What is Homeschooling?
Homeschooling means teaching your children at home rather than sending them to regular/traditional schools either private or public. One of the parents acts as a full-time teacher taking care of all their learning needs. Homeschooling children are taught with learning resources that are readily available in the market in the form of textbooks like NCERT or otherwise. In addition, homeschoolers have the option of free-form learning i.e. learning as life progresses.
To know more about homeschooling in India, read the following blog post.
What are the advantages of homeschooling?
Homeschooling has a myriad of advantages over traditional schooling. It can give you and your child a lot of flexibility over learning outcomes. You can plan your learning path, curriculum, and methods through which to impart education. In addition, it has some of the following benefits:
- Flexible Schedule: You can fix your schedule of learning.
- Individual attention: Each child can be given individualistic attention.
- Family Activity: Students get time to do a family activity.
- No peer pressure
- Religious Learning
To know more about the advantages of homeschooling, read the following blog post.
What are the disadvantages of homeschooling?
Homeschooling is great but it has some disadvantages too. It requires a lot of learning on the part of parents. In addition, some other disadvantages are:
- Homeschooling children usually have limited options for socialization. This is not a big issue for me because homeschooling children can get friends easily during sports sessions, etc.
- Parents provide too cozy & controlled environment to their children which makes them risk-averse.
- Some parents may become obsessive about control of children’s life which doesn’t allow them to learn and flourish in life.
- Time & Money investment on one parent’s part.
- The parent may not be qualified enough to be a teacher.
To know more about the disadvantage of homeschooling costs, read the following blog post.
How much does homeschooling cost?
Homeschooling can be as affordable or as expensive as you want it to be. There can be a significant time investment on the part of at least one of the parents who will also have to forgo his/her career to take care of and teach the children.
To know more about homeschooling costs, read the following blog post.
Am I qualified to teach my children?
Parents ask this question all the time. But as a teacher for the past 12 years, I can say most teachers aren’t as qualified as you think and even if they are qualified, most teachers lack the motivation to teach. This is because there is no incentive to be better at their job. Teachers follow the same century-old system that lacks innovation and is quite boring, to say the least.
As a parent, the amount of care that you can offer to your children’s learning needs will be unparalleled. What you may lack in academics, you can easily make up with your love & care and learn as you go. So yes, you’re as qualified to teach your children as any other teacher in the world.
How do I know if homeschooling is the right choice for me?
This has to come from your inside. But a few points can help you to make an informed choice:
- Do you think the current schooling system is utterly inefficient and wastes a lot of time?
- Do you think that you can be a better teacher than your child’s current teachers?
- Do you know that the current education system lacks innovation i.e. we are following a 150 years old system?
- Do you know that most of the teachers that join the education industry lack training?
- Do you know that the Education industry is facing an acute shortage of qualified teachers?
Why should you homeschool?
Homeschooling your children can be a lot of fun that will help you grow as a parent as well. There are many reasons to homeschool your child, some of the important ones are:
- Homeschooling gives you a lot of control over what your children study. If you don’t like what they are currently studying in traditional schooling, you can homeschool them and bring your curriculum to the table.
- Homeschooling is highly efficient compared to traditional schooling.
- Homeschooling can be very affordable and cost-effective, especially when compared to the exorbitant charges charged by some schools in bigger cities like Delhi & Mumbai.
- You won’t have to cancel or reschedule your trips just because they don’t fit perfectly into the school schedule.
- Homeschooling is not just a great learning experience for your children but it will be great for you as a parent.
- Homeschooling scales very well if you have many children to teach. The majority of the expenses and efforts expended will come in handy with other kids because they’ll be able to reuse most of the stuff.
- Homeschooling makes a child very responsible and caring towards younger siblings.
To know more about why should you homeschool your children, read the following blog post.
How to start homeschooling in India?
Homeschooling can be a lot of fun to start with. You can plan accordingly but some of the following points will help:
- It is always better to de-school for at least about 2 months especially if you’ve freshly taken them out of school.
- After that, you can start with one subject and slowly add a subject with each passing week.
- CBSE (NCERT) curriculum can be the easiest one to start with because most schools in India follow just that. You can slowly switch to anything you like.
- After going along the CBSE curriculum for some time you can easily switch to other methods as well as curriculums.
- Register for Class 10th or 12th exams with NIOS or join IGCSE
- Join a homeschooling support group.
- After that, it will be learning as you go.
How does homeschooling work in India?
Homeschooling works the same all over the world except for the laws that govern them. In the case of India, homeschooling is not regulated. So there is no need to register with specific authority. You can simply take your children out of the traditional school and start teaching at home.
A homeschooling parent is free to choose the curriculum and method in which they want to impart learning to their children.
Is homeschooling legal and recognized in India?
Homeschooling is legal in India. Though homeschooling is not regulated in India, still it doesn’t, in any case, violate any clause or provision of the RTE 2009. Indeed, CBSE, and ICSE boards as well as most state boards don’t allow homeschooling students to appear for exams though they allow private candidates.
Homeschooling in India does not require any registration or recognition and it is not regulated by any agency or authority. But most parents who choose the mode either follow the CBSE/ICSE curriculum or opt for their respective state board syllabi.
The RTE Act does not discredit the National Institute of Open Learning (NIOS). RTE Act does not make not sending a child to school a punishable offense.
