Leisurely Learning

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Is the anti-social homeschool kid stereotype really true? It might shock you but at Hackett Catholic Prep we have many students enrolled and graduated that were at one point homeschooled. 

What is homeschooling? Just as it sounds, homeschooling means you learn and are educated at home by your parents. Homeschooling is an alternate option to in-school learning and comes with benefits such as safe learning, flexibility, customized learning, and increased family time. However, not attending school can strip kids of experiences and learning important interpersonal skills such as creating relationships with other kids and teachers, school extracurricular activities, and educational resources. 

So is homeschooling as effective as in-school learning and what might the effects be on the children? It might shock you after hearing some of our previously homeschooled kids’ insight into this topic.

Senior Brooks Basler was homeschooled up until freshman year of high school, alongside his seven other siblings. “I would love to go back to homeschooling. The extra free time and flexibility I had was so nice. The only downfall and reason that I am attending high school is to play basketball and baseball.” For Brooks, missing out on high school sports was too much to give up.

Mr. Koester, another previously homeschooled person in our Hackett community, had some insight into his experience. “I enjoyed homeschooling very much. Learning alongside my siblings was nice and I had plenty of time to study and do homework.” Yes, that’s right, Mr. Koester received homework as a homeschooler.

Mr. Scoles is the next person on this list who was not homeschooled but is currently homeschooling his kids. “We had never planned on homeschooling our kids but we have family members with weak autoimmune systems who could be at risk in school. Also, while the kids were in school, we would end up reteaching the lesson plans submitted by our children’s teachers, which they picked up on easily. We had to find what works best for our children to learn.” Mr. Scoles and his family have been successful with homeschooling and plan to keep teaching their children at home. 

There are many pros and cons to homeschooling, but the most important thing is to understand if in-person learning or homeschooling works better for you.