Home schooling is the legal alternative to compulsory education in public or private institutions which is offered at home and in the community. It is mainly offered by parents that wish to provide their children with a customize type of education or an even more complete education which they feel cannot be attained in public or private schools. Several options are seen as playing part in decisions linking parents with this kind of education option (Taylor 2006 p.1). The family education, according to many of its proponents, is integrated with community organizations, reading, vacations, religious activities and other family functions. The education also proceeds flexibly all year round at the pace of the student. This even accounts for the time used in travelling. Ethics, character and religious topics that are usually omitted in public school curriculums are taught. Money management and business studies may be integrated into the family business. With all these attractive curriculum options, parents deem it fit to have their children undergo homeschooling rather than take them to public schools (Taylor 2006 p.2). The other advantage is that the parents can monitor the progress of their children from the first day instead of leaving that to the teachers who may be biased at times. Spending more time at home with their children increases the family ties which is important for the child’s psychological being. It provides a natural environment from which the child can learn to develop confidence and independent thinking. The diversification of learning environment enhances communication between all age groups hence providing an avenue for the child to do away with shyness.
Better attention is accorded to these children as the tutor has only one child to concentrate on rather than twenty kids in one class. This implies that the individual attention can be utilized to enhance skills, identify talent and maximize potential which could have gone wasted in a class with more extrovert type of children (Byfield 2001 p.43). Gifted children will realize their dreams as they will have the attention required plus the chance to reach the maximum potential they can. If it was in a public school, they would lose interest along the way since they would have to wait for the rest of the class to catch up with them while they already have the content. In home schooling education, they may even pursue their own academic studies since there will be minimal pressure at home. Through out the primary school period, most children change their teachers annually. This could break a bond that was beginning to flourish (Taylor 2006 p.3). As a matter of fact, these children feel left out after the teacher they so much adored is taken to another class or is left in the previous class when they have graduated to the next. The next teacher may not get enough time to know all the students individually making it difficult to help the children adequately. However, at home, the tutor is the same throughout the years. This creates a good rapport between the teacher and the student. The student is privileged because they do not have to adapt to anew teaching style very so often. The teacher on the other hand gets acquainted with the child’s learning style and will be ready to provide a consistent environment for the child to learn in.
The above benefits notwithstanding, several criticisms have emerged over homeschooling. Students undergoing this type of education have been said to be academically and socially challenged by those in the public institutions. However, several researches have emerged to dispute these allegations. Researchers found out that home-schooled youngsters scored slightly higher in all subjects and in all grades. They were seen to average at the 80th percentile in reading, 79th percentile in math and 76th percentile in languages compared to 50th percentile where the public and private schooled children clustered (Byfield 2001 p.43). This goes further to prove that that they are better equipped to handle exams than their counterparts which put the homeschooling institutions on top (Byfield 2001 p.43). These facts have been studied over and over to ensure correct conclusions are arrived at. Even if social activists do not want homeschooling to be the mandatory education system, the people who have undergone through it surely know the benefits they get academically.
There is the ability to obtain immediate feedback from the students allowing tutors to quickly assess whether the concept has been grasped or not. This gives the teacher the needed information on whether to alter teaching methods or review the course contents to reinforce the topic. This also gives the parent a chance to offer immediate positive feedback for a job well done which is motivational to the student especially coming form one’s parents (Holt 2004 p.48). The home environment eliminates many academic distractions that could cause interruptions in learning. This is especially witnessed in classrooms where students have different characters and may not have the same agenda while in class. The teacher’s attention will thus be divided and time may be wasted trying to bring them back to attention. More so, the parents do not have other administrative duties that they have to deal with during school hours (Nyberg 2008 p.95). Thus, a great deal of content can be accomplished within a particular period of time.
Colleges prefer homeschooled children to public or private schooled children because of a number of things. First, homeschooled children have learnt how to learn. This means that they are not spoon-fed but are taught how to decipher the meaning of things on their own. They are granted the challenge of being their own inventors and innovators of the provided knowledge. Secondly, homeschooled education is tailored to their own abilities and not the ability of few students in a class of more than 25 children (Nyberg 2008 p.97). Each child is given the chance to become what they are best at rather than a generalized probability of what they could become if they tried out something else. Students that find it difficult to grasp concepts are not left alone to sit and wonder but are tutored on that topic until they are able to decode the concepts on their own. Thirdly, they are not shy when it comes to asking questions. This can be traced form when they were young as they always asked their tutors question when they were presented with unfamiliar grounds. This implies that they yearn to understand rather than get on with the class at the expense of their understanding. Remedial students in public schools have been found to keep up with the homeschooled children and also exceed their public school counterparts due to the individualized attention accorded to them (Nyberg 2008 p.98).
