Last year, my husband and I were trying to decide what was best for each our children when it came to his or her education. Although Freeport, Illinois, does not have a significant amount of schools from which to choose, we certainly looked at them all. After we had spent numerous hours talking to teachers and touring classrooms, we were not impressed by any of the local schools. Basically, every school offered the same general subjects served in a cookie cutter fashion. We, however, wanted our children to have a more diverse and individualized education. Therefore, we decided to look into other options of schooling, particularly homeschooling. “[P]arent-led home-based education . . . is an age-old traditional educational practice that a decade ago appeared to be cutting-edge and ‘alternative’ but is now bordering on ‘mainstream’ in the United States” (Ray). Even though homeschooling has become more popular, some educators and homeschool opponents disagree with the effectiveness of home-based education; believing that children should not be taught by uneducated or undereducated parents who may lack the resources provided by the mainstream school system. However, the public and private schools are not providing children with the proper techniques for learning and understanding the fundamentals of the materials being taught due to the time restraints imposed by teaching multiple children with different educational needs at the same time. In contrast, homeschooling can help children not only learn the concept but understand why they are learning the concept. Structured homeschooling is the best option for most children when it comes to his or her educational needs.
Most parents have heard about homeschooling but know little about ...
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...llion Homeschool Students in the United States in 2010.” NHERI. 3 Jan. 2011. Web. 16 Nov. 2013.
Martin-Chang, Sandra, Gould Odette, and Meuse Reanne. "The Impact of Schooling on Academic Achievement: Evidence from Homeschooled and Traditionally Schooled Students." Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science 43.3 (2011): 195–202. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
Terry, Bobby. "Homeschooling in America: A Viable Option." ERIC. 1 Mar. 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.
United States. Dept. of Education. National Center for Education Statistics. “Fast Facts.” IES N.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2013.
United States. Dept. of Education. National Center for Education Statistics. “Expectations and Reports of Homework for Public School Students in the First, Third, and Fifth Grades.” IES. Dec. 2008. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.
Vosniadou, Stella. "How Children Learn." International Academy of Education. N.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
Although homeschooling has its benefits, it does not always lead to the best of the best in the academic world. Many people believe that homeschooling always leads to educational success; the homeschooled student gets accepted into the top colleges, they score higher on standardized tests than public schooled kids do, and they improve faster than children in public schools. These so-called benefits of homeschooling do not really exist unless the individual works hard. Some parents homeschool their children because they think that a homeschooling parent can relax all day and take part in very few activities. Others think that homeschooling leads to the highest scores. However, the student himself has to work hard in order to have a successful
First of all, it is critical to realize that schools are merely a way of educating the youth, yet schools are not the only way, and there is no soild evidence to prove that schools are better than other methods. In fact, when compated to homeschooling, it is quite the opposite. After the study of Eric Rudner was rejected due to sample issues such as self-selection and socioeconmical differences, Dr. Sandra Martin-Chang, researcher in
According to Mary Griffith, author of the book The Homeschooling Handbook, the concept of homeschooling is nothing new to society. It is only in the past 150 years that public school system as we know it came into effect (Griffith, 1999). Prior to that, “…the family was the basis for social life…the home was where children learned what was necessary to function in their community” (1999). By the mid-1970s, there were barely any people practicing homeschooling (Ray, 2004). However, over the past twenty years there has been a resurgence in people choosing homeschooling (2004). There has been a 500 percent increase in homeschooling from the 1990-1991 school year to the 2002-2003 school year (2004). The National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) estimates “that between 1.7 and 2.1 million students were being homeschooled in the U.S., in every grade level from kindergarten through twelfth grade…Indications are that the growth rate is between 7 percent and 15 percent per year ” (2004).
