You have seen the benefits of homeschooling. You have gained the confidence to home educate your child. You realized that you are qualified to homeschool your child. If you are still doubting yourself, read this.
You have made the decision to homeschool in spite of the challenges that you foresee. But you cannot decide if you should enroll with a provider or if you should be an independent homeschooler.
Does homeschooling mean that you need to enroll with a homeschool provider? No. You are not required to enroll with a homeschool provider should you choose to homeschool. Homeschoolers who do not enroll with ANY homeschool providers are called independent homeschoolers.
Do you need to get a homeschool provider if you are homeschooling for the first time? Not necessarily. Some first-time homeschoolers chose to be independent. I was one of them. I chose to be an independent homeschooler even when we homeschooled our firstborn for the first time around a decade ago. Some first-time homeschoolers enrolled with a provider.
The reasons vary from family to family and from one homeschooled child to another.
We cannot generalize.
If you are feeling lost and confused and still undecided, know that you are not alone.
A lot of parents are undecided if they should choose to be independent homeschoolers or if they should enroll with a homeschool provider.
I’m writing this blog post to help parents who are in this predicament.
What works for some children or families may not work for your family or child. I suggest that you start by assessing the needs, capabilities, and goals of your child and your family.
Let me enumerate some of the pros and cons of these two options.
Independent Homeschooling
PROS
The parents and the child have A LOT OF FREEDOM in choosing the educational approaches that would be used, the teaching methods, the curriculum, and the books that they want to use. They have a lot of freedom in crafting their homeschool schedule or routine. They can even choose not to have one. The parents have a say on whether they want some of the teaching to be done by other teachers or by them. Parents have a say if they want to use tests or not to gauge the learning and progress of their children. Parents can decide if they will include online classes or not. Parents can decide if their children will have other classes outside of what they teach at home or wherever they educate their children. The parents can decide what events to join or participate in because there isn’t anyone requiring the child or their family to join specific events or classes.
Because of this kind of freedom, parents can TAILOR-FIT the approach, method, curriculum, and pace to the child’s needs, pace, and interests. The child’s education is MORE CUSTOMIZED.
This kind of homeschooling is MORE RELAXED AND LESS STRESSFUL both for the parent and the child because there are no standardized assessments or deadlines that parents need to think of monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or yearly. . . UNLESS the family and the child wants to take a standardized test for accreditation at the end of the school year or at a specific time. There are no requirements that need to be submitted to anyone.
If you choose to homeschool your child independently, you can START ANYTIME with whatever you have and you can start teaching ANYWHERE.
Families CAN SAVE A LOT OF MONEY if they choose to homeschool independently since families are not required to buy new books or materials every year or to purchase a curriculum or pay for accreditation and school records. Independent homeschoolers can opt to use free resources like curriculums, platforms, videos, and books that are found on the internet. This does not necessarily mean that independently homeschooling is cheap for all families who chose this path. Some independent homeschoolers invest in high-quality books, enrichment classes, field trips or travels locally or abroad, coaching and mentoring, equipment, and musical instruments. Some also choose to buy a curriculum of their choice. What I am saying here is you can save a lot with this choice and it’s up to the parents if they want to use the money that they save for tuition fees and accreditation for their other needs and wants.
Independent homeschoolers CAN, AT SOME POINT, DECIDE TO GET ACCREDITATION LOCALLY OR ABROAD. For local accreditation in the Philippines, independent homeschoolers need to take the PEPT administered by the Department of Education to go back to regular schools or to be able to enroll with a DepEd-accredited homeschool provider. This is what our two older children took last year. You may read our story in detail on how we prepared them for this exam in this blog post. Another way to get an accreditation is through the ALS, which was originally designed for the out-of-school youth in the country. This can be taken for elementary accreditation or for high school accreditation up to Grade 10. You may read more about this test here. Some homeschoolers may choose to get foreign accreditation through homeschool providers accredited abroad that require a different set of requirements from their students.
CONS
The main disadvantage of this route is that the child will not have any school records (like grades and LRN as well as accreditation) for the year/s he/she was homeschooled UNLESS the parent lets the child take a standardized test and enrolls with a regular school or a homeschool provider.
