Probably one of the scariest moments for every parent is realizing their children are no longer babies and that it’s time for them to start with early schooling. That means they will begin familiarising themselves with the world, start forming social relationships and learn about discipline, authority and generally how to behave outside of home.

Although no parent will admit it, making the decision whether to home school their child or enrol it in a kindergarten is pretty much over in the second the question is posed: home schooling, of course. Because nobody wants their children to be taken care of by other people they know nothing about. Plus, many parents don’t want their kids eating something they didn’t prepare. And the biggest fear of them all is what if the care provider treats them bad and they aren’t there to protect their babies? All logical questions, doubts and fears.

I was a child care provider for long enough and I have faced many parents with all these questions constantly troubling them. And since I loved my job from the first day till the very last one, I developed a system to calm their nerves. Of course, I was trained for challenges like these, which leads me to elaborating my opinion on the eternal question: should you home school your kids or send them to a kindergarten?

The first thing you should keep in mind is that child care providers are certified, trained people who love working with children, and very likely have children of their own. Working with children isn’t the type of job you accept because you currently have no other option and think you can force yourself to excel at it. No. If you don’t have the patience and aren’t amused and happy around little human beings, can’t endure the noise, their crying and liveliness, you won’t make it. So, this is a precondition for anyone to even consider taking a specialized child care course, which is a course that teaches prospective child care providers the basic skills they need to have to be good at their job.

The diploma in child care can be obtained through an online child care course, and is issued by a formal institution – a school of early childhood, so you can rest assured that the people taking care of your kids are at the very best professionals. The programme usually includes subjects such as how to take care of children and promote healthy habits in their behaviour, how to promote social relationships through group games, as well as how to design and implement programmes to help children’s learning and development. So as you can see, in kindergartens everything is ethically and legally regulated, so you can know way upfront how your kid will be treated, taken care of and educated.

On the other hand, home schooling has its advantages and some disadvantages of its own. As an option, home schooling is good if your kid has special needs or simply can’t spend hours in another environment other than your home. The downsides according to me, are more. Poor socialization, being biased about your kid’s actual knowledge and skills set and keeping him/her in a some kind of a golden box is everything but good. Plus, as a parent you may have a very clear idea of how you want to teach your kid to behave, but understanding and owning other skills is rather doubtful.

So think about this: even if this is the era of digital technology and many see the asocial kids kind of normal, evolution still holds the opposite. Human beings are designed to be part of a broader community and participate actively in society, and those skills and behaviours start from the earliest of years.

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