Home Education Vs. Public Schools Essay

“Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource” John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) Thirty-fifth President of the USA.

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.

Thesis: Homeschooling environment is an effective approach in education due to evidence of higher achievement on placement tests, success through college, engaged socially with activities outside homes, and students becoming active members of society.

Education plays significant role in the life of everyone. It is obvious that good education will influence the future and strong foundation is the first step in building it. Iimmediately after birth, child begins to receive knowledge, an education from his family, from his home, because home considers as the foundation of all human institutions. After that it comes to make a choice whether to send him to study to the ordinary school or not to send. Some parents try to homeschool their child due to the different reasons, however others against of homeschooling because of its disadvantages. Therefore we will discuss about the advantages and disadvantages of homeschooling and its impact on child education and development.

Homeschooling and public schools are two types of schooling in America. Both types of education have their similarities as well as their differences. Statistics indicates that “about 3 percent of the school-age population was homeschooled in the 2011–12 school year” (http://nces.ed.gov/FastFacts/display.asp?id=91). Statistics also show that, “In fall 2015, about 50.1 million students will attend public elementary and secondary schools. Of these, 35.2 million will be in prekindergarten through grade 8 and 14.9 million will be in grades 9 through 12” (http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=372). Homeschooling and public schools are the same in a few ways, including the same courses are being instructed and they are a form of education. They are different in schedules, extracurricular activities, and differ in number of staff. From the results of statistics, it is clear that both types of schooling are actively being utilized. Whether more children attend public school, or are homeschooled, there are a few similarities and differences between them.

Thesis Statement: Many parents question what is best for their child’s education, home schooling or public school. Home schooling can sometimes provide a more direct and focused education than public schools, Public School is better in many ways including the child’s social development.

This view is furthered by educational psychologists, who feel that homeschooled children may have issues interacting with peers, and thus be characterized by a more difficult experience when entering the so-called real world (Murray 1996, as cited in Medlin 2000:108). Critics of homeschooling such as Pfleger (1998) assert that these children fail to learn skills necessary in the job market, and thus they will be at a disadvantage when compared with their conventionally schooled counterparts (as cited in Arai 1999:2). Finally, schools teach students a great deal in terms of social expectations: etiquette, behaviour, dress, and so forth, and it also makes students aware of the penalties that are associated with disregard for these norms (Pfleger 1998, as cited in Arai 1999:2). Taylor (1986) asserts that homeschoolers will not receive these lessons, but rather simply emulate the social understandings of their parents, and will again be “disadvantaged because they will not realize what constitutes conforming and unconforming behaviour once they leave the family and enter the wider society” (as cited in Arai 1999:2).

Ballard. Eastern. Male. Manual. All of these are public schools right here in Louisville, with varsity sport teams. If someone lives in Ballard’s district, they can go to Ballard and play football, if a person lives in Easterns’ district they can still transfer to Ballard and play football, but what if this person was homeschooled, then what? This child should still have the same opportunities to play sports at a varsity level with the high school of their choosing even if they don’t attend that school. Being homeschooled should not take away the opportunities given through high school athletics for various reasons but especially since parents of homeschooled kids pay the same taxes as kids who attend public school. Home-schooled kids also need the exposure to the social skills one would learn through team settings. Also there are various reasons why one maybe home-schooled; such as religious reasons and denying participation because of religion is illegal.

B. Preview – Traditional homeschooling can be problematic to a student’s life skills and overall development. The social learning aspect of school, which is lacking in homeschool, directly transfers into college and the workplace. Most teenagers and kids need to be supervised at every moment or else they will not do their work and, while at home, it is hard to find the motivation to do schoolwork.

Stereotypes have continued to lead people to believe that homeschoolers are isolated from the real world. However, taking a closer look into public and private schools it becomes apparent that traditionally schooled children are the ones not living in the real world. Traditionally schooled children are confined to a classroom for around 180 days each year with minimum opportunities to be exposed to a workplace or to go on field trips. Also, they are usually only surrounded by children their own age. Lastly, in traditional school everything is provided for the students and the students are given little to no responsibility. These students are not prepared to be responsible at home or the workplace, making them unprepared for life after graduation.

Cremin mentioned that home schools were the original method used to educate young students and, in fact, during colonial times, it was the leading structure of education (qtd. in Cai 1). Public schools that later developed ended up depleting the number of home schooled students due to the better financial accommodations, however, recently the number of home school students has been increasing by 10% more students each year (Cai 1). According to Cizek, the amount of home school educators who are conservative constitute for 75% of the home school educators population, and the other 25% of home school educators are liberal in their ideas and can often include such sects as atheists and libertarians (qtd. in Cai 2).

is being abused, students at home with abusive parents have no one to look after

Imagine a child who has never experienced the joys of a school dance, never had the chance to participate in a formal graduation, and was never able to experience the small joys of pleasant cafeteria banter: this is the life of most homeschooled children.

Homeschooling causes students to miss out on social events that typical students experience and creates issues for their families and future education. Homeschooled students do not get a conventional high school experience, and they miss out having a sense of school pride and social events such as football games and pep rallies. The lack of connection with peers can cause loneliness as well. Homeschooling may cause strain on family relationships and financial problems if the family does not monitor it. Homeschooled students may also not receive the proper rigor needed to succeed in college or in a conventional classroom setting if he or she wishes to continued their education. They may also lack the skills necessary to succeed in the workplace. Homeschooling poses issues not only on the student and

Many concerns are expressed for homeschoolers. When it comes to homeschooling, the first point of emphasis that critics point towards homeschoolers is the lack of socialization. “Critics charge that home-schooled children will be socially handicapped and unable to adapt to real-life interaction when older” (Jeub 1994). Ultimately, critiques get their conclusions with many observations and interviews that show how they do not choose to, or are not incorporated in social events or activities. Critiques imagine that the children are stuck with their parents all day and only go out when their parents allow them or when they personally go out. With this environment, critiques envision that homeschoolers get little to no cultural experience from their world surroundings (Anderman and Anderman, p. 468) In essence, the assessment is a never-ending speech from the critics that the number one flaw in homeschool is socialization and the