child learns (especially if they are not “morning people”)- with homeschooling, classes can fit around their natural sleep patterns. On top of this, they also have time to relax in the evening, rather than spending hours on homework!
• Homeschooled children can accomplish in a few hours what a typical class takes a week or more to cover- this is not only down to waiting for the whole class to catch up (as mentioned earlier), but also because time isn’t wasted by Little Jimmy being told off for staring out of the window, or Little Lizzie chatting to her friend, etc.
• You have control over what and how your children learn- the main aspects of this being if you are particularly religious, and wish for certain things to be included (or indeed discounted) from every day education, then this is far easier if you are homeschooling, and also with the controversial subject of sex education (how young to start teaching children about sex, and how in-depth to make the subject at various ages- currently, there is talk of teaching this to children as young as five!)
• You are preparing your children for the “real world”- rather than an essentially false school environment, they get to see the everyday stresses and strains of life- such as working to earn a living, paying bills, dealing with money, balancing chores with learning etc.
• Homeschooled children effortlessly exceed the minimum standards of education, where the majority of schools struggle to reach them- this is probably down to the time constraints (as mentioned in previous points), and the very large class sizes (most classes now are somewhere between 25 and 35 pupils).
• Homeschooling parents have the true interests of their children as INDIVIDUALS at heart, rather than having to follow a “one size fits all” education pattern.
• Better socialisation- children have day-to-day contact with a wide range of people, such as the postman, the baker, young children, a range of school-age children, the elderly, shopkeepers, policemen- the list is endless!
• You, as a parent, are learning too! You have to research topics that your children are learning, getting the newest and most up-to-date information, and you will learn things that you didn’t know before, and indeed re-learn things that you had forgotten!
• Your child will learn a far wider range of things- rather than just learning academic subjects, they can try their hand at any number of things, like sewing, gardening, languages, animal care- again, the list is endless!
• There are more opportunities for “hands-on learning”- activities which are outside the context of books are very much essential to a child’s learning process. Trips to the park, the museum, the zoo etc can be a great time to educate your child.
• You can greatly reduce unnecessary testing- there is no legal requirement for your child to be formally tested at any point in their education- and at the same time, you can test your child when you want to. You also have the option of helping your child to choose qualifications which will suit them- and whether to study for them at a school or college, or by distance learning.
• You can spend far more time outside- the vitamin D from sunlight will help your immune systems, as well as making you all feel more cheerful!
• Children will have much more time in which to pursue outside interests, and there are also opportunities for you and your child to help out in the community in the daytime- for example helping in a day centre, or perhaps helping to maintain your local public gardens!
• Your children get to make friends with people who share their interests, just like we do as adults, rather than being friends with people just because they happen to be the same age as them!
• Life is much more relaxed- there is no rushing to get to school on time, no getting stuck in “school run” traffic, and no rushing from class to class.

Cons

• Learning outside of a school environment will consume a LOT more of your time, due to the time you need to spend planning, researching, preparing, and indeed teaching!
• Financial restraints- one parent will often have to forgo full-time employment in order to homeschool (though some parents do homeschool and work full-time). You will also find that you spend more on materials for classes. However, this may be balanced out by money saved on lunches, uniforms, the latest trainers etc!
• Being with your children 24/7 may be difficult and draining for you if you value “me-time”. It is hard work, and a huge responsibility.
• You WILL get negative comments and criticism from people who can’t or won’t understand why you homeschool, and people who think that they have a given right to tell you what you should and shouldn’t do! You may find that people are unwilling to engage in open debate about your reasons behind homeschooling- they often use a number of “weak points” (which aren’t weak points at all if you are willing to explain them!), or “one-upmanship”- you need to be very strong and sure about your decision to cope with this.
• Homeschooling can put a great deal of pressure on the family during hard times- such as death, or illness- but these things are a part of life, and homeschooling is about teaching life skills! Also, some homeschooling parents have said that they have found it to be a stabilising factor during major life events.
• It is much easier to become shy as a homeschooling parent.
• If you “fail” at homeschooling, you only have yourself to blame.
• It can be hard to keep up with routine chores when much of the week is devoted to schooling. If you think of homeschooling as a full-time job, and organise the rest of your life around it, you should be OK!
• A lot of people perceive homeschooling as reducing a child’s chances to interact socially with others- as long as you are willing to encourage your child to participate in extra-curricular activities (for example scouts/guiding, sports etc), this isn’t actually an issue at all.
• Exams (should you wish your child to take them) are harder to arrange, but far from impossible- they can usually be arranged through a local exam centre (which can be found by speaking to the exam board), or by distance learning.
• You may find that you need to juggle the education of children of different ages if you are homeschooling more than one child.
• You won’t get the independent reassurance that your child is doing a good job, like you would from a regular school.
• Your child will have to learn to motivate themselves, which can be difficult, as we all know!
• You may have some difficulty feeling comfortable in your role as “teacher”, especially initially, and you may find that you are constantly worrying about the educational experiences that you are providing for your child.

I hope this helps somewhat if, like me, you are trying to decide whether to homeschool. It is as exhaustive a list as I have managed to compile from hours upon hours upon hours of reading up on the subject, so hopefully I haven’t missed anything! If you think I have, please do tell me and I’ll add it!