One of the toughest decisions that any parent will ever face is to decide where to send their children to get an education. When most people think of education, they generally think of public schools… when governments require children to attend schools in which trained teachers are responsible for educating the children using an approved curriculum. Through the years that idea has slowly been changing and a significant number of parents have come to believe that it is much better for their children to be educated at home by the people who know them and their needs best. Although, most people think that a public education is better, many statistics and facts show that home schooling is beneficial in other ways. It is estimated that parents are now taking control of their children’s lives and education by teaching over two million children at home, rather than in public or even private schools! This essay will examine the question of home schooling and discuss which the best option for a specific child
When making the decision to home school a child there are a number of factors to consider. Some of the benefits that I found while considering this choice for my children were the one-on one attention that I, as their parent, could give to them. This is in stark contrast to the 30:1 student to teacher ratio in our public school system. By choosing to home school, I also found that I have more freedom to choose my child’s curriculum. I, as a parent, am required to teach: “A basic academic educational program that includes, but is not limited to, reading, language arts, math, social studies, and science.” Ga. Code Ann. 20-2-690(c)(4). Because of this I am able to include other subjects like New Testament Bible, Introductory...
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...of both worlds-a choice that I feel confirms that home schooling is not universally better – no more than public schools are universally bad.
I know that homeschooling is not for everybody. It is, however a viable education option that all parents should consider. I count it a privilege that I am able to educate my children, while strengthening our relationship.
Works Cited
Athens Banner-Herald. "Georgia school voucher bill dies in session." Associated Press. Athens, 12 March 2009.
Franklin, Gary. "Georgia School Bill Voucher." Associated Press. Atlanta: WXIA 11ALIVE NEWS, 19 February 2010.
Georgia Department of Education. GaDoE Home Schools. 2010. 20 April 2011 .
Ray, Dr Brian. Strengths of Their Own: Home Schoolers Across America. Salem, OR,: National Home Education Research Institute, 1997.
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).
Just as a caterpillar changes into a complex and beautiful butterfly over time, education too is evolving and changing into something completely different than the “3 R’s” of the past. How education should evolve is a highly disputed topic. Although there appear to be many solutions these solutions often have many flaws. There has yet to be a single solution to solve this dilemma. Even though their perspectives on education differ, Brian D. Ray and Rachel S. Cox seek to tackle this issue in their respective articles, “Does Home Schooling Promote the Public Good?” and “The Home School Debate.” Ray is biased toward home-schooling being the solution to the ails of public education and believes that education issues can be resolved by encouraging
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
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.
When kids reach the age where learning begins parents now and days have a concern of whether to home school their kids or send them to a public school. Both are good methods in developing a good education for a child. But also have differences in techniques of teaching and environmental differences. Parents have to think about the cost, the way the child learns being in a social environment, and also be aware of what their child is learning in the street. We will see how home schooling and or public schooling have different effect on a child’s education. The choice of public schooling and or home schooling is a personal serious decision for many parents.
Rivero, Lisa. The Homeschooling Option: How to Decide When It's Right for Your Family. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. Print.
One might ask why some parents decide to home school their children rather than send them to public school to receive a traditional public education. In his article, “What Have We Learned About Homeschooling,” Eric Isenberg offers data which says, “Families choose to homeschool their children for both academic and religious reasons” (407). Even so, most people claim that public school offers the perfect environment for learning and developing. They argue
It is important to note that it is a right for the children to have a quality education. In this aspect, reasonable learning environments are a critical factor contributing to children education. All parents want their children to have an access to quality and better education. In the quest for such, parents always seek learning environments with competent teachers and better learning facilities. It is therefore, common to see parents always having a choice to make between taking their children to public schools, private school or have the children taught at home. Different opinion about home schooling and public school has recently been a subject of contention. Either way, the two forms of learning should offer the learning child with a better education. Nevertheless, each of the two forms of learning environments should be supported by valid arguments as discussed below.
Education has evolved steadily over many decades. When one thinks about education, he or she is normally predestined to envision conventional “school room” education. This thinking will be challenged throughout this document. Another form of education that has been around just as long is homeschooling. Homeschooling is an alternative form of education that more and more parents are moving toward as a result of many factors apparent in the school systems. In the article “Homeschooling,” Kate McReynolds tells that why parents homeschool their children can involve many factors. For some, it is a need to provide religious-based education. Others may fear for their
Many parents worry about sending their child off to school for the first time. Rather than looking into all of the different types of schooling, parents often assume public school is the only option because it is the biggest branch of childhood education. Society has people convinced that the school house is the only proper place to learn, but this idea is not actually true because children vary in so many ways. Their bodies, minds, emotions and spirits combine to make unique individuals, and this mix affects the kind of environment in which each child learns best. Assuming a family can afford to have a choice of homeschool, private school, or public school, parents have to ask themselves which of these paths will positively
There are many options for school that every child has. There is the option of private school, pubic school, boarding school, and home school. In the case of home schooling, there are simply too many disadvantages for the child though out the educational process. There are many reasons for home schooling a child. These reasons include, religious reasons, lack of a good public school district, and distrust of any school district for one’s child, to name a few. Many professionals are completely against the practice of home schooling, Thomas Shannon; executive director of the National School Board Association says that home schooling is “a giant step backward into the 17th century. (Stencel, 1994) These disadvantages include, grading, laws on home schooling, social atmosphere, education and the quality of the teacher.
...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.
“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
Homeschooling has held many places throughout the years. In the colonial days, homeschooling was the norm. In contrast, in the late 1800’s, homeschooling took a back seat and public schooling became the way of education. After religion instruction was removed from public schools in the late 1960’s, homeschooling reemerged. Over the past several decades, homeschooling has gone from a radical concept to being converted into mainstream education for thousands of people. In his article “Home Schooling Is a Legitimate Alternative to Public Schools”, Chris Jeub discusses the benefits homeschooling offers on an academic, social and family level. He argues that it is all around more beneficial for children to engage in being educated at home.
The major reasons for homeschooling cited by two-thirds of the parents interviewed are concern about the school environment, dissatisfaction with the academic programs, and the desire for religious or moral instruction (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2004). Parents feel ...