Public School Vs Homeschooling

It’s easy to find people who are adamant that you should home school your kids. It’s just as easy to find people who strongly believe that children should be in school. I’m not one of either of those types of people, because there are many great reasons to home school your kids and there are many great reasons to your kids in public school.

Reasons to send your kids to school

Your child is an extrovert or very active. Some kids are very extroverted or active. Unless you have a lot of kids, you might not be able to provide the kind of stimulation your extroverted, highly active child.

Teaching your child isn’t good for your relationship with your child. If your relationship with your child is stressed or problematic, teaching your child yourself might not be the best option.

You don’t want to home school your child. If you don’t want to home school your child, you probably won’t do your best.

You need to work. If you need to work, home schooling your kids might too difficult or impossible.

Reasons to home school your kids

Your child has some kind of condition that makes learning in school difficult. If your child has some kind of condition that makes a traditional classroom difficult, home schooling might be a good option. (ADHD, Dyslexia, extreme sensitivity issues,…)

Your child is not average. If your child is significantly above or below average, your child might not be happy at school. Classrooms are set up for average kids.

Your influence is top dog. When you home school your children, you have a much longer period of time where you’re the primary influence in your children’s lives.

Each kid learns at his own rate. You can tailor each subject to each child. My son, for instance, is a bit behind in reading, but several grade levels ahead in math.

You can vacation any time of the year. We have gone to Disney World in January a couple of times. It’s nice to got to amusement parks when the other kids are in school.

You don’t have to deal with as much bureaucracy.

How are my kids educated?

I home school my kids. I’m confident. My kids have sensitivity issues that schools might not be willing to deal with. I enjoy being with my kids and I have a high level of patience. My best friend has her kid in the local public school, which is the best decision for her family. I just like people to know what there options are and to make informed decisions with that information.

When you look at academic achievements only, homeschooled children seem to advance quicker than their counterparts in public schools. A report published by the ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) shows that homeschool test scores were exceptionally high and well above that of public and private schools. They found that homeschool students in the 8th grade are four years ahead of their peers in public or private schools.

In a study conducted by Dr. Lawrence Rudner, he discovered that learners who were being homeschooled their entire school career, achieved the highest out of all the children.

Interesting information that came from this research was the difference that homeschooling made to the achievements of different race groups. There was very little difference found between the scores of white, black and Hispanic children in homeschooling. On the other hand, there was a significant difference between the achievements of different race groups attending public schools. Eight grade public school learners scored on average at the 58th percentile in math, where black children scored at the 24th percentile. White students scored at the 57th percentile in reading and Hispanic students at only the 28th percentile.

Dr. Ray, in his book, Strengths of Their Own, came to another interesting conclusion. The amount of money spend on tuition had no effect on the achievement of the child. In fact, the cheaper homeschooling option had better results than the far more expensive public schooling. In his research, based on statistics from 1998, he found that a homeschooled child cost parents on average $546 compared to the $5 325 for a public school learner. The average score for the homeschooled child was at the 85th percentile, where the score for the public school learner was averaged at the 50th percentile.

These research studies were done in a number of the states and in all the results the findings were the same. The homeschooled child scored on average 20-25 percentile points higher than their counterparts in public schools.

The research also found that the qualifications of the parent responsible for the schooling had no real affect on the achievement of the student. Read it.

The public school system is rapidly changing for the worse. The students that are becoming a product of this education system are not being held accountable for their learning and they are being socially passed on. Students are also being tested so excessively that teachers are being instructed to teach to the standardized tests.

Most students coming out of our public school system can’t read, write, or do simple arithmetic. Is this effectively teaching our children? No, but our public school system will not change for the better any time soon. So what can you do to guarantee that your child receives the best education that you can find?

Homeschooling is an option for all families who don’t feel comfortable putting their children into the current public school system. I understand that not all families will be able to afford, in this economy, to stay at home with their children 24 hours a day 7 days a week. There are simple ways to help your children with their education that can be done at home in less than thirty minutes a day. This will help your children learn what they need to know and not fall behind.

Most parents considering homeschooling or helping their children at home daily are also afraid to start the process because they don’t know if they would be able to teach their children effectively. I have a question for you, who is going to be more effective in teaching your children, you or a teacher who teaches about 150 students a day?