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So many parents face a choice when a traditional school is failing their child. When teachers can’t seem to break through when your child makes an effort to apply themselves, parents have to make a decision so their child is not lost in the mix and earning disappointing grades over and over again. This sense of discouragement ultimately leads to school avoidance. Deciding to pull a child out of school for home instruction or homeschooling is a good choice for some, but can potentially be a disastrous choice for others. Let’s discuss the impact of both, and when home instruction is not the best solution to the problem. 

Home Instruction Can Be the Right Answer 

Home instruction can be the right choice, at the right time for some families. Here are the following situations where it would be helpful: 

• Temporary or chronic illness or injury that confines the student to their bed. 

• Temporary or chronic illness or injury that requires a level of hour-to-hour medical intervention that cannot be provided in a school setting. 

• Temporary or chronic illness or injury that renders the student unable to move safely around the school building. 

It should be noted that mental illnesses are not a situation where home instruction would be recommended. Home instruction can be the right choice for those who have physical limitations that a school cannot accommodate. 

When Home Instruction is Not Appropriate 

After 20 years as a therapeutic school, Sage Alliance has seen how students who struggle from emotional issues and school phobia can flourish after being taken out of interminable home instruction. Here are some situations where home instruction would not be appropriate: 

• Anxiety 

• Behavior disorders 

• Depression or other mood disorder 

• Eating disorders 

• Gender dysphoria or questioning 

• HIB 

• Medication adjustment 

• Self-injury 

• Suicidality 

• School avoidance or refusal 

• Frequent emotional outbursts stemming from mental illness 

Success in middle and high school can help prepare your child for success later in life. Interminable home instruction can have adverse effects stemming from isolation from peers, missing educational and social milestones, and a less structured environment that hinders academic progress. 

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