There was once a time when homeschooling was a luxury only limited to parents who had very compelling reasons not to send their offsprings to public or even private schools like special medical conditions or even for political reasons. In the present day, the concept of homeschooling has become more widely practiced and has also spread from the rural areas of the United States to the cities.
Parents are choosing more and more often to take responsibility for their child’s education for a variety of different reasons ranging from the attempt to given them a better education to the struggle at more specialized religious teaching. The widespread availability of the internet is also a reason why homeschooling has become possible for a number of parents, and this commodity has also increased the parents’ propensity towards the choice.
When talking about the effectiveness of the choice of homeschooling, there is no question that this line of choice has been proving a success for a number of homeschooled children when we compare them to those who have attended public or private school. The Academic Statistics on Homeschooling (ASH) says that a number of different studies have been carried out which suggest that on average, the children that have been homeschooled are mostly expected to perform better on standardized tests than their school-going counterparts. Another study sponsored by the National Home Education Research revealed that the children who had been schooled by their own parents and home tutors were seen to be more active members of the society and are generally more satisfied with their life.
The bottom line here is that research has shown us time, and again that kid that are homeschooled are generally more active in terms of academics, and they also seem to perform better in terms of accomplishment of the goals that they set for themselves in life.
Another reason why homeschooling have proven its effectiveness is that this method of education focuses specifically on the needs of every child and by giving individual attention to every student; it caters too much of their information and learning requirements. Where parents are the ones who commit to teaching their young one rather than hiring private tutors, that parent mostly is aware of the strengths and the weaknesses of his/her child and because of the same knowledge, that parent is more successful in choosing a strategy which is likely to derive perfect results with handling the child in a better way.
The youngsters who have been homeschooled also exhibit a level of thinking which is more independent of their peers and their thought process seems to appear more mature when comparing the youth homeschooled and otherwise studied in college. This means that homeschoolers are relatively free of peer pressure, and they cannot be forced into activities which they themselves do not wish to indulge in.
Yet another favorable outcome of homeschooling would be sounder family relationships and greater personal stability when going through life. Since the parents are the primary information givers for homeschoolers, these youngsters are on better terms with their parents and the overall family unit is more intact. This presents them with a more optimistic example to follow when going through their own lives and walking in their parents’ footsteps; these children also wish to keep friendly terms with their partners and children later on. Also, because they always get their fair share of attention from both parents in most cases, the psychological worries which come from attention problems are not very likely to surface for homeschoolers.
All of this evidence presents a very favorable picture for the choice of homeschooling and with this evidence; much of the audience is likely to give a verdict in favor of homeschooling, and so many may presume. So in order to address the matter more reasonably, let’s see if there are concerns amongst parents when they discuss the brighter and the darker sides of homeschooling.
Many of the opponents of the practice say that because the kids at home do not face the same competition and the same exposure as their other peers may, they are less likely to benefit from the challenge of competition amongst peers and that logically, these kids could also be expected to lack in social interaction with their age fellows and other peers. Believe it or not, there are many who believe that children who do not attend school have no way of making friends.
Practical experience and research studies have been able to conclude that these fears are mostly without basis. We have to stop here to prove wrong the people who are of the opinion that going to school is the only way of making friends for the children these days. Since the kinds who spend their school hours at home do not get the contact that others get in that time, they indulge in different types of activities in order to make friends. These children join different groups and communities where they interact with other peers like themselves on a periodic basis.
Parents also make attempts at encouraging these kinds towards street sports like soccer and basketball in their own communities so that they could catch up on the lost physical activity. The children also use opportunities like these to make friends and come together with their age fellows.
Right here, we could also address the concern of these young ones being anti-social. Logic says that simply learning from the confines of one’s home cannot make a person anti-social by nature. Rather, experience says that kids are getting their learning at home measure above average on the social, psychological and their emotional development. Therefore, these children measure higher in terms of social interaction, leadership skills, family cohesion and other social markers when compared to their age fellows that attend public or private school.
Homeschooling is a practice which has proven itself to be a success in the highest regard, and this could also have something to do with the fact that educating a child from the home is a choice which requires immense commitment from both the parents. One parent alone cannot earn the living and also focus on the schooling of the children simultaneously. All of these commitments further guarantee the success of the method in the life of the child. With all of the benefits that associated with the practice of homeschooling, the popularity of the choice is quite likely to climb even further amongst the parents of the future. Comparing a homeschooler to a child of public or private school, it would only be reasonable to have that expectation.
Works Cited
Cachia, Gabriella. The Effectiveness of Homeschooling. 20 June 2015. <http://wjpsnews.com/?p=4518>.
Parker, Tim. Homeschool Or Public School? 13 July 2012. <http://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0712/homeschool-or-public-school.aspx>.
raisesmartkid.com. Benefits of Homeschooling: How It Could Make Kids Smarter. n.d. 19 June 2016 <http://www.raisesmartkid.com/6-to-10-years-old/5-articles/50-benefits-of-homeschooling-how-it-could-make-kids-smarter>.
