Do you think that home schooling gives better oppertunities to children than public schools?

Question

I am writing a ten page paper on home schooling. It is for college. It has to do with Home schooled students receive a more specialized education that is better suited to their individual needs than public school educated students. That is my thesis and I have to prove it or disprove it I need opinions and answers. Please help.

Answer 1

Homeschooling CAN give better opportunities, but like anything offered, whether it will help you or not will depend on if you take advantage of it.

I've met homeschooled kids who might truly be better off in public school (of course, I've also met public schooled kids who would probably be better off homeschooling); I've met tons of homeschooled kids who are thriving in homeschooling. A definite advantage is the flexible scheduling, not only for academics, but just daily life. I've met homeschooled teens who were able to work part-time during the day while everybody else was at school. I've met teens who were able to spend hours on a daily basis pursuing passions, which are likely to become part of their future careers.

To go further with the academics, homeschooling can definitely provide students with something more specialized. They can be "behind" in one subject or "ahead" in another because they are allowed to go their pace instead of the pace of an entire class. You can change the method of instruction as needed to meet the child's needs. You can add in things that the child is particularly interested in, or that schools tend to neglect. One thing that comes to mind is grammar--it's not explicitly taught in elementary schools here but I know plenty of homeschooling parents who use grammar programs.

Part of defending your topic should be to contrast how things are with the public school system. For example, detail what happens to a student in the public school system and having to go a pace that doesn't match his personal rhythm, especially things like he's JUST about got a concept and then, bam, he's got to move on just before getting it. Or the advanced kids who sit in class bored because they finished their work 40 minutes before everyone else.

I'd recommend that you look up some research at NHERI and here http://www.fraserinstitute.org/commerce.... http://www.fraserinstitute.org/COMMERCE.... . You'll get some actual research and not just opinion and anecdote.

Good luck with your paper!

Answer 2

My bbf homes chools her 7 children.  She has a really cool website w/ all the things they do.  I don't know it at the moment, but I can locate it tomorrow sometime.  Her oldest boys are already taking college level classes!

Answer 3

Hey, well here is my hypothesis on that.  I do not think home school gives better opportunities than public schools.  The reason for this is that kids who are home schooled may get more personal needs for their learning, however it does them no good in their social skills.  Home school kids do not get the chance to learn with others in there peer group to hear what answers or experience the others may have.  They do not get the chance to develop their social skills, or even learn of different cultural diversities when they are taught at home.  There is no exposure to other cultures, as they are only learning and not experiencing.

Answer 4

It certainly presents a greater number of opportunities. Not all families and students avail themselves of those opportunities, but that is the beauty of choice.

Answer 5

but they are not equipped to meeting other kids as easy as the public school kids you dont' have as many firends and interacttins like a regualr school. its sad to see how they can't react and some of them are loners also.

Answer 6

No,  I truly believe a classroom of unrelated and varied backgrounds provides a much more sound enviroment for learning.  The ABC's and 1,2,3's can be taught anywhere,  but experiencing how each of us learn:, learning about  achieveing, failing and succeeding with others is priceless.   That is what we need to carry through to our adult life, and teaches us, tolerance, patience and a true understanding of everyones limitations and lack of limitations.  As a progressive society,  we need to know this,  you can't succeed and progress unless you fully understand all that is around you.  Homeschool could never come close to offering that expeirence that you get day to day, grade upon grade that a public school system teaches  us about each other -  the tolererance and understanding of those behind us, or the drive to better ourselves.   Both are neccessary and unmeasurable in their importance in moving forward.  These are  life lessons and skills, and what public school does is provide that to  to all of us regardless of our position in life.

Answer 7

Dina Felice's answer was excellent.

I would like to address this notion that so many have about homeschooled kids being isolated from their peers.  Why does this myth persist?  I assure you all, my kids are not locked in the house 24/7.  They are with peers at least 3 hours everyday, actually socializing.  In school, if memory serves, one must sit quietly, not talk, not pass notes, not socialize.  

