Is Home Education Right for Your Child and Family? A Balanced Guide to Making the Decision
- Kelly Hutton
- Jun 30
- 4 min read
Home Education is a growing phenomenon with families, from all walks of life, exploring this path for a variety of reasons. It's an option that offers flexibility and potential personalisation, but also comes with significant responsibilities and challenges. If you are considering whether home education is right for your child and family, it is important that you look at the whole picture.
Why Families Choose to Home Educate
Research shows that there is no type of family or single reason parents choose to educate their children at home. Rather, there is a spectrum of motivations that often overlap and evolve.
Proactive (First-Choice) Reasons
Some families proactively choose home education because it aligns with their beliefs or lifestyle:
Philosophical or lifestyle beliefs: Morton (2020) identifies that parents who view home education as a "natural" choice, as it closely ties to their views on childhood, family life or sustainable living. For these families, learning happens organically, integrated into everyday life.
Desire for personalised learning: Many parents seek more autonomy and creativity than traditional schooling allows (Mitchell, 2021). They may believe that standardised curricula stifles children's curiosity and critical thinking skills.
Religious or moral instruction: Some parents may choose to home educate to align learning with specific values and beliefs
Reactive (Second Choice) Reasons
Others turn to home education reactively, as a response to negative experiences in school:
Special Educational Needs (SEND) or disabilities: Many parents feel that schools cannot meet the needs of their child, whether due to autism spectrum disorder (Simmons & Campbell, 2018), learning difficulties or giftedness. Parents often experience frustration and repeated battles for support.
Bullying and well-being concerns: Mitchell (2021) and Green-Hennessy & Mariotti (2023) describe parents withdrawing children from school because of bullying or mental health issues. These parents often didn't initially plan to home educate, but felt they had no other choice.
Dissatisfaction with the school system: Some parents cite excessive testing, lack of creativity and rigid structures as reasons for leaving school (Mitchell, 2021).
Reactive reasons don't always mean home education is a permanent choice, and some families plan to return to school when circumstances improve.
Home Education in Different Contexts
Cultural and social diversity shape home educational journeys. Fensham-Smith (2019) notes that while home education is often perceived as a middle-class choice, families from varied ethnic, religious and socio-economic backgrounds home educate for a variety of reasons. For example, some ethnic minority families home educate to protect cultural identity or avoid mainstream discrimination in mainstream schools.
Similarly, for children with autism spectrum disorder, Simmons & Campbell (2018) found that parents' motivations included dissatisfaction with schools' lack of evidence-based practice and inadequate support. However, homeschooling these children can also pose challenges, including limited social opportunities and difficulties in delivering structured interventions.
Questions to Ask Yourself When Considering Home Education:
Motivation: Are you choosing proactively for educational philosophy or as a last resort? Both are valid, but they come with different implications for planning and sustainability.
Capacity: Do you have the time, energy, and resources to plan, deliver and review your child's education?
Support Networks: Are there local or online communities you can connect with for resources and social opportunities? Fensham-Smith (2019) found that these communities play a vital role in sustaining home-educators
Child's needs: What learning style and social environment suit your child best? Would home education meet those needs, or might they thrive with adaptations in school?
Long-Term Vision: Is home education a temporary solution or a long-term plan? Are you open to evolving your approach?
Getting Guidance
Deciding whether to home educate is a deeply personal and sometimes overwhelming decision to make, and families will often find themselves questioning:
Can I do this?
Will my child fall behind?
How do I balance educational and emotional needs?
This is where 1:1 support meetings can be invaluable. In a personal session, we can:
Explore your unique circumstances and motivations
Discuss your child's individual needs and strengths
Talk through practicalities like routines, resources and record-keeping
Address concerns about legal requirements, socialisation and educational quality
Help you create a plan, whether you choose to proceed or remain in school
Many parents have shared that these conversations give them the clarity and confidence they need to help them move forward, whichever path they choose.
Home education is neither the perfect solution nor a last resort for every family. It can be a wonderful opportunity for connection, flexibility and personalised learning, or it can create real stress if entered into unprepared.
As Mitchell (20121) reminds us, the reasons families choose this path are varied and nuanced. What matters most is making an informed choice that fits your child and your family.
If you are exploring whether home education might be the right fit for you, I'd love to help. Feel free to contact me to discuss all your queries, hopes and concerns together.
References:
Fensham-Smith, A. (2019). Becoming a Home-Educator in a Networked World: Towards the Democratisation of Education Alternatives? Other Education: The Journal of Educational Alternatives, 8(1), 27-57.
Green-Hennessy, S., & Mariotti, E. C. (2023). The decision to homeschool: potential factors influencing reactive homeschooling practice. Educational Review, 75(4), 617–636. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2021.1947196
Mitchell, E. (2021). Why English parents choose home education – a study. Education 3-13, 49(5), 545–557. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004279.2020.1742185
Morton, R. (2010). Home Education: Constructions of Choice. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 3(1), 45–56.
Simmons, C. A., & Campbell, J. M. (2018). Homeschool Decision-Making and Evidence-Based Practice for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 31, 329–346. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-018-9643-8
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