Nowadays parents all around the world are free to choose whether to teach their children at home or to send them to school. Homeschooling becomes one of the trends of the present-day society. More and more parents are eager to stick to homeschooling.
Homeschooling is a mainstream education based on the parent-led teaching. Scientists state that almost 35% of children study at home in such countries as Australia, France, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom. And the homeschool education is continuing to grow at the estimated 5% per annum over the last five years (Ray 1).
There are certain reasons that influence the choice of parents in the sphere of education. First of all, parents who pay taxes spend almost $12,000 per child in public school while they can spend nothing on homeschool students and their expenses include just manuals and additional materials (Bunday).
Parents want to individualize the learning curriculum for their children and to provide the propitious learning environment for each child. It should be mentioned that parents try to use other pedagogical approaches that teachers in public schools, they are more student-based and learning-oriented. Homeschooling promotes the intensification of the family relationships between the members of the family (Kunzman et al. 28-29).
Some children are rather brutal and violent and homeschooling is one of the ways to avoid the conflicts between peers and to provide safe environment for the children. Students are protected against physical violence, psychological abuse, drugs and alcohol, racism, etc.
It should be mentioned that home-educated students show better results on the standardized academic tests than public-school students regarding the level of education of their parents. It shows that students who study at home are more concentrated on the education rather than on the school life.
Homeschool students do not lack social interaction or socialization. They are often engaged in the social and educational activities inside and outside their homes - scouting, church ministry, volunteer work, field trips (Barwegen et al. 42). All these results in the self-development of homeschool students, they show the increase of their leadership skills, family cohesion, self-esteem and social interaction. Scientists prove that students who study at home are more politically tolerant.
Homeschooling regards the gender differences, but some researchers stress the fact that boys with their energetic nature and with the tendency to physical expression can be much more easy taken in hand in home-based education (Keane 9).
It is a proven facts that adults who were home-educated more frequently participate in local community service; they are more eager to attend public meetings; they succeed at college and show their knowledge on the same level as the general population (Mag).
Among the disadvantages of the homeschooling one can differentiate lack of time and responsibility of parents (they cannot devote all their time to homeschooling as well as some of them do not want to be responsible for the knowledge of their children), gaps in the level of the education of parents, criticism from the society (Successful Homeschooling).
Homeschooling is the way of the development of a certain layer in the society. They are people who are eager to be the active participants of the society. Homeschooling causes the investigation of the positive traits of students and of the individual himself.
Works Cited:
Barwegen M. Laura, Falciani K. Nancy, Putnam S. Junlah, Reamer B. Megan, and Esther E. Stair. Academic Achievement of Homeschool and Public School Students and Student Perception of Parent Involvement, 2007. Print.
Bunday, M. Karl. Homeschooling Is Growing Worldwide. Learn in Freedom, 2013. Web. 21 Jul. 2016.
Keane, Shane. Homeschool v. Public School: The Battle for Access to Public School Athletics, 2014. Web. 21 Jul. 2016.
Kunzman, Robert, and Milton Gaither. Homeschooling: A Comprehensive Survey of the Research. Indiana University, 2013. Print.
Mag, J. Home Schooling: A Growing Trend. Jewish Action, 2015. Web. 21 Jul. 2016.
Ray, D. Brian. Research Facts On Homeschooling. National Home Education Research Institute, 2016. Print.
Successful Homeschooling. Disadvantages Of Homeschooling, 2008. Web. 21 Jul. 2016.