“The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 wants every child to be in school. But if somebody decides not to send his/her children to school, we are not going to interfere. The compulsion is on the state, not on the parents. Parents are free not to send their children to school, but to teach them at home. We cannot be micromanaging” said Kapil Sibal, the MHRD minister of the time.
How does homeschooling student socialize?
Anyone who has opted to homeschool will label it as a myth. In reality, it is something to be taken care of. Something that is an even bigger problem with homeschooling is the controlled environment provided by parents and they want to control every aspect of the life of their children.
So socialization is not as much of a problem as the controlled environment as well as the tendency to control the student’s life.
Do I have to register somewhere to start homeschooling my kids?
No, you don’t have to register somewhere to start teaching your kids at home. Homeschooling in India is not regulated which means there is no governmental agency or organization that takes care of homeschooling kids in India. While it can be a great thing because it means you can completely avoid the bureaucracy but it also means they are on their own.
That’s why, as a homeschooler, the first thing you should do is to join a homeschoolers group in your vicinity. Homeschooling groups can be a great resource while navigating the jungles of homeschooling. It can act as a support group as well.
Should homeschooling be encouraged in India?
Homeschooling is encouraged in India and the world over because traditional educational systems do not have any competition in terms of methods of imparting education. Homeschooling can be a great alternative that will push traditional educational institutions toward innovation.
Are there any Homeschooling groups (communities) in India?
Homeschooling is not prevalent in India. But if you’re a new homeschooler, you should join a homeschooling group near you so that you can learn from other homeschooling families what works and what don’t.
Can I homeschool my child in India?
You are free to homeschool your child in India because the Indian RTE act includes homeschooling as well.
Is homeschooling a good option in India?
Homeschooling, though not prevalent in India, is a great option for students in India. Unlike the USA where the whole concept of homeschooling started, India is far behind when it comes to the community or ecosystem that evolves around it. But more and more families are exploring and adopting homeschooling over traditional schooling, especially after the pandemic.
As more and more families adopt homeschooling over traditional schools, the ecosystem will develop.
What is the fee for homeschooling in India?
Homeschooling is NOT something that follows the pattern of traditional schooling i.e. you choose a school and get your child registered there. Instead, homeschooling students are taught by their parents. So there is no fee involved. Of course, many companies sell their curriculum and can also help one with their learning requirements. But this is optional, not mandatory.
So there are no fees for homeschooling. The costs depend on how and what you want to teach your children. If you want your child to be admitted to a college or a university then you can optionally go for NIOS registration for Class 10 and Class 12 exams in India. Another option, IGCSE provides international accreditation.
What are the guidelines for homeschooling in India?
There are no guidelines published by the government of India or any other organization in India. The reason being unlike in the USA or other Western countries, homeschooling is not regulated in India. No agency takes care of homeschoolers in India. The primary reason for this is that homeschooling is not much prevalent in India. There were only about 15000 families before the pandemic hit.
The pandemic has seen a rapid rise in the interest of the general populace in homeschooling.
Is there any Homeschooling India curriculum?
There is no specific homeschooling curriculum for India because there is no such thing as a homeschooling curriculum. The traditional homeschooling system follows a curriculum approach. But as a homeschooler, you are free to choose one or do away with it completely.
The CBSE (NCERT) curriculum is the easiest and cheapest one to start. You can start with this one and then gradually craft one for yourself.
Can homeschooling students appear for CBSE or ICSE exams?
CBSE, ICSE as well as state boards in India do not allow homeschooling students to appear for their exams. The only option for homeschooling students to get recognition is either through NIOS (National Institute of Open Schooling) or IGCSE (Cambridge) if they wish to pursue higher education traditionally. Anyone living in India can register for NIOS exams and it has as much validity throughout India as well as the world as CBSE/ICSE.
What is the procedure for Homeschooling registration in India?
Homeschooling in India does not require any registration or recognition and it is not regulated by any agency or authority. But most parents who choose the mode either follow the CBSE/ICSE curriculum or opt for their respective state board syllabi.
What is the future of homeschooling in India?
Predicting the future is as tough as going to the past i.e. it is impossible. But for the foreseeable future homeschooling is going to see a rapid rise in interest in India as well as the world. The main reason is the disillusionment of the people with the current system. The inefficiencies, quality problems, lack of innovation, and lack of quality trained teachers are some of them.
How do homeschooled children get admission to a college or a university?
Homeschooling students can get admission to schools/colleges or universities by directly applying to the college and universities and detailing their learning process. Most western universities especially in the USA accept homeschooling students without any certificate or anything.
But in India, the concept is quite new. So most universities may not accept it. So it is much safer to go with NIOS or IGCSE so that you can easily take admitted to colleges for higher education.
How many people are homeschooled in India?
There has been a major shift in the behavior of people in India toward homeschooling, especially after the pandemic. Before the pandemic, there were only around 15000 families that used to homeschool their children. But after the Covid-19 induced lockdowns, people have become much more accepting of homeschooling. In 2021, there were more than 50,000 families that have made a permanent shift towards homeschooling. This number is expected to rise to 70,000 in 2022 and 80,000 from session 2023-24, which is a phenomenal 40% rise (2021 over 2020). This trend is not going to slow down any sooner because increasingly more and more people are feeling disillusioned with the current schooling system.
To fulfill this demand, many platforms like Birla Brainiacs, K8 School, and 21K School have sprung up. Please do keep in mind that there is a difference between online schooling and homeschooling. The last 2 platform caters to the online schooling category that can also be used by homeschoolers.