Imagine having your mom or dad as you teacher and staying at home to learn. You don’t get to meet anyone new because you aren’t in a public school and you don’t know what it is like to learn in a public environment. There are many disadvantages to homeschooling, including the eventual transition to public school, the curriculum and education, and the lack of social life.

Kids who are homeschooled don’t know what it is like to learn in a public school, so when they make the transition to a public school or eventually college, they are at a major disadvantage. When the kids switch to a public school, they might not have childhood friends and they sometimes feel the need to fit in. Also, a kid who switches to a public school will not be used to a public learning environment and they will be in a different type of classroom. “’I had such a difficult time transitioning into a social school setting,’ “said Bethany Stedman, who was homeschooled as a kid. (Stedman, page 1). Kids, have a tough time with the transition and this could affect the way they learn, causing them to fail classes and not do well academically.

Kids who have a parent teaching might not learn everything they need to know. 90% of kids that are homeschooled follow standard curriculum according to the U.S Department of Education. 10% follow a curriculum called unschooling which lets kid choose how they want to learn. “I didn’t have any training, “said Mrs. Nelson, a parent that homeschooled her kids. “I wasn’t sure what they should learn and at what age.”(Nelson). Only 24% of students that were homeschooled had a parent who was a certified teacher (Gerber). That means that only 1/4 of kids that are homeschooled has a parent that knows how to teach.

When kids get homeschooled, they don’t get to interact with new people and this ruins their social interaction. The only people they interact with are their neighborhood friends. They don’t make any school friends in their childhood and stay isolated in their houses most of the day. Another social disadvantage for the kid is that they lose the ability to be in activities that are available in a public school. They don’t really know how to act in public because they are in the house most of the day, and it is hard to make new friends. A study by Dr. Brian Ray showed that kids who are homeschooled tend to be deprived of proper social interaction which could lead to social awkwardness. (Haverluck).

Homeschooling has few positive effects on kids’ education and has many disadvantages. Homeschooling tampers with the kids’ transition to public school, the curriculum leaves gaps in kids’ education, and it also cuts off the kids’ social interaction. Homeschooling has few positive effects on a kids’ education and leaves them with multiple disadvantages.