Homeschooling is gaining widespread acceptance and popularity in recent years. While this environment provides some advantages and certain conveniences, there are certain benefits shortfalls, too. Let’s look at why real school is still better than homeschool.
1. Health Benefits and Access to Services
While attending real school, children have access to multiple health services and resources. From having a school nurse on hand for even minor medical issues, to benefiting from early detection of serious medical conditions, to having access to physical activity, real school provides a variety of physical and mental health benefits.
Furthermore, with lower ratio of teachers to students, regular school offers more teacher-student interaction, closer monitoring, and appropriate interventions if needed.
2. Social Benefits
Most people, especially secondary school children and teenagers, require social interaction which helps develop relationship building and communication skills. School is a great place to gain the knowledge of the world. Meeting new people, building and maintaining relationships with those, learning to work in groups, overall learning to forge friendship and acquaintances are very important in this stage of life.
This kind of regular interaction may be difficult to replicate when homeschooling.
3. Cognitive Benefits
Being in a school environment also grants children access to a variety of well-rounded subject matters that are taught in different teaching styles like lectures, debates, group projects, and so on. School not only gives students first-hand experiences in learning, but also enables them to become proactive participants in learning activities. These tasks strengthen the student’s critical-thinking, problem-solving and communication skills.
On the other hand, homeschooling provides less exposure to such learning materials.
4. Structured Environment
The structure of regular school is also beneficial for children of all types as it allows children to become more organized. With its scheduled classes, homework assignments and tests, it further enables them to become more disciplined and committed to their studies. On the other hand, home schooling may not provide the same level of structure sometimes that can be seen as a challenge in academic development.
5. Healthy Competition
In a regular school environment, children have access to peers of the same age range with whom they can compare and compete academically. This competition can be a good motivator and encourages them to always reach higher standards of excellence.
Furthermore, it can help them understand their capabilities so that they can channel their energies in the right direction for their future as adults.
6. Increased Self-confidence
School helps children learn how to interact with their peers, share ideas, and express their thoughts clearly. All this helps build their self-confidence which is applicable in other areas of life too.
It also enables them to learn how to accept the opinion of others, accept themselves as they are, learn to compromise, and live a more fulfilling life in general.
7. Preparing to be a Responsible Adult
School provides children with an abundance of opportunities to learn, engage, and explore. It also prepares them benefit from different aspects of life, such as pushing through the challenges, learning time management, and managing their money responsibly. With such skills, they are more likely to become responsible individuals later in life.
8. One-on-One Interaction with Experienced Teachers
Real school also offers a one-on-one interaction with experienced teachers. This can be very beneficial for students who require special attention on certain topics, as the teachers can explain difficult concepts in a simpler manner.
Also, with each student having a teacher’s gaze, cheating and other bad behaviour can be easily noticed and checked.
9. Cultural and Social Tolerance
Attending real school gives children an opportunity to gain insights from different cultures and backgrounds. They get exposed to different ideas and learn to appreciate the diversity. This helps to create their own social awareness, tolerance, and understanding of others.
Being around people who are different than you can help a child to question, analyse and change deeply rooted beliefs.
10. Supportive Environment
School provides a secure and supportive environment for children to grow and develop, with social safety and emotional supoort Systems and networks in place. In challenging situations, children are able to access this safety net of peers and instructors that encourage resilience, personal growth and relationships.
Learning how to ask for help, lean on one another and get personal trauma care is vital for life.
11. Access to Extracurricular Activities
Real school also provides access to extracurricular activities, such as sports teams and clubs. These activities help children and teenagers learn more related to their field of interest while having fun.
Joining teams and clubs also supports the development of their social and problem-solving skills, which can positively shape their personalities as they grow.
12. Potentially Better University Opportunities
Some universities prefer graduates from real school instead of those who received homeschooling. This consists of universities, who appreciate the competitive environment of real school, variety of subjects, and curriculum.
These universities may place more weight on the college admission application of those who are from a traditional educational setting.
13. Preparation for the Real World
Finally, attending real school entrusts children and teens with the necessary skills to survive and thrive in the real world. It teaches them to be organized, independent, and prepared for future responsibilities.
All these are must-have skills for them to meet the daily challenges of life and successfully navigate in the future.
Conclusion
Homeschooling is gaining more and more attention these days. But, let’s not forget why real school is still superior over homeschooling in many aspects.
Children have access to multiple health services, opportunities to build relationships, be in a well-rounded learning environment, and gain necessary knowledge and soft skills to survive in the real world. All these cannot be replicated in a homeschool setting.