As to the oft repeated accusation that homeschooled kids don't get to experience diversity, well that depends a great deal on the environment in general.  Even some public schooled kids are not around diversity.  For example,  I have a good friend in Georgia who had ONE black child in his high school.  One!  

Meanwhile, my 16 year old son, who is as white-bread as they come, has two best friends who are black, plus several friends from the middle east, England and Africa, whom he hangs out with at a teen center every day.  My 8 year old has a best friend from Korea (who has since moved back to Korea.  They now e-mail each other) plus several friends of various races and cultures as well.

To answer your question, do I think homeschooling gives better opportunities than public?  It can, sure.  I think in the end, with all of the possible advantages and disadvantages inherent in either option, it evens out in the end.  I know some kids who had a great ps experience, whereas I hated it and had my personality and self-esteem altered for the worst by ps.  It took me YEARS to get over the damage that was done.  I know homeschooled kids that do great, and I know some who are struggling to find their place.  No one method (hs or ps) guarantees anything; it all depends on what is put into it.

The difference is that, with homeschooling, the student and parent can have a much greater influence over the opportunities available than in public school.

Answer 8

they both have pros and cons. Home schooling the child gets more one on one turition, and then isnt any annoying ppl to interupt lessons. School - the child learns to sociolise and interact with other students. Socialising is a big thing, my cuz was home schooled and now she is affraid to go into public because she never learnt how to make friends

Answer 9

I think that although home schooling focus more on a child's learning (i kid instead of 30) it also causes great psychological harm when it comes to behavioral development, kids need peers, they need to interact with other kids.

Answer 10

The largest argument that people put up about home schooling is socialization. Well, if our children have no social skills than public school kids truly get no education. Watching an episode of JayWalking with Jay Leno will tell you that. All of those people he asks questions of are 95% high school/college kids.

Our children receive areas of education that public schools will never cover. Here are some examples of what we teach and then you can ask a public school kid if they know the answers.

1.What was General George Crook's Starvation March?

2. Who was Dr. Charles Drew?

3. Who was John Henry?

4. Who was Quanah Parker?

5. How do you design a water still and what are it's purposes.

6. Name and design five different types of shelters.

7. Design a bow drill.

8. What is the deepest indentation in the Earth?

9. What is the longest river in Russia?

10. Where does the Missouri river begin and end?

Ninety-eight percent of the people we ask this, (public school kids over the age of 12) cannot answer any of these.

Unlike parents today that baby their children and sugar coat their lives we explain the hard core facts of life to our children. How many parents do you know that tell their kids what exactly precisely happens to someone is prison for drinking and driving, killing, raping or doing drugs? We explain it but other parents refuse to because its too harsh on someone's mind to hear it.

Our kids also don't go running the streets at night looking for parties or fights or trying to break into places. Our kids don't have to worry about a school shooting, bullying, theft, or a teacher molesting them.

We don't just pass our children on to the next grade to get them out of class either. We strongly emphasize repetition.

The one thing I do know about the majority of public school kids is even though they may have better social skills, not one  of them has a resourceful cell in their body. They rely upon friends, family, mommy & daddy, a cell phone, or a credit card to live. They don't know the first thing about survival. We have strongly emphasized survival here.

Public school kids complain about socialization with home schooling. Only because they text in class, talk on cell phones in the halls, or talk over a lecture. None of that happens here. Our education system here knows no bounds.

Public schools are for education, not for making friends or finding out what happened at the party last week. Not for comparing clothing styles or electronic hardware or cars. But public schooling fanatics don't get that. They seem to find more of a benefit in socialization than in education.

Our field trips are indeed intense. Very educational and every kid that comes with us loves these places we go.

Answer 11

Home schooling does indeed provide better opportunities than public schooling!  Beyond individualized attention, homeschoolers are learning to be with people of all ages, rather than only the kids in their same-age class.

So many respondents here talk about socialization in the wrong sense, so I am including an excerpt from a wonderful essay by Marsha Ransom

(with the link to the whole thing below).

