What exactly is Home Schooling / Educating?
Posted on 21st October 2021 at 14:01
Home Schooling/Educating has become a popular education choice since Covid19 forced distance learning on us – so what exactly is Home Schooling/Educating?
Since the Covid19 pandemic, some parents have chosen to home school/home educate permanently. So, what exactly is home schooling or home educating? Firstly, it must be noted that home-schooling is different to remote learning (which is what was happening during the pandemic). Remote learning is an education delivered remotely by school teachers, usually using an online platform. Home-schooling/educating is about a parent choosing to meet their child’s educational needs themselves, with or without the assistance of online course providers such as Course Detective Home Schooling options from Primary Prep to A Level (coursedetective.co.uk).
A parent home educating can provide a one-to-one learning environment which is not confined to the classroom. They can focus on values and behaviours, or religion and culture and are not restricted to the school curriculum. Most parents would want to educate their child with the basics of English, Maths and Science and can do so by immersing them in nature and current affairs as well as using the assistance of online providers such as Course Detective. Course Detective provides teaching resources, lesson plans and curriculum ideas. These can all of course be adapted to the child and the environment they are learning in.
A major concern for many parents who are home educating is the social and socialising development of their child. As the trend towards more parents choosing to home educate grows, more and more groups are appearing who organise meet ups for educational learning and playing. Home educating may lead to more developed relationships with older people too, as the child is more likely to spend time in adult company, than if they were at school.
Even though there are more resources becoming available for the social and support side of home educating, it is important to consider the mental health of not only the child being home educated but the parent providing the home education. There is no doubt that there is real pressure for the parent to perform well and to continue to achieve a good standard of education for their child, often while continuing a career of their own. One must also ask whether the social side of a child’s development can be hindered by not having peers surrounding them daily. However, home-schooling can certainly remove the possibility of bullying which is all too prevalent in schools and is not always adequately managed and appears to often be the reason for choosing to home school.
A home education is not for everyone, and every family is different – some children thrive at school, some do not. Some parents have found home educating to be the making of their children, others have not and have returned their child to the education system of mainstream school. If a home education is chosen it is important to remember there is support out there from friendly groups on social media to online providers like course detective, helping to find educational material.
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