By Melisa Marzett
It was not so long ago that fathers and mothers did not think of any other educational training, except within the walls of a public institution. In the morning they rushed the kids to school, and then they ran to work; in the evening they hurried to take the children home. However, there is a quote by Albert Camus: “The school prepares us for life in the world that does not exist.” Indeed, real life subjects at schools are missing. There are no classes for things that are indispensable to everyday living such as financial literacy. Today, a different approach is increasingly common, and that is homeschooling.
Staying home from school would be a dream come true for many kids. Homeschooling or distance education can be a necessity (due to medical reasons), or it may be done at the will of the parents. A teenager might also decide to drop out of school to be homeschooled. Depending on what brought about the decision to quit school and become a teenage homeschooler, the necessary documents processing and the process of education itself will be different. In the UK, you cannot only try to leave school but also return if something goes wrong. This freedom and flexibility provided by the Ministry of Education is a great gift. You need to try!
Here are five reasons to quit school and become a teenage homeschooler:
- To focus and invest time in priorities. The advantage of homeschooling is that you can choose preferences, such as athletics or engineering, and allocate time accordingly. For example, consider a teenager who wants to be an architect. He needs to prepare for a creative drawing competition and has to do an excellent job in mathematics and physics. For two whole years, he can devote more time to the subjects needed for admission to a prestigious architecture program instead of daily trips to school, by studying on his own as much as possible.
- Minimize stress and take care of the psyche. It is no secret that upon entering high school the psychological pressure on teens increases significantly. It may be due to different factors: relationships with classmates or teachers, competition, the fear of disappointing parents, the fear of not coping and not going to college. Homeschooling allows you to choose which stresses are essential while doing away with non-constructive stress by physically eliminating their sources.
- More consciously select the environment and relationships. For students at this stage, they can focus on an environment that is conducive to study rather than on competing with other classmates. At school, they are not always lucky with a healthy atmosphere or a supportive teacher. The homeschooling format allows parents and teens to choose whom to hang out with, whom to study with, which circles and classes to attend, thereby creating a more suitable environment for personal and academic development.
- High motivation and understanding of why. Although students are accustomed to obeying and doing the required things at school, their motivation to study can significantly increase if they take control of their performance; that is, if they remove the external controller and leave room for freedom and choice in learning. By the teen age, quite a few students know what they want to learn and major in; therefore, independent study can be an opportunity to boost their grades and properly prepare for admission to the university. The choice can influence the result of who will pay for university education: parents or the state.
- Project management and the ability to plan time. In the conditions of home schooling, the teen has the incentive to practice mastering project management (planning and preparing for the delivery of various subjects), as well as the basics of time management. At school, as a student, this is partly done by the teacher or the schedule. At home, the teen will be able to better prepare for how to control himself in the new realities of the future university education.
Of course, homeschooling is not a panacea for everyone. It may not be suitable for some teens or families. However, there are many for whom such an education will be salvation – for teens and families who trust each other, who enjoy working on self-improvement and thrive on change, and who can support each other. In addition to the other benefits of home education there is one more: if a regular school divides children by age, then with a family format of training, everyone is in the same boat. Brothers and sisters spend a lot of time together, and they learn to interact, help one another, and be much more deeply involved in each other’s life, hence a stronger bond.
Deschooling can be a challenging endeavor. One has to be flexible enough, self-governing, confident in one’s worldview, and understanding of human factors. It is necessary to think a lot, and to look ahead before making such an important decision. If your teen is not ready to work hard, regularly perform all tasks, and fight laziness, the problem is not in the training format, but that he or she does not like to study. If that is the case, it is better to stay in a traditional school, because at home it is possible to cheat, skip and fool around. However, if the teen is not afraid of difficulties, is open to new possibilities, and likes to learn – congratulations on entering the world of remote schooling!