22nd March 2013 9:00
By Blue Tutors
In a documentary on television last night about families with large numbers of children, one of these family’s had chosen to educate their children through home schooling. To me, this looked like complete madness. There was no organisation, lack of structured lessons and no discipline. Is this really beneficial?
I went to school and I loved it. It was great growing up with those in your age group and reaching all of those important milestones in life with other people. It fully prepared me for my university life and now for my subsequent career as well as leaving me with friendships which are likely to last a lifetime.
Not that I am saying that school is for everyone. There are some people who perhaps would fare better in home schooling or for whom it is necessary. While I was at school, there were a couple of extremely talented musicians of my age who travelled the world to perform and for them, home schooling was necessary for them to keep up with missed school time.
However, I believe that in some cases it is particularly unwanted and unhelpful. Children need to be around other children in order to help them with their social interaction and development which is extremely important to them in later life. Being constantly alone or perhaps only with private tutors who are much older than the child could cause them to grow up with social deficiencies or even mature too quickly.
I think children need the organisation of school in order to develop in the best way possible. They need time away from their parents to learn their independence and begin to stand on their own two feet. Personally, I don’t think home schooling can give you that and it prevents children from having the opportunity to make friends who they will need once they eventually fly the nest.