How Homeschooling Differs from Traditional Education: A Veteran Teacher’s Perspective

What makes homeschooling different from traditional (or conventional) school?

I’ve been an educator for several years. I’ve worked in many different schooling environments, but all are the same to me. Twenty or so students of varying backgrounds, socioeconomic statuses, and family dynamics stuffed into a 900-square-foot block room, with an educator at the front (or wandering around the room) teaching content.

Providing such a varied group with the support and education it needs is difficult in this environment. My classroom variety often consisted of students who could barely do grade-level work and those who excelled many grade levels above their peers. It became a juggling act in my classroom to keep all students engaged and learning.

Our education system is inadequate, to say the least. Students are often pushed to the next grade level through the traditional, private, public, charter, or other educational systems. Many students never master the content being taught. I met a teacher from Jamaica who commented on how her country required students to master the content before being moved to the next grade level. Because of this, she struggled with our country’s educational system.

Struggles with content mastery lead to unengaged students, loss of learning, and disinterest in continued learning.

The most disturbing aspect of traditional schooling is the loss of family connections. Students are influenced in conventional schools by other adults—strangers—who may or may not share the same ideas, convictions, and standards as you or your family do. Students are also influenced by their peers, whose family dynamics may or may not match their family’s.

Disconnecting with the family leads to disrespect, unresponsiveness, and a lack of interactions that families desperately need.

Traditional schools have squashed the love for learning. They push for standardized testing, leading to teachers teaching to pass that test (even though we’re advised not to) and students learning the content long enough to pass it. Ask them a question from the test a week later, but they can’t answer it!

Learning becomes boring—a statement I have heard too many times from students! Learning should be about exploration and hands-on projects. It shouldn’t be confined to 900 square feet of space. There is a whole world of learning beyond those walls!

Time is another factor that disturbs me about traditional schooling. Who said the school needed to start at 8 a.m. and end at 3:00 p.m.? What about high schoolers with late-night jobs or families with late-night obligations? 8:00 a.m. can seem early to those people!

Then there is schooling five days a week. Children’s average attention span is about 30 seconds, and teens’ average is about 28-48 minutes. Traditional schooling keeps students in class between 6 and 7 hours a day!

With homeschooling, time is a relative term. Extended school hours dissolve into concentrated learning for a few hours a day. Weekly learning is condensed into 3-4 days, with time allowed for sports, family activities, or museum visits (something that is fast becoming extinct in schools).

Homeschooling allows students to learn at their own pace and in their own time. It enables them to learn content deeply and explore topics thoroughly.

Homeschooling is not for everyone. It takes dedication, decisiveness, and determination. But the results are worth every minute!