Essay on Home Schooling is Not the Best Option

“You take each student from where they are and provided experiences that will maximize success” (Qualities of a good Teacher). On the other hand, there are no requirements stating that parents doing home schooling have to be trained, experienced, certified or evaluated; or have any particular qualifications, parents who have graduated high school can home school their child. Home schooled parents argue that they can invest more time and energy into their child’s education, but in reality, a parent can educate their children at home with just a high school degree. Their inexperience harms the child more than their attempt to help. As well as educated teachers, public schools also provide a development of adapting to a more diverse environment and instill a stimulation to learn.

Home schooling is becoming an increasingly popular choice of education for parents in the United States of America. “Homeschooling refers to the practice of parents educating a child at home, rather than in a conventional public or private school setting” (Hess and Okun). This can take the form of individual instruction by a single teacher at home or in a small group setting with combined resources of teachers and materials. It was estimated in a 1999 report by the U.S. Department of Education that more than 850,000 students were being educated at home. This number was increasing at rate of 7 to 15 percent annually (Hess and Okun). The numbers are increasing because of the advantages for home school students. In order to promote individualized learning, creativity, and self-confidence, home schooling should be considered for more students.

While public schooling is the traditional way of receiving education, homeschooling is an alternative that must be considered. To clarify, homeschooling is the education of youths at home by their

Public schooling in the United States fails in providing a quality education for student in K-12. In 2015 the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), which measures reading ability and math and science literacy among 15-year-olds in dozens of developed and developing countries, found that the United States is ranked 35th in math and 27th in science Desilver, D. (2016). The number one thing every parent wants for their children is for them to have access to the best possible education available. As a result of a low quality public education, parents are progressively looking for alternative ways of schooling. In particular, some parents have decided that homeschooling would better prepare their children in life. This paper will analyze both the pros and cons of homeschooling.

What do parchment, a feather quill, a CD, and even a horse drawn carriage all have in common? All of these devices have become outdated and replaced by something more beneficial and useful to society. Unlike these improvements, public education has remained relatively the same. However, the controversial and heated topic of homeschooling is about to change that. Many individuals have strong opinions on homeschooling either for or against it for various reason. Will public school become a thing of the past for the public good? Brian D. Ray, President of the National Home Education Research Institute, in his article, “Does home schooling promote the public good?,” ventures to argue this

Education in our society is a very important factor in shaping our future. One’s future is depended on the education they receive and everyone is somehow affected by this. Children from the ages of kindergarteners to seniors in high school, college graduates, and stay at home mothers, are all shaped by the education the government provides us. There are many different ways to acquire an education some through private schools, public, charter, and being homeschooled. However, homeschooling is growing more in popularity than it has ever been.

While the American public school system educates the majority of students today, a fast growing population is beginning to accept homeschooling as an adequate alternative. Anyone with kids desires only the best education and experiences for them. Those who face this decision have to take in the plentiful list of differences and decide which will suit their family best. For years, most people saw homeschooling as an ineffiecent replacement to the government-provided schools already in existence. However, in the last ten years, studies have proved that homeschooling well equipps a student for college and beyond, changing the minds of many(http://www.usnews.com/education/high-schools/articles/2012/06/01/home-schooled-teens-ripe-for-college?page=2). In order to make this crutial decision between public or home school, one must account for the social and extracurricular opportunites, the educational aspect, and what role the family plays in education.

Homeschooling, and its rise in the past decade, is a hot topic of discussion in American society. “About 1.35 million children in the country are being officially homeschooled, making it a vital and expanding form of private education and political force in U.S. society” (Cooper & Sureau, 2007). The homeschool movement is growing rapidly because parents are researching their local educational systems and finding that it lacks in the fundamental standards and values they want to instill in their children. “It is odd that homeschooling, perhaps the ultimate form of privatization and withdrawal from, if not rejection of, the public education system, has now reached a level of unprecedented visibility, politicization, and publicization” (Cooper

An article from 2015 about homeschooling and public school stated that “it’s estimated that as many as 2 million American students are being educated at home.” There are several families that would prefer homeschooling over public school for several reasons, which will be discussed in this essay. The two topics that will be discussed are homeschooling and public school. There will be multiple topics discussed in this essay, such as pros and cons of homeschooling and public schooling, and which option would be the best option for certain types of families and students. These two topics will be contrasted by explaining which topic would be the better option for specific groups of people, and certain families. The purpose of this essay is to describe the advantages and disadvantages of home and public schooling. Also, the purpose of this essay to show statistics about which system of education would be best for certain families, specifically those who are low-income families, and want the best option for their children. Whereas public schooling is inexpensive and gives children a chance to make friends, homeschooling is the best option because it gives children a safe, and more compatible learning environment.

