There has always been a debate on whether children should be forced to go to public school or have the choice to attend homeschool. This debate has been around because many educators find that homeschooling is a lazy way out of learning, while other people argue that homeschooling is a great way to learn specifically for those who are sick with diseases like cancer and sickle cell or who learn better in a private environment rather than around a large group. What are the benefits and disadvantages of homeschooling?
Homeschooling has been around since the colonies. Until Massachusetts passed the first compulsory law in 1852, homeschooling was the predominant way for teaching children. Even with the growth of homeschooling in the last century, the reports from the media on homeschooled-based abuse has skyrocketed. Many states are largely unregulated when it comes to homeschooling. Missouri being one of them. In the state of Missouri the legislature have proposed a bill that would restrict the state’s ability to regulate homes (Barnett, Tyler).
From the 1970s and 1980s, homeschooling has steadily grown in popularity. 70% of children were homeschooled in 1999 and 1.5 million by 2007. Because of the discovery of child abuse cases in the home, there has been much concern over the limited regulations for homeschooling. Since many states don’t have a system in place to track down homeschool abuse related cases, the media is what confirms these cases. In the Akron Becon Journal, there were 116 deaths related to homeschool based abuse from 1999 to 2004. Examples of some abuse were four starving children who were found wandering the streets in search of food by scavenging through garbage cans. One source says, “They had esc...
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...children to learn. Duvall, Ward, Delliquadri, and Greenwood say that “homeschooling disabled children can create powerful instructional environments for their children.” (Ray).
Works Cited
Barnett, Tyler. "Pulling Back The Curtains: Undetected Child Abuse And The Need For Increased Regulation Of Home Schools In Missouri." Brigham Young University Education & Law Journal 2 (2013): 341-356. Academic Search Complete. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
Kunzman, Robert. "Education, Schooling, And Children's Rights: The Complexity Of Homeschooling." Educational Theory 62.1 (2012): 75-89. Academic Search Complete. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
McReynolds, Kate. "Homeschooling." Encounter 20.2 (2007): 36-41. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
Ray, Brian D. "Customization Through Homeschooling." Educational Leadership 59.7 (2002): 50. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
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).
Homeschooling is becoming a huge trend across America. It does have its downsides to it, just like any other education. Many parents have to worry about the right way of letting their child have socialization. Without proper socialization, a child can lack proper social skills. Many parents fear the temptations public school can provide, so they homeschool their children to bring them up with holy and moral attitudes. No parent wants their child to hang around other children who abuse drugs, alcohol, or can misguide their children down a wrong path. With homeschooling, parents can monitor whom their children socialize with and for how long. Fearing to not have any socialization at all is where parents can go wrong.
Homeschooling offers flexibility and can be a stress reliever for many. Home school gives children the opportunity to learn when they learn best, whether that be in the morning or in the afternoon. Some children prefer to work alone others with their peers. The parents will determine what their child’s learning style is. If the child need more or less time on a subject then they will have the chance to go over the subject as many time it is necessary for the student to learn it, or in the other hand if they completely comprehend the subject they can make a decision to skip it. A flexible schedule gives these options and many more to students compared to public or private schooling.
Lyman(2006) writes about the definition, history, and current social importance of homeschooling in the United States. The author defines the education which is provided at home instead of school as homeschooling. She sates thatearlier homeschooling was confined mostly to the handicapped children who were not fit along with the regular students, who need extra care and the wealthier classes who wanted their children to be prepared for university studies. She continues to give an information that the number of families considering their children to have their schooling at home is increasing every year with the awareness of the positive traits of homeschooling followed bythe research work by the educational specialists, even while other education
Homeschooling has been around for a long period of time. People wanted their kids to be homeschooled for a number of reasons. They felt like their kids was just part of a system and that their kids was missing out on a real education. In the 1970s John Holt, “began arguing that formal schools’ focus on rote learning created an oppressive classroom environment designed to make children compliant employees (J. Gary Knowles, Stacey E. Marlow, & James A. Muchmore, 2015).” It’s ok to be a compliant employee but people want the best for the kids and the only way for that is for your kid to be the boss. With that statement John got a few people to buy in and follow his movement and started homeschooling their kids. With homeschooling as a parents you wear a lot of different hats, so with that said you have to have a lot of patients with your kids because they’re going to ask a lot of questions. People need to have some
Homeschooling is an unusual punishment inflicted upon many children in America. School is a place to be educated, make friends, find out who you are and learn life lessons. Homeschooling doesn't allow a child to independently develop. They are hidden from the real world. This causes many problems later in life.
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
An estimated 4 million children are currently home schooled with a 15-20% yearly growth rate. According to a California study by researcher Dr. Brian [D.] Ray, 92 percent of school superintendents believe that home learners are emotionally unstable, deprived of proper social development and too judgmental of the world around them. The latest claim against home schooling suggests that home schoolers are potential child abusers. Mr. Ron Barnard, a Holly High School teacher says that he would prefer public schooling for his children because of the peer socialization, extra curricular, and mandated curriculum. Public schooling is more efficient in educating our youth than traditional home schooling.
Rivero, Lisa. The Homeschooling Option: How to Decide When It's Right for Your Family. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. Print.
Romanowski, M.H. (2001). Home school and the public school: Rethinking the relationship. Streamlined Seminar, 19(3), Spring 2001. 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.
“Is getting a good education important to you?” Most people when asked this question would answer, “Yes.” This is because it teaches us valuable life skills and prepares us to communicate and engage with others in the world. Education has taken on many forms over the years, and one of the more successful components of education has been homeschooling. Once considered a criminal act of defiance, homeschooling is now legally an option in all fifty states for parents to consider, and it has a substantial
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.
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.