The most common question asked to children and teenagers is usually, “where do you go to school?” Some children and teens respond quickly with, “Jackson Prep, Madison High, etc.” Others shuffle their feet and mutter, “homeschooled.” Why is homeschooling such a taboo subject? It’s because, in modern times, the word “homeschooling” is often associated with crazy parents and poorly socialized and undereducated children, who use the bible for a curriculum. But, others know homeschoolers to be kind, well adjusted, intelligent, and hardworking students. So who is right? An article by the Minnesota Homeschoolers Alliance states Homeschooled children are well socialized and out perform their public school counter parts. Journalist Margret Boyce says …show more content…
Using scientifically accepted scales of child behavioral measurement, two studies were conducted, one of which was a blind study, and they both showed homeschooled children out scored their public school counterparts remarkably. Homeschoolers has fewer problems socializing with other children and showed greater maturity. The lead researcher of one of the studies attributed this to “public school students are socialized "horizontally" into conformity by their same-age peers, while homeschooled students are socialized "vertically" toward responsibility and adulthood by their parents.” (qtd. In Homeschooling Students Are Well Socialized) Margaret Boyce counters in Homeschooling Students Are Isolated and Poorly Socialized, Homeschooled students have few opportunities to form friendships with other children as well as, “never being ‘on the team,’ never cheering for ‘our school,’ never being in a class where the interaction of ideas is more important than the text, or doing any of the myriad of things that make up the process of ‘belonging,’ from the first day of school to the 50th class reunion.” This statement has some truth to it as homeschooled …show more content…
Boyce argues they should not, “We don 't allow people to play doctor or nurse without a license, nor can one play lawyer without passing some rather rigorous tests. But today, anyone who wants to ‘play school’ can do so, regardless of their educational background” While there is no denying some parents are perfectly suitable to impart a quality education and social skills to their children. It is equally true that some are not qualified. No government regulations exist to test a parents ability to teach their child critical life skills. The Minnesota Homeschoolers Alliance thinks no such certification is necessary, homeschooled children spend their lives in the real world, with real adults, not stuck indoors all day with only children their own age. How are children supposed to be adults when all they’ve ever known is being treated like a child with other children? Furthermore, homeschoolers generally score higher on all standardized tests than public schooled
One main doubt that many people believe is that home schooling makes a negative approach to one’s child social skills. This is based on the supposition that children who are home schooled are trapped at home all the time. People who still suppose that children are home 365 days a year are mistaken, because home school children have several opportunities to interact with other kids their own age. According to Dr. Brian D. Ray, his studies substantiate that, homeschooled students are engaged in outside activities. They are frequently caught up in activities such as field trips, sports, etc. Homeschooled children do not only hang out with people their own age, but they learn how to socialize with people of all ages. This is a great benefit because they learn to communicate and become amiable (Ray 1).
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.
“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
Myths regarding the improper socialization of homeschoolers are as ever-present in modern society as they are false. Studies show that home-educated students are not only equal to publicly educated students when it comes to social skills, but are actually superior to their public schooled peers. While this may seem counter-intuitive, as public schooled students spend most days surrounded by dozens, or even hundreds, of other students, some suggest this is the very reason home-educated students hold the advantage in social fields. While public school students are segregated entirely based on grade, home school students interact with individuals of all ages, through partaking in various athletic activities with teams in their area, taking classes at co-op home-school centers, auditing classes at local colleges, and interacting with other social groups in their area. A study by the Seattle-based Discovery Institute in July of 2000, in which counselors were shown videotapes of homeschooled and public schooled children playing, supports the theory that homeschoolers possess superior social skills to public schoolers. Without knowing which children were from each category, the counselors noted that the homeschool students
Moreover, some families choose to Homeschool in order to screen their child’s curriculum to remove secularist views found in modern day public school curriculum (2002). Others have children with special needs or learning disabilities, so they choose to homeschool (Maaja, 1997). Ultimately, families are looking for what they believe is best for their children. And these families want to be actively involved in the education of their children. Homeschooling parents do not want strangers raising their children. They want to raise their children with freedom from government systems and institutions (Ray, 2000a).
Homeschooling is often portrayed as an overprotective mom - unwilling to let her kids leave her for a day at school, and a large number of children, all unable to hold a conversation, let alone function normally in society. As someone who was homeschooled from kindergarten through eighth grade, I can attest that my homeschool experience was the exact opposite of this confining stereotype.
While the majority choose to do so for academics, the reasoning goes beyond simply that. Homeschool families are often stereotyped as extremely religious and attempting to hide their children from the corruption and sin of the world. Families that do keep children out for these reasons are still prevalent within the homeschooling community; my mother contemplated homeschooling me and my brothers for this reason, and one of my best friends is homeschooled in a religious home. As homeschooling grows more mainstream, more families believe that public school squashes a child’s creativity and attempts to conform all children into the same person. Lynn Schnaiberg, a writer for Education Weekly, gives the reasons for four homeschooling families in her article “Staying Home from School.” In this article, the first family, the Scandora’s, believe “learning is not a product of teaching” and that their children should be free to learn at whatever pace they want. Another family featured in Schnaiberg’s article, the Collins family, is dissatisfied with the Baltimore city schools, which had some of the lowest test scores in the state. The Hoyt family has two children who are considered “gifted.” Because public schools do not give proper attention
Firstly, a child’s youth is what molds them for their future, making friends and socializing during school is what helps them get an image, and a social group. This gives them a sense, of who they are, and what kind of people they will get along with in life. Many schools promote social events and interacting with fellow classmates to further their social boundaries, “Schools and teachers try to promote significant interactive experiences among their students…Another tool used is student service activities—fundraising, student-student tutoring, and volunteer work of various kinds… these activities are encouraged…prepare students for life outside of school”(Wynne). Public schooling offers a place where students can get along, and prepare them for life after school. By contrast, homeschooling is rarely so integrated. Often times those children are socially awkward because they don't really know how to make friends, having no need since they stayed at home and if they had a homeschooling group, making...
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.
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 ...
In the past, homeschooling was popular in many parts of the world, especially in the United States. Home-based learning is considered as a legal option for parents in many developed countries. In the United States, there are more than 1 million homeschoolers (Lines, 2000 74-85). Homeschooling is a form of home-based education taught at home by parents or tutors in a curriculum mapped out suitable for every child’s ability. Although this model still remains unknown in most developing countries, many parents in Vietnam, recently, have paid more attention to this teaching methods because they think that children might receive a better education than public school counterparts. Some people think that home-schooled children may difficult to integrate
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.
ABSTRACT: Homeschooling is a controversial topic among educators. The issues that follow a child throughout their educational and social lives, are elevated when a child has been home schooled. There is no social environment for the child to learn to develop basic social skills; most home schooling environments are made up of a child, perhaps accompanied by a sibling, and the parent teaching the information given. There is no room for a developed personality that is consistent with a child of equal age and grade in a normal schooling environment.