How do you compare Home School vs. Public School?

Question

What are the Pros and Cons of both Public and Home School?

Answer 1

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Answer 2

This is a complex issue. There are so many factors that come into play: the quality of the schools in your district, the school's response to the child's needs and individuality, the child's personality, special needs, etc.

For many children, public schools can be a positive experience. For others, however, it can be a place filled with frustration and unhappiness.

I have two children in school at this point. My daughter is a highly sociable person and can function quite well in public school. She is gifted, and I haven't been pleased with the complete lack of challenge that school has presented her with. However, I know that homeschooling would be extremely depressing for her, so I will continue to send her to public school.

Recently, I took my other child out of school, and began homeschooling him. He is an extremely intellectually gifted child who also has a disability. School was a miserable place for him. We have a report from the head the child neuropsychology department of a major university that states how exceptionally gifted my son is, but the district insisted on keeping him with his same age peers. This is a child who, for example, can do high school math, but the district wanted to keep him with his fifth grade classmates in the Fall.

After a few weeks of being homeschooled, my son was a changed boy! He is happy again and has regained his self-confidence. In school, he wasn't learning anything new, and began to feel like he was "stupid". Since leaving school, he has begun to realize how incredibly intelligent he is! He has told me that I'm the best teacher he's ever had because I actually challenge him. Within the next one to two years, he should be ready to take some college level classes. I will continue to follow his lead.

One person mentioned that homeschooled children converse like adults. This is not true of all children who are homeschooled. Highly gifted children often speak at a higher level whether they are homeschooled, or not. My son was speaking on an adult level when he was three years old! Perhaps he won't be the most popular person in his workplace. He will, however, be the person he was born to be, not the "norm-based" cookie-cutter of a person that the public school district tried to turn him into!

The bottom line in the homeschool vs. public school issue is this: which option will best meet the needs of the individual child?

Answer 3

Home school:

much better education

far better socialization, not forced socialization, in real life you don't spend your whole day with 25 other people your own age that you aren't allowed to talk to.

go at your own pace, if you catch on quicker you go on, if not you work at it until you get it.

better chance to get into your college of choice, colleges actively seek out home schooled students.

Public school:

people who out of ignorance believe the "socialization" myth.

teachers who are unwilling or unable to teach

bullies

kids just being passed through due to the "no child left behind" act.

Answer 4

Home school- Kids don't get picked on

Don' have to try much to get teachers attention

Time with people they know

Con- Socially awkward for spending not enough time with other kids

Do not know what to do when a bully comes a long

Public School- More people to be friends with. Therefore more social

Cons- Bullying harder to get a straight answer from a teacher

And the worst of it all i'm scared to say it because it makes it true...( drum roll please)

P.E

Answer 5

For me, this question is easy and simple and doesn't even need thinking about.

Home-education = good = the opportunity to get an education.

School = bad = unaccessible and irrelevant = the closest school is a two-day drive away from where we live: 2 days to get to school and another 2 days to get home again therefore is of absolutely no use to man or beast.

But in general:

Home-ed = the opportunity to be raised by your parents and others who love you and are genuinely committed to you;

School = the opportunity to be raised by the goverment and peer group.

(Which would you prefer?!? To me, it's a no-brainer.)

Home-ed = the opportunity to grow up to be the person you're meant to be;

School = the opportunity to grow up to be the person that the State needs you to be.

Home-ed = the opportunity to grow up to serve yourself, your family and your community;

School = the opportunity to grow up to serve industry, business, the State etc.

Edit: I went to school once; it was a private prep school and I went for 5 weeks when I was 7 yrs old. It was the most pointless, boring, frustrating experience of my life. They claimed to be 'an academic school' but that was just a joke.

Other than telling the school principal that she, and her school, were wasting my time (and that if all I wanted to do was play, I might as well have stayed at home), about the only other thing I remember is reading this story about twins and one of the questions asked was: 'which twin is older?' Well, I couldn't find any mention in the story of which was older, so I guessed and told the teacher that the first twin was older; she said no. So I told her the other twin must be the oldest then and she still reckoned that my answer was wrong when i knew d**n well one of my answers had to be the correct one! So I told her she was wrong (or words to that effect) and walked out.

