Each year more than a million children are homeschooled in the United States, and that number is steadily growing. While some parents believe homeschooling is an ideal situation, others fear that a student's education can be severely hindered in such an environment. When making a decision about your child's education, which is the more reasonable school of thought?
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Explanation:
As a homeschooling parent, I have had much more support flowing from friends, family, and the greater community than I did at public school.
At public school, it was so difficult to feel support from teachers or the greater system. Even when the teachers were sympathetic, they were either restricted by regulation or overwhelmed by large class sizes.
With homeschooling, there's so much support, the tough part is knowing which resources to choose!
- nlj September 17, 2008 3:02PM
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Educational Support
- From California Federation of Teachers
By California Federation of Teachers - AFL-CIO
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Test Taking / Meeting Educational Goals
I have been a homeschool teacher, as well as a public school mom. I have seen the good and bad of both sides. At the time I homeschooled my son, we were living in a very poor neighborhood of hispanics, and the elementary school he would go to received an "F", while they were grading schools. The fact that I learned that while my son would start Kindergarten, the main goal was in getting all the children to speak English, really pushed me towards homeschooling. I believe it was the correct choice for us at the time. Now, in Florida, at least at the time, because we have since moved, at the end of each year, the child had to be tested by an accredited teacher, to ensure they were at grade level. I have to say, I have never worked so hard at anything in my life, before or since. To homeschool correctly, you must have tons of supplies, workbooks, learning material, not to mention that we joined several homeschooling groups in the area. As worried as I was, about him being able to meet grade level expectations, I had nothing to fear. He not only met grade level expectations, but he surpassed them. He was reading at an end of 1st grade level, and I had not only covered all subjects that were required, but I went beyond that, including enrolling him in Little League. He did not lack socialization. After moving to Washington, which has a better school system, and I was more at ease, I sent him to 2nd grade and he has been in public school ever since. Even though the schools he has gone to has not passed the state tests given, he has passed. I'm very involved with the school, and I'm home everyday to help with homework. I believe education is highly important, and that most parents don't take it as seriously as they should, whether they are homeschooling or sending their children to public school. My point being, that I believe it is the individual parent/parents who are responsible for their childrens education whether it be homeschooling or public school. It is not a question of whether we should homeschool, or public school our educations but what meets their needs at the time. If you're dedicated enough to homeschool, and believe me this takes a lot of dedication to get it right, or if you're an involved parent, making yourself available to the teachers as well as your child/children for homework or just to talk about problems they're having, then you're making the right choice. Anyway, that's my two cents.
- michecrawfo1
September 15, 2008 9:35AM
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Meeting Our Children's Needs
I read the above comment, and agreed wholeheartedly with this quote in particular: "It is not a question of whether we should homeschool, or public school our educations but what meets their needs at the time."
I currently have one child flourishing in a local public school because it is the *best* environment and educational choice for him at this time. He has also attended public homeschool programs, a private school, and we have homeschooled privately over the course of his 11 years of education so far.
We have always looked for the best choice for our children, given their unique mix of needs, year by year. Currently my three younger children are homeschooling through a private school that provides class days, field trips, parental support/learning sessions, and annual testing. We have also participated in public independent study programs for many years. We refer to this as "cafeteria style" schooling - they can choose what is best from a menu of options, thanks to a political system that provides an open choice educational environment. My children are extremely social and have social interaction 7 days a week, therefore the educational model tailored to their levels has served us well.
The notion that homeschool families lack educational support is silly. Educational support available to homeschooling parents today is tremendous. Private enterprises and public ISPs, internet support groups and resources, and face to face support groups provide parents virtually instant access to information they need to address any problem or education decision. By becoming far more actively involved in their children's educational decisions than can possibly be achieved in a traditional public school environment, and by involving their children in educational choices (for example, it is my oldest son's choice to attend public high school, and so he is invested in his success there, vs. being forced to attend), parents taking advantage of educational choice in this country are raising children who are participating in their own educational process. This is far from placing our children at a disadvantage.
Public schools are critical to our democracy. Homeschooling is clearly not for everyone, or for every child at every stage of their educational years, and some families who may wish to homeschool cannot due to economic or other barriers. Public education is the safety net for society when parents cannot or do not wish to take on more responsibility. While public education has many problems, history has shown that this safety net is essential to democratic society; without it, even larger segments of society become disenfranchised and disadvantaged from lack of education.
Homeschooled children, however, are not in the category of disenfranchised that created the need for public schools. We are not putting our children at a disadvantage by not availing ourselves of this public service, and deciding to provide an individualized education for our children.
The problems facing public schools will not be fixed by a handful of homeschool parents being forced to rejoin the system. I put a very successful professional career as a CPA on hold to homeschool my children, so clearly I see this to be in their best interests at this time. I hope in the future to be a part of any solution to improve public education, when to contribute would not require me to sacrifice the quality of my children's education.
- julieb September 16, 2008 9:04AM
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