Money and time contribute to nearly everything that is accomplished in life, so in homeschooling, they play the biggest role in order to have a successful outcome. Laura Grace Weldon argues how many parents assume homeschooling will drain their wallets without even considering the resources they have around them. She includes some of the places she took her children to learn from such as museums, public libraries, colleges and cultural centers as well as the people who they spent time with such as engineers, entrepreneurs, organic farmers and many more. Weldon includes how people seem honored when asked to share a little of what they know. Not to mention most of the activities that they did were basically free. Additionally, Weldon does add …show more content…
However, Dana Goldstein has a different point of view. Goldstein explains how the majority of homeschool families consist of two parents where one is pleased to, as well as, financial manage to leave their job to teach their children, which most parents assign the district to do so for them. In her claim, she talks about a girl named Taylor; Goldstein critiques Taylors essay about being homeschooled due to the fact that she mentions how everybody should be able to homeschool. Not only does Goldstein get agitated by what she said but also states that Taylors’ mother was able to manage to be a stay at home mom. Clearly, the author is implying that Taylor doesn’t really know what it takes to homeschool a child. Furthermore, Goldstein states why it’s not so easy for everyone to homeschool as she says more than 70 percent of mothers with children under the age of 18 are in the workforce. One-third of all children and one-half of low-income children are being raised by a single parent. Fewer than one-half of young children and only about one-third of low-income kids are read to daily by an
Cox, a professional writer for the CQ Researcher, compiles information for and against homeschooling and its impact on fundamental American values. Her argument condemns homeschooling for threatening the American public school system. Cox states that public education is what enables democracy to work well as it levels the playing field allowing all both rich and poor opportunity to acquire an education. She also combats studies that show that home schooled parents are more likely to be involved in civic affairs with a conclusion from the Education Department that says, “We have reason to believe that the organizations and practices involved in private and home schooling, in themselves, tend to foster public participation in civic affairs” showing that there is not conclusive evidence that just home schooled parents are more involved. Cox addresses the fact that many parents are realizing the importance of their involvement in their children’s education, and that, “public education [is] the great equalizer in a democracy.” Without public education we cannot be equal. Cox knows that public schools are not perfect, but is an advocate for making them better for the good of
According to Gretchen M. Wilhelm and Michael W. Firmin, in their article Historical and Contemporary Developments, the Department of Education found that over 1,700,000 students are homeschooled. That’s 3.4 percent of all school age children (304). Homeschooling is defined as an education that contains less than twenty five hours of public school teaching each week and is based out of a household. The earliest forms of education were originally taught from home, then later developed into public schools (Wilhelm and Firmin). Homeschooling not only affects the students taught, but also fellow Americans in the race to advance a nation. Homeschooling needs to be understood in order to revise education into a better and
Moreover, some families choose to Homeschool in order to screen their child’s curriculum to remove secularist views found in modern day public school curriculum (2002). Others have children with special needs or learning disabilities, so they choose to homeschool (Maaja, 1997). Ultimately, families are looking for what they believe is best for their children. And these families want to be actively involved in the education of their children. Homeschooling parents do not want strangers raising their children. They want to raise their children with freedom from government systems and institutions (Ray, 2000a).
Homeschooling offers students a more time efficient education that allows the student to focus on education in which is the sole purpose for school. Homeschooling also gives the teacher a thorough evaluation of a student’s strengths and weaknesses by visually seeing what subjects they excel in and what subjects they are weak in. At this point students can increase their individual progression in each subject. Homeschooling permits control of the environment a student learns in to retain the focus of the student. This will reduce the chances of drug usage, bullying, and violence. Samuel Blumenfeld said this on the importance of homeschooling “The home is a safe haven for the children in a world awash with drugs, sexually transmitted diseases, violence, and moral corruption” (Cindy Mur et al.76). When parents come to realize that the home is the safest place for their children, then will they act as Blumenfeld concludes “I look forward to the day when the public schools will be virtually empty not because we have abolished public education but because the parents will have abandoned it” (Cindy Mur et al.
