Is Homeschooling Right For Me?

Sponsored by Homeschool SD

About the Author: Strong Wolf is a writer and homeschooling father of a 6th grade student, located in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Before we can answer any question of this magnitude for ourselves, we need to be fully informed. There are a lot of considerations with this topic, but before we start to discuss them, I’d like to start off with a definition: Homeschooling is family-centered parent-led education. It’s not the same thing as public schooling from home, nor is it like attending a private school.

Reasons to homeschool

There are nearly as many reasons to homeschool as there are homeschoolers. Whether you’re searching for the best learning methods to fit your individual children, getting your kids away from a bad situation, or seeking a curriculum that aligns with your core beliefs, your reasons are your own, and they’re valid. Seek what’s best for your kids; if the scales tip in favor of homeschooling, don’t let fear or uncertainty hold you back.

Qualifications

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when approaching something so different from your past experience. “Surely public school teachers are more qualified than I am!” is a common response from those first venturing into the world of home education.

Such could not be further from the truth. While school teachers are educated in areas you may not be, they are attempting to teach your child alongside 20 other kids. If divided evenly between the students in their class, that’s less than 15 minutes per day to focus on your child, even if they spent the entire school day focusing on one child at a time (which would mean they never actually spent any time teaching.) You, as a parent, can spend 15 minutes with your child and have far more communication and understanding than someone who only spends a maximum of 15 minutes per day with them. You are qualified as someone who knows and understands your kids; even if they’ve hit the difficult teenage years, you still understand them better than someone who barely knows them.

You might be concerned about teaching some particular subject that you’re not confident in; that’s only natural, but the fear is completely unfounded. My mother was never taught the order of operations for algebra in public school. When the time came to teach algebra to me, she learned it right alongside me; the curriculum explains everything you need to know. When the time came to teach my daughter how to diagram a sentence, my wife and I re-learned how to do it, right beside her.

Challenges

Beginning a journey into homeschooling comes with a steep learning curve; it’s not something you ‘ease’ into. That having been said, it’s a lot easier than it first appears. The first challenge you’ll face will be to select a curriculum. There are many publishers with different approaches to education, but a few are pretty standardized. I would highly recommend beginning your journey with one of the more popular complete curriculum sets, then changing out the courses that don’t work for you, at a later date. Abeka and BJU Press are two of the most popular choices.

Another common struggle for first-time homeschoolers is the feeling that you’re in this alone. Check out your local homeschool group or co-op; nearly every community has one or more, and they often gather monthly or weekly to discuss teaching methods, curricula, and provide an opportunity for socialization in a controlled environment. These also often provide resources for field trips and athletic activities.

Another great resource is the annual state homeschool conference. The 2025 conference will take place on May 2^nd & 3^rd, in Sioux Falls; visit the Homeschool South Dakota website for more details.

Benefits

Homeschooling comes with challenges, but they’re completely canceled out by the benefits. Homeschooled children regularly score 15-20 percentile points higher than their public school counterparts. Homeschoolers consistently score above average on the SAT and ACT. Many colleges are now actively recruiting homeschooled students.

If your child is currently facing learning difficulties in public school, you have the ability to uniquely customize their education to fit their learning style in a homeschool environment. This can have a massive impact on their ability to learn, and will often turn a hesitant learner into an excelling student.

Of course, the specific benefits you’ll experience depend greatly on your child and their situation. If you are curious about the potential you can unlock with home education, consider attending a homeschool conference or an event hosted by a local group. Homeschooling parents in your community are a great resource that should not be overlooked.