The Pros And Cons Of Homeschooling

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

i. Dr. Brian Ray (2009), found that homeschool parents have more formal education than parents in the general population; 66.3% of the fathers and 62.5% of the mothers had a college degree (i.e., bachelor’s degree) or a higher educational attainment.

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.

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.

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.

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.

There has been an ongoing discussion between parents and scientists about public school and home school. While homeschooling continues to grow in popularity, many people still have a negative view of it and it is not uncommon, even for friends and family, to criticize those who choose to home school their kids. Some say homeschooling your child will further them in their academic pursuits but hinder them in their social life. Each situation is different for each person, home school may work better for parents who wish to spend more time with their children but public school is the obvious option for most parents who do not want to stay at home teaching their child. Parents and others alike want to know if public school or home school has better results over all fields of life.

There is a persistent myth about children that are being homeschooled that many parents tend to agree with. They believe that teaching a child a home will cause them to become anti-social and suffer with future relationships. It is the main stream perception that causes most parents to send their children to public schools. They fail to realize that home-schooled students have many opportunities to be social and usually end up having less behavioral problems and more friendships. Parent decide to home-school children for many reasons such as they believe it will make their children much more mature, It will help them develop socially and respect for elders, and allows children more time for other activities. Most parents have agreed that socialization is not a problem for homeschooled children and have been quite pleased with the results. Homeschooled children are often more a lot safer than children in public schools. Many homeschooled children have grown up to be great leaders and very successful individuals which usually sparks the debate that homeschooling is more beneficial than public schooling.

So why do parents burden themselves with the headache of homeschooling? “When the topic comes up in conversation, people often cite studies showing that homeschoolers score higher on standardized tests” (Dewar, Gwen). Yet most often the reasons for homeschooling their kid wasn’t even for educational purposes, but instead to “transmit the values, beliefs, and worldview of the parents rather than those of a public school system” (Ray, Brian). A huge benefit for parents is knowing their kid is in a safe learning

Parental involvement is another benefit to homeschooling. Educating one’s children at home gives intentional parents the opportunity to determine what and how the child will learn. Nowadays, at public schools, parents struggle for the opportunity for their opinions concerning their children’s classes to be heard (Beliefnet News 2013). With the option of homeschooling, they are not only given the awareness of what their children are studying, but also the authority to choose the education material. In addition, they can walk through the material with their

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.

“Education, after all, is a process intended to produce a product. So we have to ask ourselves: What sort of product is being produced by the current system?” (Prose 99). Education is something every parent wants for their child, but many parents are starting to question modern days public and private school systems. Nowadays, there are many educational options for students. Homeschooling is an increasingly popular alternative to public and private schools. Homeschooling has many advantages and disadvantages, but homeschooling is an option for students to benefit themselves individually.

Cooper B. S., & Sureau J. The politics of homeschooling new developments, new challenges // Educational Policy. – 2007. – № 21-1. – p. 110-131.

Imagine that a child is approaching the age when he or she will begin schooling. So many questions are racing through a parents mind. Is the child going to receive the best education possible? Can all of the child’s emotional, psychological, and intellectual needs be met at public school? Questions like these are the reason why, so many parents around the country have chosen to take education into their own hands. Parents lack confidence in public schools and desire that their children receive a good education. Another cause parents may choose to home school their kids is that they do not want their kids to be subjected to “bad influences.” Home schooling offers a wide array of benefits when

Each year, homeschooling becomes more popular. “According to The Parent Survey which was published by the National Household Education Surveys Program, in the spring of 1999, approximately 850,000 students were being homeschooled (Ramirez, 2003, para. 1). In the year 2001, over one million children were being homeschooled. It is obvious, based on these statistics, that parents homeschool their children for different reasons including religious beliefs, problems with the school system, and disabilities. Although the reasons for homeschooling may be valid; nevertheless, the disadvantages to the parents, children, and school system will eventually outweigh the positives.