The Innumerable Benefits to Home Schooling
In his book The Right Choice – Home Schooling, Chris Klicka argues that “Sending our children to the public school … is tantamount to sending our children to be trained by the enemy” (Crank 25). Though his words may be considered harsh by some parents, many Americans agree with him and feel that public school is only endangering their children; home schooling is the modern day alternative that many mothers and fathers have chosen to turn to. Those who feel that the world of the public school is detrimental to their children’s growth and health are not alone; they share the beliefs of many parents who feel that home schooling has many benefits and advantages that public schools cannot offer to students today.
Among complaints about public schools is that they are anti-religion. Advocates for home schooling say that children cannot be brought up in a religious atmosphere at home and then be sent to school where it is challenged or ridiculed. This would be very difficult for a child, especially because it can be difficult for adults at times. Former President of Yale University, Timothy Dwight, even stated, “to commit our children to the care of irreligious persons is to commit lambs to the superintendency of wolves” (Crank).
There are two primary ways in which schools are classified as anti-religion. Schools may directly attack a religion by supplying its students with books of history and literature. In historical references, there is little about the positive effects of religion and in literature, it can be attacked very subtly, while other books convey its evil side. Schools are often also considered anti-religious is because they can completely ignore religion, which ...
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Christian Home Educators of Florida. (2003). Retrieved November 19, 2003. from
http://www.christianhomeeducatorsofflorida.com/faq.htm
Crank, D. (2002, Dec. ). Why are you home schooling?. Unless The Lord ... Magazine. Retrieved Nov. 23, 2003, from http://www.unlessthelordmagazine.com/articles/Why%20Homescho oling.htm
Curry, Lorraine. (1997). Homeschool World: Combining Work and Homeschool. Retrieved November 23, 2003. from http://www.home-school.com/Articles/phs18-lorrianecurry.html
Donaldson, K. Pros. Retrieved Nov. 19, 2003, from Bowling Green State University: http://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/edhd/LPS/EDFI/SampleWebs/Fall02/26/pros.htm
Lechtreck, Roy. (1994, January). The Case for Homeschooling. Retrieved November 19, 2003 www.libertyhaven.com/politicsandcurrentevents/educationhomeschoolingorchildren/
casehomescho.shtml
Homeschooling vs. public schooling is seen by many as a hot debate in the recent few years. The debate, for some people, is very hot that you only have to type homeschooling on Google search engine to find results of people accusing each others of being “inhuman” from both parties. However, rational debators in both parties claim that their way of educating is more beneficial for children in social, pyscological, and academic way. This makes it harder for parents to choose what is best for their childern. This essay is written to show the reader why, after all, the ancient method of homeschooling is better for you and your children.
According to Mary Griffith, author of the book The Homeschooling Handbook, the concept of homeschooling is nothing new to society. It is only in the past 150 years that public school system as we know it came into effect (Griffith, 1999). Prior to that, “…the family was the basis for social life…the home was where children learned what was necessary to function in their community” (1999). By the mid-1970s, there were barely any people practicing homeschooling (Ray, 2004). However, over the past twenty years there has been a resurgence in people choosing homeschooling (2004). There has been a 500 percent increase in homeschooling from the 1990-1991 school year to the 2002-2003 school year (2004). The National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) estimates “that between 1.7 and 2.1 million students were being homeschooled in the U.S., in every grade level from kindergarten through twelfth grade…Indications are that the growth rate is between 7 percent and 15 percent per year ” (2004).
Just as a caterpillar changes into a complex and beautiful butterfly over time, education too is evolving and changing into something completely different than the “3 R’s” of the past. How education should evolve is a highly disputed topic. Although there appear to be many solutions these solutions often have many flaws. There has yet to be a single solution to solve this dilemma. Even though their perspectives on education differ, Brian D. Ray and Rachel S. Cox seek to tackle this issue in their respective articles, “Does Home Schooling Promote the Public Good?” and “The Home School Debate.” Ray is biased toward home-schooling being the solution to the ails of public education and believes that education issues can be resolved by encouraging
Parents decide to homeschool their children for multiple reasons. The most commonly given reason for homeschooling is religious and/or moral values. These reasons make up roughly seventy-five percent of parents. Some of these parents want more spiritual lessons taught that would not be provided in other schools. Others do not want their children to learn about evolution theories or sex education. The second most popular reason for hom...
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
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.
Home schooling originated in a time when there were a small number of schools. Even when more public and community schools became available, traditional groups like the Seventh Day Adventists and Mormons, chose to school their young children at home. The Amish society kept their older children out of the public schools and chose to educate them through life in the community. The movement for home schooling has become more prevalent in modern day education. Many parents opt to educate at home, whether it be for religious purposes or because they are pursuing the philosophy of child-led learning. Whatever the reason for home schooling, it has become a predominant form of education in society today (Lines, 1995).
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
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.
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.
Romanowski, M.H. (2001). Home school and the public school: Rethinking the relationship. Streamlined Seminar, 19(3), Spring 2001. Retrieved December 7, 2004 from EBSCO database.
All children in America have the right to a quality education. Most students receive that education through conventional means, going to a public or private school. There is another option for today's children, home schooling. Home schooling is a controversial issue. While it does have its benefits, some people believe it has too many downfalls to be an effective method of education. In this paper, topics such as academic impact, social impact, and parental opinions of home schooling will be discussed.
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.
Homeschooling is a rising alternative in children’s education. As with any other major movement there have been doubts and debates as well as support and promotion for this educational approach. Homeschooling was once the norm in society before there was a public school system. But the parents involved in homeschooling feel very strongly about the positive outcomes that it has brought about in the lives and success of their children. It has once again surfaced and become popular but there are several people who question the possible negative effects this option creates.