Society is changing quickly and the usual patterns of learning are changing too. During the last decades the classroom has greatly evolved allowing more freedom of choice, introducing technological advances into the learning process and adopting more student-oriented strategies of learning. Along with modern classrooms and the creation of digital learning environment, homeschooling has also grown to more popular. Now it presents a strong alternative to public school education, and while its regulation is still under question, a lot of people have already experienced the benefits of this way of schooling. Nevertheless, generally homeschooling is not perceived positively in the various layers of the society. People consider it to be harmful to children’s learning, and believe that homeschooling hinders young students’ performance, emotional stability and social abilities. Society favors traditional forms of education in public schools, as it is well-understood and demonstrates relatively stable results for years. However, researchers suggest that homeschooling has actually proven to surpass public schooling in various realms. Homeschooling should be accepted by the society, as it is beneficial for children’s education, because it creates environment with educational, physical and ideological freedom, promotes achievement that is not bound to grades, competition and social anxiety, and improves social interaction skills both with parents and other people.
First of all, homeschooling means removing the limitations that are imposed by public schools, so it allows freedom of choice and creates calm, unhindered environment for learning. It allows determining the appropriate teaching and learning style that suit the needs of the child, and is engaging, interesting and stimulating. Choosing homeschooling is often determined by the quality of education, time constraints or ideological motivation, because “if parents are dissatisfied with the public schools for academic, religious, or other reasons, they must choose between homeschooling and private schooling. Private school has tuition costs; homeschooling has opportunity costs of time” (Isenberg 405). Therefore, parents take the whole responsibility for their children’s education and spend time and efforts to adjust the curriculum and take the most out of a learning process. Children in cooperation with parents can pay more attention to the subjects that interest them at the pace that is suitable for a child. Another benefit is physical freedom, as both children and parents are not limited by school calendar, can choose the suitable time for rest and vacations, and organize the schedule to suit sleeping needs of a child (Shaw). As far as ideological education is concerned, it is up to parent to decide what information should be presented to the child in addition to standard subjects.
Homeschooling does not concentrate on grades and competition, but rather emphasizes all-round development and sense of achievement. Children are set apart from usual problems faced by schoolchildren of their age, and have more chances to focus on knowledge, rather than formal marks. Unsurprisingly, such attitudes bring positive results, despite the common beliefs that parents are not knowledgeable enough to provide adequate education for their children. For example, the research shows the high performance of homeschoolers in the national standardized tests, as “test scores for home schoolers were between the 75th and 85th percentiles. Public school students scored at the 50th percentile, while private school students’ scores ranged from the 65th to the 75th percentile” (Basham, Merrifield and Hepburn 14). Such results may be explained by the higher level of involvement in the process of learning, as well as the lower level of distraction. In friendly environment, children are able to realize their potential and achieve higher goals.
Homeschooling is also beneficial for socialization of children in the environment that is free of bullying and pressure. Homeschooling does not mean that children are deprived of social interaction; indeed, they are free to choose people they want to communicate with, rather than being randomly paired with someone in public school. The studies have proven that the homeschoolers “compare favorably to their conventionally-schooled counterparts across a range of social skills and they do engage in extracurricular activities that provide opportunities for group interaction, often participating at rates comparable to institutional schoolchildren” (Kunzman and Gaither). Therefore, homeschoolers can easily achieve the level of social interaction they need for healthy development. Additionally, they do not suffer from bullying and stress associated with the urge to be accepted in a group. Another positive point is the development of the ability to form close bonds with people, especially with family and friends. The absence of pressure and social anxiety allows homeschoolers to engage with the society in consistent way, while preserving adequate self-esteem that often suffers in public school setting.
All in all, homeschooling is beneficial, as an alternative way of children’s education. It provides a freedom of choice and less time or subject constraints, while encouraging high academic performance and giving the space for socialization and interaction with parents and peers. Of course, it cannot replace public schooling, but there are cases, when it is better both for children, parents and the society in general. Each person has to decide whether this type of schooling is appropriate for their children and if it suits their lifestyle. The society should understand that homeschooling has a lot to offer, and it does not hinder child’ development, so the measures should be taken to regulate this type of schooling on institutional level.
Works Cited
Basham, Patrick, John Merrifield, and Claudia Rebanks Hepburn. Home Schooling: From the Extreme to the Mainstream. Fraser Institute, 2001. Web.
Isenberg, Eric J. "What Have We Learned About Homeschooling?." Peabody Journal of Education 82.2-3 (2007): 387-409. Web.
Kunzman, Robert, and Milton Gaither. "Homeschooling: A Comprehensive Survey of the Research." Other Education 2.1 (2013): 4-59. Web.
Shaw, Isabel. “The Pros and Cons of Homeschooling.” Family Education. Web.