'Course the teacher later tried to tell my parents that the 'right' answer was that neither twin was the oldest as twins are the same age (!!!) which, even at 7, I knew was just a heap of bulldust; twins are *not* the same age: one twin is always going to be older than the other twin if only by a moment or two!

Answer 6

Where we live in Canada and according to *our* experience teaching in the schools and homeschooling:

PROS of Homeschooling

*better social, emotional and physical environment

*academics tailored to our children

*more free time for our kids

*less stressful lifestyle than if they were in school

*our kids interact with a variety of ages regluarly instead of only essentially same-aged peers

*more supervision

*better (more mature) role models

*lots of time to pursue interests

*time to just be kids

*they are raised by us instead of different adults each year

*our dd will likely be able to finish school early

*they get the time they desire or need to master academic areas

*family is more important to them than friends

*lots more

CONS of homeschooling

*Other people's reactions.

PROS of public school

*Usually a great place to go if parents aren't willing or able to homeschool their kids.

*Convenience--not just for the parents, but because activities are all right there at the school instead of spread around the city.

*May offer some programs that would be difficult to do at home (like IB or immersion programs).

*Probably others.

CONS of public school

*Where do I begin?

-Kids are essentially growing up with 20-30 same-aged siblings; it doesn't take a brain surgeon to say, "That would be a really stupid thing to do: adopt 30 kids the same age." Kids are wired to learn language, behaviours and more from those around them. When they spend the bulk of their time with kids who are just as immature as (or more immature than) they are, they are being held back in their growth.

-Being around that many kids that amount of time makes it far more likely that kids will see their peers--and their peers' opinions and choices--as more important or more desirable than their parents'.

-Academically, public schools are tied to government curriculum and teachers have to go a certain pace to get through the requirements. Those who can't keep up suffer; those who are advanced can end up wasting a whole lot of educational time because there's nothing for them to do but sit there and daydream or just read. Not to mention that the forced curriculum doesn't necessarily connect with what the kids find meaningful and important, which would motivate them more in their learning and help them learn better.

-The whole social environment at school is a problem for us. Where we live, what used to be standard clothing and hair for gr. 9 girls has spread down to gr. 4/5. 10yo kids are judging others on who's got the best cell phone or who got their iPods first. When I was teaching, one of my gr. 4 students got caught throwing condoms around on the bus and sharing loudly what they were for. One homeschooling mom I know pulled her 7yo son out of school after months of him coming home and asking what such and such thing he'd heard from the gr. 6 girls meant--the last straw was when it became clear that these particular girls were prostituting themselves to some older boys. (It was a K-12 school.) My husband has had to deal with all kinds of social nonsense in the jr. high he teaches at--boys thinking it's fun and cool to spray Axe on their arms and light it (also lit a girl's hair on fire one day), fights over iPods (including involving knives), girls dressing S****y, just the attitudes the girls have in grades 7-8 are enough to have him say that our daughter will not be in school during those years... So much stupid social stuff that kids grow up with thinking it's normal and right and all that...

-Prevalent negative attitude towards those who do well in school.

-School takes up a LOT of time out of a student's day. And a lot of that time is wasted time, especially in the elementary years--sitting around waiting for people to be ready, waiting for everybody to understand, waiting for the teacher to finish talking (I remember clearly sitting in class having teacher's "teach" what was already in our texts) and so much more. Why should all of that time be taken away from them? And what time they are there, why should every minute be forced into what someone outside themselves has decided? In Albert Einstein's words: "It is in fact nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry." Which reminds me of a homeschooled high school girl I know--she started homeschooling in grade 7 and loved her jr. high years. She went from a late gr. 3 reading and writing level coming out of a grade 6 class in public school and finished her gr. 9 year at grade level, reading and writing whatever she wished (her parents had the expectation that she read and write but did not require her to read or write specific things.) She decided she wanted our provincial diploma, so she had to start really learning what the government required for gr. 10-12. At the end of her gr. 10 year, she said to me that she felt as though she'd done a lot of work, but that all the school stuff was getting in the way of her really learning.

