What are the advantages of homeschooling vs. public schooling? Or the vice versa?

Question

I am writing a research paper for one of my classes on this subject and I need your opinion. I will be covering bother the advatages of public schooling over homeschooling; and the advatages of homeschooling over public schools.

Answer 1

Homeschooling can allow you, if you do it right, to really educate your child they way you want them to be educated. Public schools are not as flexible, but the social interaction is something that can't be beat. With homeschooling, it is much harder to get the social interaction with kids their own age that public school kids get without even trying. Public schooling also will prepare a child more for what they will see in life, and not just what their parents want them to see.

Answer 2

Unfortunately, many people think like tina p up there, but that's because they haven't done much research on their own but go by word of mouth which usually leads to a lot of misinformation.

Once again on the social issue: homeschoolers get more "REAL LIFE" socialization because they're not all cooped up with a bunch of their peers all day.  From our personal experience: my son is an only child, and people think that's a BIG problem regarding the social issue because we homeschooled.  

While his peers were cooped up in classrooms where everyone was the same age (with only a few controlling adults around), and who socialized with those same people; my son got the same amount of work done in four or five hours instead of seven or eight.  We then had time to go shopping where he'd write down the price of our purchases, then added everything up (in his head, not with a calculator).  If he got the same total as the receipt before tax, then he got a special treat.

While his peers were in school, we went to a morning Tae Kwon Do class when there were less students.  He got more individualized lessons and was able to advance to higher belt levels faster than his friends in public school.

We got to tour a radio station where the kids got hands on experience in the studio and learned how music was played on the air.

A group of kids also got to go to the small community airport to learn all about planes.  They each had a pilot assigned to them, who showed them how each part of the plane worked, including the instrument panel.  The pilots then took one child each and took them on a 15 minute flight in their own 2-man plane.  When they returned the kids received a Young Eagle Cerificate signed by Harrison Ford, who's the National Chairperson of the program.  Their names are also in the national Y.E. flight log book where they actually got credit for flight hours (partial anyway).  How many kids get to do that?

My son has been active in Scouting since he was a Tiger.  We met once a week with a local homeschool group to have a combined art class; we also did essays, book reports, oral speaking, and field trips together.

We could get up and do school early or late, even in pajamas if we wanted to.  He did school work in the doctor's office, at the dentist, traveling in the car.  He's learned to focus no matter where he's at, instead of having others slow him down.

While his peers were socializing with the same group of people (many who have a hard time talking with adults, or who think grown ups don't know anything); my son can carry a conversation with anyone of any age; he knows the meaning of respect and likes talking to everyone.  He doesn't feel out of place among adults or around kids his own age.

Now here's a question: where in the "REAL" world do people  work  only with others of their own age?  THAT'S not normal!

Here's a good link for some pros and cons of homeschooling:

www.sonlight.com/before-you-start-home...

This next one is all one link in two lines:

http://school.familyeducation.com/home-s...

Here's a lot more on a Google search (again, all one link in three lines this time:

www.google.com/searchhl=en&q=Pros+and+...

(If these links don't work just Google: Pros and Cons of Homeschooling, and the list will come up)

By the way, the socialization excuse is just that--an excuse to justify another's own opinion--there are plenty of successful people in the world who were homeschooled.  Look at Christopher Paolini (Eragon) who graduated at fifteen and became a NYT best selling author; doesn't look like anything's slowing him down socially!  How about the Osmonds, they're a model for any family!  Here's some links to other successful people who were also homeschooled:

www.sharebradenton.homestead.com/Famou...

www.eadshome.com/Famoushomeschooled.ht...

www.knowledgehouse.info/famous.html

I don't know why these links aren't pasting right, sorry. I've got to go to a meeting now so don't have time to fix them. Just Google: Famous people who were homeschooled.

Answer 3

Home-school families have more social interaction that is positive and encouraging.  We don't worry about school lock-downs, gangs, and troubled students keeping drugs in their lockers.  We don't have problems with other children disrupting the class and causing the teacher to lose precious instruction time.  We participate in group sports, co-op classes, art lessons, science projects and competitions, speech and debate classes.  We visit the elderly in nursing homes and in our own homes.  We communicate well with people of all ages.   Home-schooled teens are most often confident and well mannered when speaking to an adult and when playing with small children.

Academically we focus on mastering the basic elements of study.  Math, writing and reading are the foundation of our day.  We study everything from phonics and math-facts to classic literature, world history, calculus and physics.

Three of my children have completed their 12+ yrs of home-school studies and are now in the workplace and in college.  They are well liked, well payed and get great grades. .

The advantage of homeschooling comes in many forms.

Socially they are well adapted and better at communicating with others.

Physically they are never beat up. They get more exercise riding bicycles, riding horses, training horses, running, walking, lifting weights, etc.

They eat better food -- we have healthy home cooked meals every day.  Less junk food and nobody to steal their lunch money!  We have fruits and vegetables as opposed to most school lunches.

Mentally they maintain a good sense of self-worth and are not called names and teased or berated into self-consciousness.

Spiritually they are allowed to worship their creator and pray to God for guidance and direction.  They are allowed to speak the name of Jesus throughout the day without fear of offending someone.  They are given the opportunity to read their Bible and learn all about the things that are important to the family of God.

