IELTS Task 2 sample essay: Homeschooling

A growing number of parents are choosing to educate their children at home rather than send them to school. Although home education offers real benefits for some children, I believe that for most the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.

The strongest case for homeschooling is that learning can be tailored to the individual child. A parent teaching one or two children can move quickly through subjects the child finds easy and spend longer on those they find difficult, something a teacher with thirty pupils rarely can. Home education can also protect children who have been badly bullied, or who have conditions such as severe anxiety that make school extremely difficult. For these children, learning at home may be the difference between progress and falling behind altogether.

For most children, however, the drawbacks are more serious. School is not only a place for lessons but also a place where children learn to cooperate with people they did not choose, resolve disagreements and cope with setbacks in front of their peers. Homeschooled children can miss much of this, even when parents arrange clubs and outings. The quality of teaching is also uneven. Few parents have the knowledge to teach advanced science, mathematics and languages, and there is often little inspection to ensure that children are learning what they need. Finally, home education places heavy demands on parents, usually requiring one of them to give up paid work.

These problems affect the majority of families who might consider homeschooling, while its benefits apply most clearly to a smaller group of children with particular needs.

In conclusion, home education can be the right choice for children who struggle at school for specific reasons. For most children, though, the social learning and specialist teaching that schools provide make school the better option.