Homeschooling: Really an Option?

By Sara Jamison

Many of us are used to the school schedule. Some of us get up at six o'clock, hop on the bus an hour later, and spend seven hours cooped up in a building full of friends. But across the nation, approxiamately 1.4 million students are staying home and being taught...by their parents.

Homeschooling isn't new. It all started in the 1980's and has been growing ever since. Why has homeschooling become so popular? According to Brian D. Ray, director of the National Home Education Research Institute, "home schooling is effective. Nationwide research...shows that the home-schooled typically score 15 to 30 percentile points above public school students on standardized achievement tests." This information is totally understandable, since in a home environment, students can learn at their own pace, can learn in a familiar environment, and can be taught throughout the day instead of only during school hours.

Some critics argue that homeschooling deprives a student of social development. "There are many options for homeschoolers to provide social interaction with peers," states Connie Keplar, a home-schooling parent from Raleigh, North Carolina, in a debate about homeschooling in The News and Observer in 1997. "The cliche about home-schooled children being socially inept is truly a myth."

With homeschooling, peer pressure is never an issue. Students will not be exposed to the drugs and violence that they may be exposed to in a public school. And they can also be themselves at home, not having to act "cool" to impress others. "I am not anti-public schools, but I believe they are not meant for all children, that all children -- especially the way the system is set up now --don't benefit from the school system." says Rosie Bolin, another home-schooling parent with her opinion published in the News and Observer. With all the good things said about homeschooling, there are always those that believe that public schools are more appropriate and create a better environment for learning.

"I no longer have a youngster in school," states Daniel Young in the News and Observer. "In fact, he's grown now, but I would be opposed to home schooling. It's very difficult for me to understand how one person could attempt or think they could attempt to educate a child, given the different teachers we have with expertise in different areas." I myself was homeschooled for my fourth grade year, and I must say it was fun. I was not deprived of social development or any other opposition one will make, that's for sure. If anything, it taught me how to become an independent learner and has taught me things I never would have learned at school. Upon finishing my daily homework assignments, my mom and I would go out and about and learn, instead of having our heads stuck in a book. My mom would take me to the cemetary to learn about the war veterans that made history, and we'd go to the mall to learn our math. It was the most fun I had had since kindergarten, and I learned so much more than I would have in a public school. I was even more advanced than the rest of my new fifth grade class the year after!

Personally, I totally agree with the idea of home schooling. It's a different teaching concept that costs a whole lot less than traditional schooling and is beneficial to the student because of the family ties and family values that can be taught without the disruption as in a typical classroom. And hey, what's better than getting to spend quality time with your parents?

About the Author:

Sara Jamison may be contacted by email at sarajamison@hotmail.com.

Article courtesy of www.suite101.com.