Home schooling, or home education, refers to the education of school aged children at home without sending them to school. This is usually conducted by a parent, teacher or other private instructor and can be conducted both in-person and online. Home schooling often uses a customised or personalised syllabus to teach and is not standardised as is the case in public schools. The curriculum can also be focused on the areas as preferred by the parent or guardian and may even be selected by the learner. Therefore, this process is more informal but can nonetheless be structured and allow the teaching of a complete syllabus to emulate that which is taught at a public school. The learning itself can follow different methods which can suit the student better even if the same material is taught. It also allows the learners to pace themselves differently according to their requirements. Therefore, home schooling is mostly engaged by children whose needs are not adequately catered to by a public school. Despite the advantages home schooling offers, it does also have disadvantages which mostly stem from the lack of other students and peers for the student to interact with compared to a public school. Therefore, one should not discount educational institutes such as private schools Sunshine Coast which allow for different learning curricula and styles than public schools with the social development that traditional schooling provides.

Advantages

Supporters of home education claim that it fosters creativity among students. Since the material being taught is not standard but rather derived from the environment of the child as well as the teacher, it can create lessons that the child is naturally interested in. It also encourages the child to seek out information themselves as opposed to learning it from note, textbook, or lecture as it would be done in a school. This makes the students have a unique attitude towards learning that may help them later in life such as during university, where self-learning is prioritised.

Home education can also be argued to have beneficial health effects as students are in a safe environment which is not stressful, and the homework is manageable. They also get plenty of rest which growing children need. They are also encouraged to play and enjoy their childhood at play whereas most schools over burden them with homework, leaving children no time for fun or leisure.

Disadvantages

Critics of home education argue that it is mostly useful for special cases of students who feel that their needs are not adequately met by the regular school. For other children traditional school is suitable as they gain more than just knowledge at school – they are taught to be a productive member of the society. School exposes children to different worldviews and allows them to interact with others of their own age. This is conducive to their social development which may be stunted by home schooling.

Hence the decision to home school should not be made lightly as the choice is one that has long lasting effects.