The Legal Aspect of Alternative Forms of Education

Public schooling establishes a diverse atmosphere and stimulation for students to succeed. Student’s need more stimulation than any one parent can provide for their child. “Home schooling does not encourage and facilitate children to make peer relationships. In both public and private schools, children have the benefit of being grouped together in classes and activities, and in turn, they have an opportunity to get to know one another. Home school lacks this type of environment and can retard a child’s social growth” (Home Schooling – The Benefits of Learning at

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.

All homeschoolers aren’t always necessarily smarter than public schoolers, but because they are very good at self-motivating themselves and they work very hard and set high expectations they normally do well on standardized tests. When it comes to college graduation, homeschoolers graduated at a rate of 66.7% and public schoolers graduated at a rate of 57.5% at a doctoral college. Homeschooled students also normally score fifteen to thirty percent higher on standardized testing and graduate with a consistently higher GPA than the average public schooler. Colleges, such as Harvard, have been looking for homeschoolers in particular because they are often the most prepared for college. It has been made clear that because of the homeschooler’s superior form of education, they score quite high on standardized tests and turn out to be more intelligent than the students of other schools. The fact that this type of education benefits the student should be an influential factor in the decision about homeschooling.

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).

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.

This research paper analyzes data from case studies and peer reviewed articles to examine, whether home schoolers who are educated away from the public school are able attain the expected higher academic standards comparable to public school students (PSS). Additionally, socialization, which has plagued homeschoolers will be considered to be a part of this research., Subsequently, the search for answers about the homeschooling success had becomebecame more difficult, due to the abundance of misrepresented information and public opinions. Historically, Finally, those who have a basic knowledge of the homeschooling community, developed their assumptions based on limited exposure with parents who homeschooled. Unfortunately, parents who

Summary: Michael Romanowski wrote an article called "Common Arguments about the Strengths and Limitations of Home schooling." Home schooling is continuing to grow rapidly in many places. He explains that home schooling serves children equally well as public schools. Romanowski supports the main idea by giving claims that home schooling helps a child improve their social skills, children who are homeschooled are more likely to become academically successful, a student is not put on time limit and they are not told to put everything up and focus on a new topic. Home schooling allows children to learn to socialize with older people and stills allows them to socialize outside of their home with community activities. When the parents are closely involved in the student's academic work

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.

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

People think that because these children have never been in a real class room before that after they graduate their twelve grades in the homeschooled setting they couldn’t possibly get used to the idea of a community college or even worse a university. Joan Bress states that “Colleges that have accepted homeschooled students appreciate the maturity and self-direction these students demonstrate. They believe that because homeschooled students have been involved in shaping their own education, they tend to be motivated learners and are comfortable assuming positions of leadership, both in class and in social situations” (17). It is a fact that homeschooled children actually score higher on test scores than children from public schools. This is due to the fact that the one-to-one learning time really helps a student and these kids are smarter because of

The greatly discussed dilemma of having a child be taught in a public school setting versus a homeschool setting has been evaluated by parents since the idea was first introduced in the 1970’s. Public schooling had been the standard method of teaching since it is a requirement for states to provide public, free education for children in grades K-12. However, the backlash against the system began when two educational theorists and supporters of school reform, John Holt and Raymond Moore, started to question both the techniques and the products of public schools. Some parents went on to support the ideas of them and began to teach their children in the environment of their own homes for several different reasons. Some included moral or religious reasons, a desire for high educational achievement, dissatisfaction with public schools’ instructional program, or concerns about drugs and peer pressure in a public school environment. Child development specialists believe that homeschooled children are isolated from the outside world, therefore making them socially handicapped. If being exposed to this type of education on an elementary school level, the child can suffer from the lack of fundamental development of effective social skills needed for a lifetime ahead of them.

An issue that both unschooling and homeschooling families face alike is socialization. Homeschoolers generally combat this with play dates, classes, groups, sports teams, and learning centers for their children to socialize and meet with their peers. Unschoolers too have all these means, but there is also one other facet normally ignored. Since unschooling’s main principal is that children learn best in normal, every-day experiences and the people around them, parents are more likely to include children on so-called mundane errands. They are socialized with not just their own peers but all other age groups as well. It’s rare in life that we’re constantly surrounded by people our own age – aside from school, that is. Unschooled children have frequent opportunities to interact with adults and a variety of other ages.

Over the past several years, studies have demonstrated a higher level of academic excellence on standardized tests by homeschooled children. In a study released by the National Center for Home Education, “5,124 homeschoolers '

Surprisingly, there are a variety of people that do homeschooling. Both people from high-income to low-income families. There are parents that even have doctorates or even a diploma in a general subject. Families with either one or two parents and differing ethnics and religious or secular inducement choose to homeschool (Ray 2002). Researchers come to the conclusion that homeschoolers, for the most part, have free reign when it comes to their homework and school pace that they feel that suits them the best.

Every child of school age, 5-18 years, in the United States, is required to be in an educational program. Making decisions for one’s self or for the wellbeing of another may require good common sense, research and knowledge in order to settle on what is best. One important decision that most people will have to make for themselves or another is about learning. Knowledge, behaviors, skills, values and preferences are all associated with learning and may be acquired through education. In our world today there are many ways to get an education: public school, private school, charter school, homeschool, etc. Per the National Center for Education Statistics, for the fall of 2016, about 50.4 million students attend public elementary and secondary schools. An average of $11,732 per pupil in public schools is spent from taxpayers. School aged children are expected by truancy laws, to be in attendance unless their family has chosen another option. Another popular option for families is to homeschool their student). Homeschool is a parent-led home-based education. Per research by Brian D. Ray, Ph.D., there are about 2.3 million home-educated students in the United States. An average of $600 per student in homeschool is spent by families for their education. There are many advantages and disadvantages to a student being enrolled in homeschool or public school but the overriding goal for either is to create a learning experience to educate children. The learning