Answer 7

Er, which country are you from? In some countires public school means state school and in other countries it means private school. I'm going to go with state school for my answer/

This is just my opinion, but home school is really only any good for kids who've had a bad experiences of public school or those with mobility issues.

You "can" get a good education through homeschooling and in general home school kids tend to do better academically, but what they get tends to be book smarts without the social education. They learn how to be kids as adults want them to be, not as kids actually are.

Kids who've gone through it for for a couple of years tend to have trouble fitting in with regular kids anymore as the regular kids see them as being aloof. Largely this is because home school kids spend more time with adults and so tend to act more like adults and to use language more like adults. This might not seem like a bad thing to home school parents who usually dismiss this as "petty jealousy", but it can cause problems in later life, especially for teenagers. If your child has been home schooled during their early teens it's almost very hard for them to go back to the state system without being bullied.

On the other hand, many public schools have their faults. In middle class areas they tend to be a hive of cliques, and in the cities there can be gang problems. Bullying is a big problem because of this and cliques tend to seize on any imperfections such as weight, or even what clothes you wear.

Public schools often also teach a curriculum that is decided for political reasons rather than educational reason. This means that it doesn't always meet the needs of students.

Public schools also tend to teach to an average. Meaning that if your child is brighter than the average they may be forced to move at a pace that is too slow for them, and if your child is not as bright as the average they will be forced to go at a rate that is too fast for them. So, unless you are an average student you will never get the best out of your classes.

Answer 8

How many times have we seen this question? Just search the archives and you will find many good answers.  

I just had to address this though:

"spend more time with adults and so tend to act more like adults and to use language more like adults. This might not seem like a bad thing to home school parents who usually dismiss this as "petty jealousy", but it can cause problems in later life, especially for teenagers."

Here is a news flash for you - "later in life" is not teenagehood.  Later in life is when you work with - guess who? Adults !

Regardless, the comment just goes to show someone who doesn't actually know homeschoolers displaying their ignorance.

As far as teachers being certified and highly qualified - yeah, right.  What about the Physics teacher who passed the PRAXIS subject exam with a score of 113 (out of 200), but was qualified to teach because the exam was based on all the people who took the test - and her score was better than most of theirs?  (true story)

Answer 9

home school :

pros- you can teach your kid the best way that they learn, no bullying, wont get distracted by boys.

cons- harder to meet kids .

public school:

pros- can go to dances, group projects, social life.

cons- bullying, childish pranks, the teacher goes on while your child is still left behind and doesn't understand certain material.

Answer 10

There are many archived answers and Janice very kindly linked you to them.

I would like to once again address the social issue.

There are homeschool dances.

There are homeschool projects.

Homeschool students have a wonderful social life.

Let's let that rest, shall we?

Now, go check out those links Janice provided.

All the best.

Answer 11

well, im a homeschooler, i'm 14, and I am entering collage corses in a few months. So is my brother who is 15. when your home schooled, you get alot better schooling than in public schools, because public schoold are lowering their standerds for learning. my dad is a sub at public schools, and I go with him alot so I can speak in front of classrooms full of kids around my own age. if you e-mail me, [e-mail]

i can tell you a lot more. I know all of it. :) and if you e-mail me and it takes me a couple months to reply, its because im so swamped in school, and my full time job. :)

Answer 12

The same way I compare apples and oranges.  Really, they are just different lifestyles.

The biggest pro of homeschooling is that there is more flexibility because you aren't tied to the school schedule.  This allows more time to do what you want, when you want.  You can go more places and meet more people.  

The con of government schools therefore is the rigid schedule.  Can't think of any pros.  If parents are unable or unwilling to raise their own children, the government will do it for them, and some consider that a pro.  

:D