Does Home Schooling Work?
For decades, there has been much debate as to the pursuit and legality of home education. There are those who take positions on each side of the issue and both offer valid arguments to their cases.
Reports show that home schooling has “…grown steadily over the past several decades” (
Lines). In 1999, the entire number of home educated kids in the U.S. nearly tripled that of 1994’s statistics, bringing home schoolers to about 4% of the nations’ total of young students (Cloud and Morse). More recent statistics show that “according to widely-repeated estimates, as many as two million American children are schooled at home, with the number growing as much as 15 to 20 percent per year” (Bauman).
Largely because of the media reports, people have formed a number of views on home education. Often, when the population considers home schooling, they think of un-socialized, isolated, and poorly educated children. They imagine unqualified parents struggling to teach their kids subjects they are not familiar with themselves (Gathercole). One person acknowledged that “if the media were to be believed, most home schoolers are far right extremists who are trying to shelter their children from the realities of society, of science, and of life” (Croft).
Unsurprisingly, the media has done well in exaggerating most of these claims. The majority in fact, have no truth to them at all. As a result, much of our culture has formed misconceptions concerning the true facts of home schooling (Gathercole).
Those with opposing views state that when parents and children only work together in a home school setting, it prohibits community growth together in the public school system. One teacher stated that “home schooling is a social threat to public education.” They are worried that with a reduced amount of children attending classes, they will receive less money to fund their schools (Cloud and Morse). However, it has been found that when more children are taken from classrooms and educated at home, it reduces over crowded schools and overloaded classes. This frees up resources and creates room that could be used for more students (Gathercole).
What are some of the reasons why parents are choosing to pull their kids out of public schools and teach them at home? A large portion of home schooling families have preferred to do so because they desire to develop morality and religion in their children; they believe that the public schools cannot, and are not, doing so (Parent-NHES).
According to government research, “up to three-quarters of the families that home school today say they do so primarily because, like many of us, they are also worried about the quality of their children’s education” (Cloud and Morse).
One public school student states: “I come and the teachers talk. Really, I feel that I come there to get homework. It’s not like they’re teaching anything. I’d be better off if they’d just send me a sheet of homework to do” (Lawrence). In fact, a 1999 percentage poll revealed that the number one reason for home schooling throughout the nation was because parents believe they can give their children a “better education at home” (Parent-NHES).
Many argue that home schoolers are not receiving the proper kind of education and in result, are not equipped and skilled to face the modern world. However, studies show that home schoolers fare significantly better at tests than more than 70% of their public school peers (Gathercole).
In the year 2005, the 8075 homeschool graduates who took the ACT college entrance exam scored an average of 22.5, which is several points higher than the national average. In both 2002 and 2003, the national homeschool average was 22.5, while the national average was 20.8 (
Dave LoneRanger).
Though some would reason differently, It has been proved that home educated students are not socially retarded, but in fact seem to demonstrate out-standing social abilities with those of all ages (Lawrence). In one instance, a few doctors and a psychotherapist have spent large amount of time and research on this subject; one of them concluded that “homeschooled kids in his study were more mature and better socialized than the conventionally schooled” (Gathercole).
It seems for the most part, parents are doing an excellent job home schooling their children. They are not turning out to be socially inept specimens, but instead are involving themselves in a variety of “sports teams, scouts, clubs, classes in the community, volunteer activities, etc” (Gathercole). With all of this said, it seems that homeschooling is a advantageous work in progress. However, society must patiently wait for the next generation of home educated young people, in order to determine the true and lasting effects of home schooling.