Employers have also relaxed their policies on recruitment drives. This is done to encompass those that have undergone homeschooling education. These students have been found to be great assets to any company that hires them this is because they work well under minimum supervision, and often than not do their work within the required deadline. These students have also been found to increase their production since they have learnt to perform duties on their own rather than depend on others for success (Holt 2004 p.49). They end up in companies that they have the skills for rather than hop from one company to the next trying to fit in.
Socially, benefits accrued are immense. Medlin (2000) separates socialization into different meanings to account for every suggestion (p.107). There are social activities like giving a chance to the children to play with their friends and participate in traditional extracurricular activities like sports. Then there is the social influence meaning which entails teaching children to conform to societal norms. There is the social exposure perspective which involves introduction of culture and values of different groups of people. However, Medline comes up with a standard definition that suite this review. He terms socialization as the process of acquiring rules of behaviors and systems of attitudes and beliefs that equip an individual to function effectively as a member of a particular society (p.108). If we look at the homeschooling environment, then the students are given adequate time to socialize since it takes place by participation in the daily routines that directly deal with community values. Thus, children grow up learning to conserve every minute and honor all schedules and deadlines which are required for successful functionality in the future
Students join a great deal of institutions that enable them to socialize with others. For instance, they enroll for PE, piano lessons; debates and youth groups that help them grow and sharpen their skills on socialization. They help in maintaining individuality and creativity instead of eradicating them which happens when students enroll in public schools. Students in public schools end up imitating other people rather than maintaining their identity and being proud of who they are (Nyberg 2008 p.100). Students are also given a chance to interact with productive adults instead of forming pickets that do not assist them at all. They have also been found to participate statistically at higher rates in sports, youth organizations and church organizations. This implies that they are shaped all-round due to their exposure ability in different areas.
They are also shielded from such erratic behaviors like drug abuse, early sexuality, criminality, materialism, criminality and eating disorders due to the values instilled at home. They have a higher ability to develop a positive self esteem due to protection form peer pressure (Holt 2004 p.50; Martine 2008 p. 79). They are considerably safe from taunting and ridicule from their peers and this instills more confidence in them rather than create individuals who are introverted. Character is molded from an early age by teaching traditional values like tolerance, honesty and patience. Ideologies are passed on from one generation to the next and this maintains close links between the child and the family lineage.
As a family, the benefits are many. The ability to spend more time as a family brings everyone closer. The family, being the basic core unit of a society, ensures the society grows as a whole rather than a different unit. With the children understanding the benefits of their beliefs and traditions, then the society will maintain its values through all the succeeding generations. Parents get to impact the need for commitment by spending time endlessly on their academic ventures (Martine 2008 p. 80). These values are rarely instilled in public schools since they have a great deal of work to concentrate on one particular thing. The children have been found to engage in conversations better than those in public schools due to their exposure with adults and older siblings. They further interacted well in organized sports and were well mannered even after losing (Medlin 2000 p.115). Studies have also revealed that they perform best in areas of leadership and are considered to be better team leaders in companies (Medlin 2000 p.118). This is an important quality that each employer looks for.
From the above, the most important aspect that is sort after is an all-round person. The world is very dynamic in terms of values and traditions. If we cannot maintain the few that are already in existence, then the society will wallow in miasma of confusion. Public schools spread knowledge that should be learnt and what the policy makers deem as being fit for the children (Martine 2008 p. 83). Homeschooling provides a chance to learn what they ought to but that which is prohibited in public schools. They are taught how to adapt to different situations and how to solve day to day problems without depending on others. This shows a higher level of maturity brought about by academic and social excellence instilled at home by their tutors. Thus, the home schools are more beneficial to the children than the public and private schools are.
Works cited;
Byfield, Joanne. ‘Home is where the smarts are’, The Report [Colorado], December 3, 2001, p.43
Holt, James.Teach your own. New York: Delacorte, 2004, p.47-58
Martine, Millman. A family’s journey: Homeschooling. Alabama: Penguin, 2008, p.78-90
Medline, Richard, ‘Home Schooling and the Question of Socialization’, Peabody journal of education, 75(1&2), 2000. P.107–123
Nyberg, Egan. Socialization and the schools. New York: Teachers College Press, 2008, p.92-100
Taylor, Jane. ‘Self-concept in home-schooling children’, Home School Researcher, 2(2), 2006, p.1–3.