"Oh, I think the word you are looking for is socializing. Socialization is actually defined as the process by which the norms and standards of our society are passed from one generation to the next. I've never really thought that a complete strangers six-year old child would be a good source of information on the correct standards of behavior in our family and in society as a whole. As for socializing, I remember from my school days that it was something you weren't supposed to be doing during class!"

Answer 12

Yes, I think so-- academically, socially, creatively, and even with learning to become intrinsically motivated and learning to take responsibility for oneself, I think homeschooling can blow public schools away.

That is, it can, but not always will-- other variables are the family itself, how homeschooling is approached, how effective the parents are in disciplining and communicating with their children, etc.

Basically, I think homeschooling has much more potential to live up to than public schools, however not everything always reaches it's potential.

Answer 13

I don't think your thesis can be proved or disproved 100%; there are too many variables.  However, it is completely fair to say that in many instances, homeschooling *can* offer better opportunities to children than public school.  Or maybe that in many areas of the country it gives better opportunities?

I know in our district, which is supposedly one of the best in the area, our public schools offer children a great chance to do two things:  play football and drop out at age 16.  Our high school system is broken up in to 9th-10th and 11th-12th, both at different campuses.  The 9th-10th grade center is set up to weed out the 20-30% of kids that will drop out, so that only those who "want to" (i.e., want to play sports) will go on to graduate.

Sooo...if you want to play college sports, graduate high school.  That's what our local system teaches.

Now, there are good students that graduate, but many of them have actually told me they'd rather have been homeschooled.  That way, they could have gotten an education without having to deal with all the kids who really didn't want to be there.  One actually told me a few weeks ago that "the 11th-12th grade center is a little better...at least the kids who didn't care at all have already dropped out, so it's a little easier to focus."  Gee.

I teach middle and high school classes at a local co op where homeschool kids get together for classes; I'm a hired teacher in foreign languages, as I majored in linguistics.  I've gotten to know many of the kids in our area and what has amazed me about them is that they seek out and take advantage of the opportunities that are available to them.  I know a few that are interning with the police department (9th-10th grade) and a 10th grader that is shadowing a doctor at a local hospital 3 days a week.  I know another that is preparing to play college baseball and has dreams of going pro - his schedule allows him to train and still keep his grades up.  I have a 9th grade student that plays competitive soccer, and another that swims competitively, and both of them are straight A students.  (Many of their classes are from outside instructors.)  Even with pretty rigorous sports or interning schedules and a full courseload, these kids manage to spend plenty of time with their friends every week.  They can do that because they're not up till 1 am trying to finish all the homework they didn't have a chance to do in school.

As far as academic classes...my 10yo takes Greek, oceanography, marine biology, and algebra.  He's ready for them and chose to take them.  I know other kids his age who are taking Chinese, fashion design, studying archaeology, and dissecting specimens on a regular basis.  14-16yo's in our area regularly take university classes, as they've already finished their high school courseload, and are able to graduate high school with an AA or better.

Cultural experiences and other viewpoints...let's see.  Well, a 15yo taking college classes would pretty obviously be exposed to differing viewpoints, and many homeschool kids in our area are able to go on several mission or study trips throughout the year to different countries.  Many of them raise their own money.  They are also able to find jobs at an earlier age (if they want to) because their schedule is lighter.  My son (10) has a job delivering flyers for a local businessperson, and a good friend of his dogsits.  Both of them are able to pay for their sports seasons (not cheap) and "extras" like video games and daytime trips to fun places (restaurants with huge game rooms, laser tag, etc.) with their friends.  They also learn money management and business practices.

Many homeschool kids in our area volunteer at places like the libraries, animal shelters, and nature centers; many elementary kids can tell you about many different countries - what they eat, what languages they speak, what they wear, what their government and religions are like, folktales and mythology, celebrations, etc.  I've met several middle school kids who are incredible musicians, knowledgeable about art history, and walking encyclopedias about things that interest them - anything from ancient history to current astronomy.

