Have you ever considered home-schooling your children? If this is something you’re thinking about, this blog will look at the challenges and benefits of home-schooling. It will also show how Exemplar Education can be the perfect partner in helping keep you confident that you’re providing the best possible maths and English support to your children!   Many families feel that home-schooling offers substantial advantages, as they seek out an education style that’s not based on minimum standards and a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach for their child.   There are plenty of benefits to home-schooling, which include:  
  • Academic flexibility – There is the opportunity to be flexible and to work to the standard of your child. If your child is ahead or behind, challenging or gifted, you can implement flexible learning techniques to suit them.
  • Efficient learning – If you are home-schooling your child there is obviously a low student-teacher ratio, so your child can benefit from your complete attention throughout their lessons!
  • Meaningful learning – There is an argument that home-schooling can be more meaningful as you are avoiding what’s known as ‘teaching to the test’. Essentially, this means it provides more opportunity for creative learning and focusing on the methods that suit your child best.
  • Choice of pace and approach – As you are now the teacher, you are in charge of the learning schedule so you can prioritise your child’s individual way of learning (and no one knows them better than you!) – for example, is their focus best in the morning? If so, you could ensure that their National Curriculum study is scheduled for the morning, whilst any outdoor projects are scheduled for the afternoon.
  • Family environment – It can be beneficial to teach your child in a family environment, as this can offer the best foundation for their social development as well as values and faith development!
  Some challenges to home-schooling include:  
  • Potential for isolation – Despite there being numerous home-schooling groups, resource centres and email lists, home-schooling can be an isolating experience for you and your child, as you both may not have as much opportunity to integrate with others. This can be particularly true for your child, as they may miss out on building strong friendships that can grow from a school environment.
  • Organisation and record-keeping – Children who go to school follow a schedule organised for them. As a home-schooling parent you will be fully responsible for organising your child’s schedule! As we mentioned previously, whilst this gives you the opportunity to be flexible, it can also be very stressful. You are also the main point of contact for meals, transportation, and curriculum materials so this is worth considering.
  • Maintaining Balance – It can already be difficult to keep your life, work, and family separate, so adding home-schooling to the mix can make it even harder for parents. In addition to all the roles you already play in your children’s lives, you’ll be adding ‘teacher’. This could possibly cause a tense relationship at some points!
  How Exemplar Education can help:
  • Study Plan– As a home-schooling parent you will be in charge of creating your child’s learning schedule. However, with Exemplar Education, once your child has completed the Initial Assessment, they will have identified, through their own performance, personal areas of strength and weakness. Our study plan details those areas of competence that do not require any further revision or study, plus it will detail the list of lessons that have been identified as requiring further work for understanding. So this can assist you with creating your child’s own learning schedule!
  • Helpline – Also included in our offering is a Freephone Teacher Helpline with UK-based Qualified Teachers, available 6 days a week, 52 weeks per year. These are supported by an online interactive whiteboard, so you can be sure of extra support if you need it.
  • Video Tutorials – If you’re struggling to explain something to your child or they need extra assistance, we have over 2,000 Video Tutorials on the system to give you that extra support!
If you’re thinking of home schooling, there are plenty of resources out there to help you make your decision, including the government website section on Home Education