“There is no school equal to a decent home and no teacher equal to a virtuous parent.” This is a famous quote from Mahatma Gandhi regarding his opinion of homeschooling. Homeschooling provides students with an education, taking place in a home environment. Students who are homeschooled are able to excel in their studies, or spend more time focusing on academic roadblocks. In a recent study, the United States reported having 2.3 million homeschool students (Ray). In addition to the current 2.3 million homeschool students, 5.7 million Americans stated having experience being homeschooled for at least one year of their education (Ray). Homeschooling is beneficial to students because it allows educational freedom, religious freedom, and emotional stability. Homeschool students have the ability to choose what material they would like to learn and how they would like to learn it. Most parents that homeschool their children teach them their course material. For other students, their parents monitor their studies, but let them learn on their own. …show more content…
Homeschooling is hard work, a strong commitment, and a huge responsibility for a parent. Whether homeschooling is actually beneficial varies from student-to-student. For example, students from parents that work full-time probably wouldn’t benefit from homeschooling. For some families, traditional school systems are more convenient, while homeschooling is more convenient for others. It is necessary to consider the advantages and disadvantages when deciding whether or not homeschooling is a good option. Nonetheless, homeschooling will continue to challenge the perspectives of basic education, which results in homeschooling always being a fascinating research
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.
“On the fringe” education has become increasingly more popular since the 1970’s while public education has been around since the 1600’s (Davis). “On the fringe” is what some parents think homeschooling is because they think schooling their children at home is “backwards” (Drenovsky and Cohen). However, homeschooling is more beneficial to students than public schooling.
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
Parents should do their research to make sure they are able and prepared to homeschool their children. Each state has their own requirements for homeschooling and most families pays for the studies themselves. In certain areas, enrollment in a state based program is optional. If that is the case, then the state pays for specific resources in exchange for the homeschool meeting certain requirements to remain in the program. If the child is already in public or private school and the parent decides to homeschool. The parent would need to write a letter of withdrawal that has to be given to the school principal or the local
Homeschool is a verb is defined as “to teach your children at home instead of sending them to a school” (Homeschool). This means that a child is not taught at a public or private school; But the child is not necessarily just taught at home. Many homeschooling students participate in learning with other homeschooling families. Homeschooling is legal in all fifty states, and in the United States alone, it is estimated that there are between 1.7 and 2.1 million homeschooling students. However, it is hard to know the exact number of these students since some states have different laws and do not require reporting (Frequently). Perhaps in the years to come, states will become more regulated across the board about reporting.
Homeschooling offers students a more time efficient education that allows the student to focus on education in which is the sole purpose for school. Homeschooling also gives the teacher a thorough evaluation of a student’s strengths and weaknesses by visually seeing what subjects they excel in and what subjects they are weak in. At this point students can increase their individual progression in each subject. Homeschooling permits control of the environment a student learns in to retain the focus of the student. This will reduce the chances of drug usage, bullying, and violence. Samuel Blumenfeld said this on the importance of homeschooling “The home is a safe haven for the children in a world awash with drugs, sexually transmitted diseases, violence, and moral corruption” (Cindy Mur et al.76). When parents come to realize that the home is the safest place for their children, then will they act as Blumenfeld concludes “I look forward to the day when the public schools will be virtually empty not because we have abolished public education but because the parents will have abandoned it” (Cindy Mur et al.
Homeschooling is probably one of the least known and least understood issues in education. Many people tend to think that most homeschoolers are religious conservatives or extremists. However, the truth is that people from all walks of life are joining the homeschooling bandwagon (Ray, 2004). The main misconception is that homeschooled children don’t get the same academic and social education as traditionally schooled children. Contrary to popular perception, homeschooled children have the same, if not better academic opportunities, social opportunities and college admissions prospects than traditionally schooled students have.
Thesis Statement: 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.
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.
The homeschooling is a controversial topic as many have very different ideas on what they want for their children. The idea to opt for homeschooling originated in the 70s in parts of Europe but at passage of time it has spread throughout the world, now more than half million American boys and girls and about ten thousand. British do not attend public school or private school because their parents have come to the conclusion that at home can get a good education. At least as good as they could receive if they go to school (Sandra M. Alters ) education.
Homeschooled children’s personal education doesn’t get overlooked. According to “homeschooling vs. public schooling: making the right choice” in the Huffington Post, Marion Lewis states, that public schools focus on teaching the average student; which means any student above or below average doesn’t get what he/she needs. With so many students it’s no wonder many students are getting overlooked. Marion states that class sizes are too big, with class ratios being anywhere from one teacher with twenty students to a whopping thirty students to one teacher. Homeschooling helps fix this problem by having individualized education for each student. With homeschooling, the parent has the opportunity to pick out of the many curriculum options the right one to teach their child the way best suited for them. Marion also mentions how one on one teaching helps the parent (in this case the teacher) find and target the students weaknesses to help focus on fixing those weaknesses.
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.
Rivero, Lisa. The Homeschooling Option: How to Decide When It's Right for Your Family. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. Print.
Homeschooling is receiving instruction of education in a place other than an established school. Some parents feel if they keep their children at home, they can minimize the chance that harm can happen. Other parents feel that they know their child best and can utilize personal strengths to work on educational needs. In the past, religion was the leading cause of parents who chose home schooling, now days this does not necessarily hold true.
...l that it is a decision that a parent needs to make, based on what they feel are important standards for learning. Home schooling provides a more relaxed environment, with a one on one learning environment and a flexible schedule. It also provides a pace that is best for the child, an environment on areas children want to focus on as well as confident student who doesn¦Ðt have to deal with the feelings of others. However, it decreases the socialization of the child, less exposure to different ethnicities and a limited view of the real world. The parents probably do not have the knowledge they need to teach, there are more distractions to deal with and parents may not know how to teach. These ideas are serious to think about and only add to the controversial idea of home schooling.