For the first 230 years of our history, parents, not the government, were in charge. Competence in reading, writing, and arithmetic was nearly universal at the time of the American Revolution. But by the mid-nineteenth century, a band of reformers led by Horace Mann of Massachusetts replaced our founding, free-market education system with a system of state-run education, with compulsory attendance and standardized curriculum. (Forstmann, 2001) Homeschooling has been around for a long time and is not going anywhere. It continues to increase as the year's pass, and it’s not slowing down. Many pioneers have fought for homeschooling, and new ones continue to surface. While the public education continues to downplay homeschooling, home educators continue to flourish in many ways by performing academically and becoming professionals in their field of study. The reasons parents chose to homeschool for religious reasons, low standard in public schools, academic advancement, and a safer environment. From my own experience with homeschooling, its beneficial for a variety of reasons. One reason would be one on one teaching according to the child’s learning style. When you compare this method to the public sector, children are receiving constant tutorial help from their parents. Receiving tutorial help doesn’t mean that the child will not know how to perform without assistance but prepares the child to study on their own and master the scope and sequence of studying. A child will have

Homeschooling is on the rise in America. According to a 2007 NHES study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education there are an estimated 1.5 million students actively being homeschooled up from the 850,000 estimated in previous study conducted in 1999 (NCES, 1). Once seen as a fringe activity usually associated with the religious right, homeschooling now encompasses many mainstream families looking for educational alternatives in the face of such issues as violence, peer pressure, and poor academic quality in many public schools. Detractors on the other hand claim that homeschooling is a less effective method of educating America’s youth citing academic and social issues. Despite critics’ claims to the contrary, homeschooling is an effective and viable method of education as its participants not only do well academically; they are well socialized and are successful in college and later life.

Despite home-schooling’s controversy because of the lack of teaching credentials for parents and socialization, homeschooling has big benefits for children. The first benefit is that while homeschooled, students receive individualized education. Parents spend all their time and attention to their children. Parents can devote all their time and attention to their children. Martin points out that parents understand their children best (Martin). Therefore, they can choose the best method to motivate their children to learn. “Parents are also able to evaluate their children on a daily basis and provide further instruction if needed” (Martin). Individualized education also provide necessary help as needed. As a result, homeschooled students achieve

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “There is no school equal to a decent home and no teacher equal to a virtuous parent.” Parents have numerous reasons for homeschooling their children, may it be religious or a dislike of the local school system. The National Home Education Research Institute estimates over 2,000,000 children are homeschooled in today’s society (source). Some believe that the government should have stronger regulation over what the parents teach, to make sure the children are given a fair education and will be able to make their way in the world after school; while many believe it is the parent’s right to control what their child learns. Although some parents may not have an education degree, they have the right to homeschool their

Throughout history, homeschooling has been practiced by parents, extended family, and tutors. However, a small number of children were being subjected to homeschooling as compared to the 21st century (Gaither, p.226). Homeschooling is regarded as the provision of education to young people in a private setting as opposed to public setting. Instead of being educated by the teachers, the children are educated by their own parents, relatives, or tutors hired and paid by the parents. Parents who opt to subject their children to homeschooling, do so for a variety of reasons ranging from religious demand, structure of public schools to personal preferences.

Homeschooling, not very well known, presents a new and affordable way to educate children. “Home school is a term used to refer to the education of children by their parents or guardians in a setting other than a public or private school” (Anderman & Anderman, p. 467). It has never been a new thing; it just has not been as popular as it used to be (Lines, p. 76). With this topic meaning so much to groups for and against the right for homeschooling and what should be legalized or not, the debate still rages on from local to even national government entities. Both sides of the argument have valid points, but ultimately it is the choice of the parents. There are many types of ways to educate children and that decision is difficult for both