Lyman(2006) writes about the definition, history, and current social importance of homeschooling in the United States. The author defines the education which is provided at home instead of school as homeschooling. She sates thatearlier homeschooling was confined mostly to the handicapped children who were not fit along with the regular students, who need extra care and the wealthier classes who wanted their children to be prepared for university studies. She continues to give an information that the number of families considering their children to have their schooling at home is increasing every year with the awareness of the positive traits of homeschooling followed bythe research work by the educational specialists, even while other education
However, contrary to popular belief, one doesn’t have to be trained in any way in order to teach their child. Not only that, but whether one is trained or not doesn’t necessarily affect the education of a child. In a study conducted by Patrick Basham he states, “To the possible dismay of professional educators, … parents who are trained teachers do not seem to get significantly better results than amateurs. Nor do differences in education or income produce any discernible variation; regardless of family income, home-schooled students score between the 82nd and 92nd percentiles on the SAT, the national American college entrance exam.” (Byfield, Home is)This means that whether a parent is trained or not, homeschooled children still consistently score higher than average on standardized
An estimated 4 million children are currently home schooled with a 15-20% yearly growth rate. According to a California study by researcher Dr. Brian [D.] Ray, 92 percent of school superintendents believe that home learners are emotionally unstable, deprived of proper social development and too judgmental of the world around them. The latest claim against home schooling suggests that home schoolers are potential child abusers. Mr. Ron Barnard, a Holly High School teacher says that he would prefer public schooling for his children because of the peer socialization, extra curricular, and mandated curriculum. Public schooling is more efficient in educating our youth than traditional home schooling.
While the majority choose to do so for academics, the reasoning goes beyond simply that. Homeschool families are often stereotyped as extremely religious and attempting to hide their children from the corruption and sin of the world. Families that do keep children out for these reasons are still prevalent within the homeschooling community; my mother contemplated homeschooling me and my brothers for this reason, and one of my best friends is homeschooled in a religious home. As homeschooling grows more mainstream, more families believe that public school squashes a child’s creativity and attempts to conform all children into the same person. Lynn Schnaiberg, a writer for Education Weekly, gives the reasons for four homeschooling families in her article “Staying Home from School.” In this article, the first family, the Scandora’s, believe “learning is not a product of teaching” and that their children should be free to learn at whatever pace they want. Another family featured in Schnaiberg’s article, the Collins family, is dissatisfied with the Baltimore city schools, which had some of the lowest test scores in the state. The Hoyt family has two children who are considered “gifted.” Because public schools do not give proper attention
Rivero, Lisa. The Homeschooling Option: How to Decide When It's Right for Your Family. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. Print.
In today’s American society, quality education is important for one to succeed. Without proper education, a person will find it extremely difficult to apply for college, a job, or to pursue his or her dream. Typically when Americans think of education, public education is the first to come to mind. Public education has been around for centuries and is provided to most children throughout the United States. Due to this fact, public education has been the go to education source for years. Though, this trend is slowly changing with many parents deciding to home school their children instead. Many factors are the cause for this issue, but the common arguments arise from a certain few. For students, public school provides many opportunities ranging from social connections, school sports, and the exposure to teachers who are experts in their fields. But homeschooling is often superior because it offers additional time for students to participate in various extracurricular activities and community service, allows for more individual attention, personal character development, and it offers less exposure to discrimination that is received in the public school environment.
There are many reasons for homeschooling a child. These reasons include, religious reasons, lack of a good public school district, and distrust of any school district for one’s child, to name a few. Many professionals are completely against the practice of home schooling, says Thomas Shannon, executive director of the National School Board Association. He says that home schooling is “a giant step backward into the 17th century. (Stencel, 1994)
Studies have shown year after year that homeschooled students consistently perform just as well as (or in many cases better than) traditionally schooled students on standardized academic exams. But very rarely does anyone ask why this is, or what caused the student to do so well, because they are usually too concerned with questions about the student’s social life or if they would be able to handle the transition into college. Therefore, my thesis statement is: Homeschooled students often achieve higher academic success and are more active in their communities than traditionally schooled students, due to a personalized approach to learning that emphasizes individuality. My research paper will debunk some popular myths about homeschooling, and give the real reasons why homeschoolers are so successful.
Today, many parents are homeschooling their children. A U.S. Department of Education’s report shows that approximately 1.5 million children were being homeschooled in 2007 (Lips & Feinberg, 2008). This is almost 3 percent of all school age children (Lips & Feinberg, 2008). A private researcher, the National Home Education Research Institute, estimates 2.5 million children were being homeschooled in the 2007 – 2008 academic years (Lips & Feinberg, 2008). By either count, homeschooling is growing exponentially.
In the recent times, home schooling has been the most sought mode of learning by the American parents. In fact, it estimated that over 1 million children in America are now undergoing home schooling (Cooper, 2005). Although this form of learning is legally acceptable, parents are entrusted with teaching and coaching their children in all subjects. In addition, parents can also hire private tutors for their children as part of home schooling. This form of learning is aimed at ensuring that parents commit themselves in ensuring their children are able to learn like other kids in public schools.
Staehle, D (2000). Taking a different path: A mother’s reflection on homeschooling. Roeper Review 22(4), 270-272. Retrieved November 23, 2003, from EBSCOhost on the World Wide Web: http://search.epnet.com