Academically they are allowed to progress at a rate that suits their maturity and needs.  They can take more time in a subject and pursue excellence without putting it down at the ringing of a bell and leaving it unfinished.  They can work quickly through the things that come easy and they don't have to wait for the classroom to do the same before moving on to another subject.

Socially they have more friends than I ever knew as a student.  They are able to get together for more sports, games, music events, picnics, parties, etc. because they don't have reams of homework to complete since it is already done during study time.  Their friends are actual friends and not mere acquaintances.

Answer 4

advantages for public schooling:

actually...the child will be sociable and it's good for every children...and i think they'll feel comfortable with someone..i mean were growing up and were likely to be with our friends..

advantages for homeschooling:

the child can focus more because nobody can disturb her/him...and the parents can assure that their children were learning and away from the bad influence from the school...like intaking addictive drugs,,,smoking...etc...

Answer 5

You can sleep in if u r homeschooled and you are social if you go to school.  You don;t have to be pressured and have alot of tests if u r homeschooled, but if you are in regular school you have alot of great opportunies , opportunities u wouldn't get if u were homeschooled

Answer 6

Social interaction. you dont get that at home, u become very sheltered and unaware of "real people" its like separation. Missing out on all the average school acivites.

Answer 7

Advantages of homeschooling over public schooling--these are all POTENTIAL advantages as it depends entirely on how parents go about it.

ACADEMIC

-student can go their own pace--neither being held back nor being forced to go too fast; this allows a student to truly master material, which means really learning it

-student gets more one-on-one attention

-student can have an education completely tailored to him/her--this might be very out of sequence with what is going on in the schools (for example, my daughter started learning integers when she was 7 because she was interested in it, but she wouldn't start learning them until gr. 6 if she were in school)

-a parent can include subject matter that might not be adequately covered in public school, like penmanship, grammar, world geography or other (of course, depends entirely on the local schools)

-because of the nature of the schooling situation, it means that it takes less time to get as much work done, allowing students to spend time focusing on subjects which really interest them



SOCIAL

-children don't grow up mainly only interacting with those the same age; this is actually detrimental to societal growth because children learn their behaviours from the role models around them--in school, the role models are same-aged kids who don't know any better than they do



-because of the above, many homeschoolers are at ease with any age

-also because of the above, homeschooled children do not tend to be as focused on as material and detrimental things as is common in public schools; this is not the same as sheltering from 'bad' things, rather actually providing a better model from which to learn

-they are often used to interacting with people they've never met before as many homeschooling activities, even weekly ones, have different people attending; compare that to school where you are with the same people for 9-10 months, and sometimes years

-because they aren't in a class of 20-30 students, they actually have a chance of being better guided in their social interactions; even when they are with 20-30 other kids, say, at a playground, there are a lot of adults present to see what's going on and help guide the children appropriately

OTHER

-homeschooled kids tend to have a better sense of self, in part because their social environment does not put an emphasis on being like others to be accepted or liked; they also don't usually grow up with the type of teasing and bullying that exists in schools, nor the academic competition, all of which undermine a child's psychological growth into a self-confident adult

-homeschooled kids usually have less stress: without the academic competition, there's no worrying about making certain grades; because they have help as they need it, there isn't even a focus on failing or not, you simply keep learning; there's no missing the bus, no being bullied, no dealing with potentially nasty teachers and more; they have a lifestyle that is, in general, less stressful, which is good for development and health

-families tend to be closer, the kids enjoy being with their parents, the kids enjoy being with each other; homeschooled kids tend to be more family than peer-focused

-flexible scheduling is beneficial in so many ways, from it not being a big deal to "miss" some days of school for illness (the class isn't going to go on ahead without you!), to taking vacations whenever it works for the parents instead of tied to a school schedule; the daily scheduling is flexible even, starting at a time most suitable for the family (my own children tend to start something at 7am and are often doing things in the evenings)

-homeschoolers tend to have a better sense of their community as they tend to be out and about it regularly, rather than just stuck in a classroom most of the day, 5 days a week

There are many other advantages.

The advantages of public schooling would come in for families who simply can't or shouldn't homeschool (not every parent makes a good parent, much less a homeschooling parent) or for areas where some specialized programs exist which match a student's personality and interests.

In reference to some who have already responded:

Homeschooled children who do nothing but stay at home (which is rare) still get social interaction as one would hope that they interact with their parents and siblings. Of course, the majority of homeschooled kids don't stay home 24/7 and do interact with other people.

Homeschooling doesn't mean being anti-social and going to public school doesn't mean being social. My children are more social than I was as a kid--they have never been to school and I was always in public school. I always marvel at how readily they interact with kids they've never met before, and they NEVER worry about what age or what grade the other kids are in--it's just not important. I have also been able to pick out new homeschooling kids who had previously been public schooled because they are ultra focused on finding someone who's the same age, in the same grade and is the same gender. Homeschoolers don't usually have this exclusive mindset.

Answer 8

Home Schooling:

-No bullying

-No drugs

-No alcohol

-No gangs

-No violence

-Parents have more of a say in what their children learn

-The kids have a lot more input in what they get to learn

-The kids are usually a lot more enthusiastic about it

-Home schooled children are usually among the brightest students in the country

Public school:

-More of a social scene

...Uhhh.

Sorry, I can't think of any. xD