Persuasive Essay On Home Based Education

Home-based education is the fastest growing educational segment in the nation. Between the years 1999 and 2011, the homeschool population has doubled and continues to grow at a rate of 2%-8% per year (Ray, 2014). I experienced this firsthand because I was homeschooled from kindergarten through high school. Stereotypically speaking, homeschoolers can be considered incompetently educated, socially weak, and poorly equipped for college. However, homeschooled students statistically score higher on standardized tests, have more intelligent relationships, and perform better in a college environment. I was afforded the opportunity to participate on a sports team, a theatre program, and a dual enrollment program due to the flexibility my family gained

Through all of my experiences, having flexibility was crucial to my academic success. As a student athlete, it was extremely difficult to juggle school and athletics already; to add dealing with the rigorous school schedule, teacher politics, and missing class for competitions, would be almost impossible to maintain an outstanding grade point average. However, having been home-educated my entire academic career, my classroom was wherever I happened to be at the moment. In some ways, even vacations became extended field trips, learning through real-life experience instead of textbook content. Along with my ability to study while traveling, I was also given the opportunity to accelerate or decelerate my studies in different areas. For example, a public or private education follows a set learning schedule, requires the students to attend class, and complete work outside of class. In contrast, a home education provides a personalized approach, allowing the student to accelerate and decelerate in different subjects based on the individual’s learning style and ability. Personally, I excelled in math, science, and English by obtaining dual credit through College Board’s (2014) College Level Examination Program (CLEP). In addition to flexibility of the family’s schedule, home education grants the parents more pliability in what their

By excelling in both academic and social environments, we set ourselves apart from the average adolescent. I attribute my success to the system’s flexibility and quality curriculum. The flexibility allowed me to train uninterrupted and travel to various competitions with my coursework, without having to miss instruction time. The pliability also allowed me to develop my learning style to succeed. My subject matter was faith based curriculum and still was advanced enough to afford me the knowledge to pass a collegiate level exam. Overall, the best form of education is the one that fits both your needs and your family’s; homeschooling assists you in fulfilling those needs. Beloved author, Laura Ingalls Wilder (Famous Homeschoolers 2014) advocated homeschooling as one of the best foundation in education by saying, “I believe it would be much better for everyone if children were given their start in education at home. No one understands a child as well as his mother, and children are so different that they need individual training and study. A teacher with a room full of pupils cannot do