The parent/s need to spend time searching and/or making a curriculum for the child because there is no one who will hand it over to you.
The family might have a hard time getting a schedule for the tests needed for accreditation and there could be a delay in the availability of results that could impact the enrollment with a school or college for the next school year. I said might because there were many independent homeschoolers who did not go through many challenges to apply for the needed exams and to pass them. But there were also some who experienced some challenges. I want to mention that there is that possibility. Some families who do not want to deal with government agencies like the DepEd just opt to get a homeschool provider.
Independent homeschoolers do not have homeschool coaches or counselors to guide them unless they hire someone like me who is a Homeschool Coach and Counselor. You may check out my basic coaching and counseling package for homeschooling parents here. Homeschool providers usually provide that as an extra service for the families enrolled with them.
Independent homeschoolers need to be proactive if they want to find other homeschoolers or to join events that their children would like to participate in.
Homeschooling with a Provider
PROS
The parents are PROVIDED WITH A FIXED OR SUGGESTED CURRICULUM. There are homeschool providers that offer a boxed or fixed curriculum. There are also providers who allow the use of open curriculum which means you are free to use whatever curriculum or material you see fit for your child as long as it is aligned with the DepEd requirements. Some providers require books to be bought from them. Others do not require this. Some homeschool providers are strict while others are not. Some providers require more requirements than other providers. Some have more deadlines while others only require submissions after the school year.
The child HAS SCHOOL RECORDS just like the other kids in a regular school and the year/s the child is homeschooled is recognized or accredited either locally or abroad depending on where the provider is accredited.
Parents CAN GET FREE COACHING AND COUNSELING from the staff of the homeschool provider if they want to.
Homeschool providers ORGANIZE EVENTS and classes that their enrollees can attend during the year for free or with an additional fee. Families can easily find other homeschoolers through their provider.
CONS
This option can be more costly because families need to pay for tuition fees and other services. Some providers also require the purchase of the books or materials they use.
Parents need to comply with the homeschool provider’s requirements and deadlines.
As a consequence, homeschooling can become stressful especially when it is close to the deadlines and the child may not be given ample opportunity to learn at his/her own pace because there are set topics that need to be finished at certain times.
Less freedom in how to homeschool your child can also be a result of choosing a homeschool provider that advocates or mimics closely the traditional approach in educating children. These kinds of providers bring the school at home because of their set-up and requirements.
Again, you and your spouse alone can decide what will work for your child and family.
What do you need?
What is your goal for your child and family?
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
What are your limitations?
What is your budget?
How much time can you devote to homeschooling your child or children?
Many factors come into play that’s why this question cannot be answered by a simple YES or NO.
Can you homeschool independently even without a provider? Yes. I did it. Many other parents did it.
But some parents needed more support and guidance than me or the other brave souls who chose to tread that path.
Ask yourself if you will be the main teacher. Be brave and be realistic at the same time. If you are a Christian, I suggest that you ask the Lord for wisdom and guidance.
We were independent homeschoolers for a long time. We enjoyed it a lot. We were able to save a lot of money which we invested in other materials and activities. We bought a lot of books because our kids are bookworms. For example, what we saved on tuition fees, we used in paying for a private music teacher for our children. They enrolled in classes that helped them pursue and develop their natural interests and gifts. We traveled as often as we can. We had a lot of field trips.
But our priorities changed over the years. Now that our eldest is older, we want to make sure he has school records similar to students in mainstream schools because that is crucial to his and our goal for him. I also chose to enroll my second child with a provider although he is still young because I wanted him to learn Filipino at his own pace and not be pressured by the Filipino lessons required to pass the PEPT. Aside from that, he was competing at chess tournaments and he needed a certificate of enrollment to be able to compete in the interschool chess tournaments in the country.
Even while independent homeschoolers also, we had our eldest child take the ABRSM practical exam for piano so he could earn a certificate for that. I wanted him to have that kind of training and exam to help him prepare for a possible study in music abroad. The ABRSM exam is a standardized exam given to musicians around the world and administered by distinguished musicians.
I hope that after reading this blog post, you will be able to decide what will work best for your child and your family.
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