Not everyone is cut out to homeschool - some kids truly thrive in the structure and competition of a daily classroom - but due to the logistics that are possible, yes, I think that *often* homeschooling can offer better opportunities.  There will always be exceptions - some school districts offer charter programs that rival homeschooling - but on the whole I would tend to agree with your thesis.  Homeschooling offers the child a lifestyle of learning and an opportunity to grow up in an environment that allows them to be who they really are.  If a child is really interested in something - which most are, at least early on - homeschooling offers them the opportunity to develop that interest throughout their childhood.  Done correctly, it teaches directly to each student's individual needs, strengths, weaknesses, interests, and learning style.  It's not perfect by any means, but it does offer a lot that a classroom can't, simply by its logistic needs.

Hope that helps!

PS - Dina Felice was right on in her answer :-)

Answer 14

perhaps more book smartness, much much less street smartness

some can graduate highschool simply by being incredibly streetsmart, however colleges don't care much for your knowledge of the streets

Answer 15

Yes, I think home schooling can give better opportunities. As an example take educational trips to museums, galleries, historical sites, zoos, the theatre. I can take my child to more places in one week than most schools could realistically manage in a year and my trips would be of more real use. It's a simple matter of logistics. School trips are an organisational nightmare, they break up a carefully planned timetable and you can bet some of the kids won't be interested and will act up so the teachers are back to crowd control while the 'good' students wander around with clipboards.

Not only can home schooled kids go on more trips they can also go on the right ones at the right time. A trip to see the ruins of a Roman villa (I live where that IS an option) is most useful when you're doing a project on the Romans and when your child has a sudden fixation on space is a good time to set off to the nearest science museum.

Answer 16

Yes, the way schools are now days, even more so, look at all the violence. Home schooled can get more results.

Answer 17

Interview homeschooled students and public schooled students, and compare and contrast their answers.

Answer 18

Notice how many people are spouting the 'socialization' argument. The problem is that they are comparing what ideally might happen in public schools with what, at the worst, might happen to homeschoolers. It isn't a fair comparison. I just want to remind people about the other side of public schooling.

In public school I learned:

-To keep my mouth shut unless I was 100% sure I knew the right answer

-That if you are bored (because you aren't learning anything new), you should sit and be quiet and not bother anyone

-That it is only okay to be smart sometimes

-That sometimes, the loneliest place to be is with a bunch of other people...especially if they are your age

-To accept people making fun of me and treating me badly

-That lying is the best way to deal with problems

-To pretend that, if I got a good grade on something, I had worked very hard, even when it was easy

-To never tell anyone in authority if other kids were mean/ripped my book/hit me

-That seniority matters way more than being good at your job

...and I went to a *good* public school.

I didn't learn how to make friends, stand up for myself, be proud of my abilities or think on my own until I went to college.

I definitely think that homeschooling, done well, is better suited to teaching kids independence and good social schools than a public school is, if only because the student-to-educator ratio is better in homeschooling. Comparing the social skill kids learn from their parents to the skills they learn in school, I definitely think that parents are better. And it is self-evident that a curriculum that can be altered to suit the needs of the individual student, rather than something developed by a distant bureaucrat to suit the needs of the 'average' student.

Answer 19

It is not true till to date all the outstanding/toppes students have been from public or good government schools

Answer 20

i think home school does educate kids more but then they are missing out on socializing which everybody has to do

Answer 21

this will start a rage amoung the pro and con folk.  i can't wait to read you responses. we have had this conversation on one of my yahoo groups, and heres my $.02.  Homescooling can be great, if you have field trips, etc with other homeschool Mom's/Dad's where kids can make friends with others thier age. My friend does this and here kids are thriving...but I would never do it. School forms life long friendships, teaches life experiences, just plain teacher a child to form thier own opinions. I just read a note from a girl who had entered puplic school for the 1st time, in High School. She wrote while her parents did what they thought best and she loved them for it, she was quite jealous of the other kids easy friendships and the fact they she was nieve to the ways of other teenagers and had no basis to judge people by.