Why Home Schooling Is Effective

Parents who home-school their children have been criticized by the educational establishment for choosing to teach outside the public school setting. Despite the criticism, a growing number of parents turn to home schooling for various reasons. The most significant is that home schooling puts to use more effective educational methods than those implemented in the public school system.

The first, and most important, reason why home schooling may be considered a better alternative than a public school education is the idea that it somehow allows children to learn in an environment that is more conducive to the process of learning. In 1996, the National Home Education Research Institute surveyed 2,245 home schoolers; 42 percent said that the number one reason for home schooling was the dissatisfaction with the public school environment. (Lyman). Many supporters of home schooling tend to believe that public schools are filled with students that engage in cruel, immoral, and even criminal behavior. They argue that before a student can learn he/she must feel safe from physical harm. Home schooling allows children to be taught in a familiar, comfortable, environment which, ideally, is void of drugs, alcohol, sex, violence, and any other influence that may distract the learning process. "Increased safety is a main reason for home schooling" (Ray, Brian). Parents who home school their children can keep an eye on them at all times and know without doubt what they are up to and which influences are present as they engage in the process of learning. Knowing what their child is up to throughout the entire school day, a parent can also be comforted by the fact that their child is not getting involved with the bad elements which are becoming more and more common in the public school system. Only when a child feels safe can he or she truly focus and fully realize his or her potential; since the home is often the place where children tend to feel the safest and the most secure, one could see why a parent would choose home schooling over a public school education. What allows for a better education is the safe and secure feeling students have at home.

Home schoolers have a one on one interaction with their teachers. In most public schools, class size tends to be between twenty six and thirty students. On the other hand, the public school teacher's attention is broken into between twenty six and thirty parts.