As talk about it increases, so do the questions of parents as to what exactly is home schooling and online schools. Are these two things the same and do these methods really work? Well to begin, home schooling and online schools are not the same things although it shares a basic principle, which is that the student studies and learns at home. A question of time Homeschool may provide greater flexibility on time for the kids but it will eat up a lot of the free time that parents have. This is because, most parents are also the teachers of homeschooling children. Ideally, one parent should remain at home and teach the child but this cannot work with moms and dads who have careers of their own. Also include different writing instruments handy such as pencils, pens, colored pencils, crayons, chalk, markers, etc. Also include in your shopping list other items like all-purpose glue, scotch tape, rulers, erasers, staplers, paper clips, portable blackboard, and calculators. In preparing to home school your children, you should also be able to have different learning tools available around the home. In the meantime though, it is in your best interest as a parent to ensure that the quality of education that you bring to your child or children through home schooling is at par or even better than traditional methods he or she can experience in a classroom setting. For this purpose you must equip your child in proper education, taking in consideration that there are certain levels that your child must reach in terms of learning to be able to qualify for good a college or university in case your child wants to continue pursuing higher education after earning a high school degree. The advantage of institutionalized schooling is the amount of time parents get liberated to spend on their career while their children get the substantial education they pay for. Home schooling on the other hand, requires the entire time of parent participation, which is a great career sacrifice in exchange of personally educating a child. Although its effectiveness has not yet been proven conclusively, there are sectors that champion homeschooling because it provides a much more flexible process that can be adapted to a child s learning capability. For now, most experts agree that homeschool can be the best alternative for students who cannot cope with ordinary school setting.