When Homeschooling Fails and When It Works

In this episode, we’re looking at homeschooling and its surge since the pandemic, especially the way it has grown beyond its traditional religious. Some of the questions we explore are: Why should a parent choose homeschooling today? What are the benefits of homeschooling over public school? Safety? Avoiding negative peer pressure? Drug exposure? Ability to tailor school curriculum to the child? Ability to provide religious instruction? Is homeschooling regulated by the state? When it is not regulated, how does the lack of accountability impact students? Do homeschooling students do better or worse than students who go to public schools? Are there advantages to attending public or private school with a classroom of students over being taught individually at home? How have cultural and political considerations affected the homeschooling movement after Covid? Do the benefits of tailored instructions, support for neurodivergent children, and the capacity to outsource teaching outweigh the benefits of being taught in a classroom of other students? What are the risks of homeschooling, including limited regulation, the potential for educational neglect, gaps in social development, and ideological isolation? What about annual testing or third-party ability checks to ensure for homeschooled students? What should parents consider when deciding whether or not to homeschool their children? The episode concludes by saying that homeschooling can be an appropriate choice for many families, but it does demand honest appraisal of parental ability, willingness to obtain professional support and safeguards to protect the child. Companies mentioned in this episode: - Other People's Parenting - Habit Coach - Testing Mom - TikTok - Netflix - Psychology Today - Newsweek - The Atlantic - The New York Times - The Cut - Little House on the Prairie Museum - Extend Homeschool Tutorials - MAP test Referenced Articles: The Rise of Homeschooling: Confessions of an Educator, Calvina Ellerbe, Ph.D., Psychology Today He Was Homeschooled for Years, and Fell So Far Behind, Olga Khazan, The Atlantic Home School in Isolation What Homeschool Moms Don’t Understand, Amil Niazi, The Cut Inside a Gathering of America’s Growing Homeschool Movement, Emma Goldbert, NY Times Why Homeschooling is still on the Rise, Khaleda Rahman, Newsweek