According to Gretchen M. Wilhelm and Michael W. Firmin, in their article Historical and Contemporary Developments, the Department of Education found that over 1,700,000 students are homeschooled. That’s 3.4 percent of all school age children (304). Homeschooling is defined as an education that contains less than twenty five hours of public school teaching each week and is based out of a household. The earliest forms of education were originally taught from home, then later developed into public schools (Wilhelm and Firmin). Homeschooling not only affects the students taught, but also fellow Americans in the race to advance a nation. Homeschooling needs to be understood in order to revise education into a better and
Hegener, H. (1997). Homeschooling Online [Electronic Version]. Home Education Magazine, Novermber-December. Retrieved May 3, 2004 from http://www.home-ed-magazine.com/HEM/issue_index.html.
One of the many advantages of homeschooling, as compared to public schooling, is that it does not matter when or where the learning takes place. Homeschooling does not necessarily have to be only formal sit-down lessons, but instead, can be anywhere that lends itself well to a productive learning environment. For example, a Biology lesson could take place at a pond, with the child examining and learning about invertebrates or ecosystems. Starting in the mid-2000’s, thousands of homeschooled students completed standardized tests for purposes of assessing their academic standing. Results showed that children who were homeschooled had a higher level of academic success than children who went to public schools (Aasen
Mar. 2007). Rpt. in Homeschooling. Ed. Myra Immell. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Current Controversies. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 2 Oct. 2014.
Rivero, Lisa. The Homeschooling Option: How to Decide When It's Right for Your Family. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. Print.
In today’s American society, quality education is important for one to succeed. Without proper education, a person will find it extremely difficult to apply for college, a job, or to pursue his or her dream. Typically when Americans think of education, public education is the first to come to mind. Public education has been around for centuries and is provided to most children throughout the United States. Due to this fact, public education has been the go to education source for years. Though, this trend is slowly changing with many parents deciding to home school their children instead. Many factors are the cause for this issue, but the common arguments arise from a certain few. For students, public school provides many opportunities ranging from social connections, school sports, and the exposure to teachers who are experts in their fields. But homeschooling is often superior because it offers additional time for students to participate in various extracurricular activities and community service, allows for more individual attention, personal character development, and it offers less exposure to discrimination that is received in the public school environment.
Pawlas, G.E. (2001). Clearing the air about home schooling. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 37(2), pp. 63-66. Retrieved December 7, 2004 from EBSCO database.
All children in America have the right to a quality education. Most students receive that education through conventional means, going to a public or private school. There is another option for today's children, home schooling. Home schooling is a controversial issue. While it does have its benefits, some people believe it has too many downfalls to be an effective method of education. In this paper, topics such as academic impact, social impact, and parental opinions of home schooling will be discussed.
Studies have shown year after year that homeschooled students consistently perform just as well as (or in many cases better than) traditionally schooled students on standardized academic exams. But very rarely does anyone ask why this is, or what caused the student to do so well, because they are usually too concerned with questions about the student’s social life or if they would be able to handle the transition into college. Therefore, my thesis statement is: Homeschooled students often achieve higher academic success and are more active in their communities than traditionally schooled students, due to a personalized approach to learning that emphasizes individuality. My research paper will debunk some popular myths about homeschooling, and give the real reasons why homeschoolers are so successful.
Today, many parents are homeschooling their children. A U.S. Department of Education’s report shows that approximately 1.5 million children were being homeschooled in 2007 (Lips & Feinberg, 2008). This is almost 3 percent of all school age children (Lips & Feinberg, 2008). A private researcher, the National Home Education Research Institute, estimates 2.5 million children were being homeschooled in the 2007 – 2008 academic years (Lips & Feinberg, 2008). By either count, homeschooling is growing exponentially.
Wichers, M. (2001). Homeschooling: Adventitious or detrimental for proficiency in higher education. Education 122(1), 145-151. Retrieved November 23, 2003, from EBSCOhost on the World Wide Web: http://search.epnet.com
As the population in public schools increase, the problems in these schools are also on the rise. These changes are leasing to the way parents are schooling their children. Many parents are leaning towards homeschooling as a solution to this problem. This increase in homeschooling can be directly related to an increase in school violence, the offering of a lack luster curriculum, and lack of student teacher interaction.