Public education has, for decades, been at the center of political advocacy and cultural concern. Advocates for the enrollment of children in public schools have always espoused that government educational facilities provide children with a real sense of the type of people that the will encounter in their adult lives, creates grounded and molded members of society who are aware of and concerned with real issues, and allows them to develop appropriate adaptation skills. Public school advocates often accuse homeschooling families of creating protective bubbles for their children that minimize the children’s future ability to interact intelligently with their peers. In these arguments, however, the observant third party will notice that public school advocates express little concern over the issue that most homeschooling advocates (and parents in general) prioritize over all others, the ability of the education system to adequately prepare students for future personal and professional goals.
Homeschool VS Public School and Academics
For decades, data taken in the United States have shown that homeschooled students are better prepared for college based on academics. According to the National Home Education Research Institute, homeschooled students surpass their public schooled counterparts in every major subject area and score an average of 30 points higher on standardized tests. Homeschooled students also tend to exhibit a higher capacity for retaining information over time than their public schooled counterparts. This has made them a prime target for recruiters at major universities and colleges in the United States. These results have been improved by the fact that home educating families are no longer confined to one method of teaching but can choose to educate children via online courses or in more traditional ways.
Homeschool Options for Busy Parents
Public school advocates also argue that most parents are unable to devote the time necessary to successfully homeschool students. Many innovations in the education industry are proving that this concern is not valid. The modern academic community is filled with online programs that are developed so that homeschooled students can be successfully educated online with minimal involvement from working parents. Parents who seek to take advantage of the benefits of homeschooling while working will find programs like ABC Mouse and Open Learning to be highly beneficial. Busy parents can also register their students in any of the several fully accredited curricula offered to K12 students online. Parents needn’t substitute the academic progress of their children because of conflicting schedules.
Homeschool VS Public School and Socialization
Any time the debate between homeschooling and public schooling arises, public school advocates will announce with certainty that students who are educated by the government are advanced in socialization concepts and peer-to-peer relationships. They often question how homeschooled students with access to a homeschool curriculum can possibly build relationships and experience “real-world” concepts outside of a traditional classroom. Because the institution of public education is a historically new concept (people of every tribe, nation, and tongue have been educating children at home for the majority of human history) it is odd that public schooling advocates would suggest that proper socialization cannot occur outside of a classroom. Homeschooled students are frequently exposed to the company of their peers in their own households if they have siblings, in group or extra-curricular activities, and at congregational gatherings that take place in churches, mosques, or temples.
In conclusion, homeschooling has always been a viable and superior option to the public education system. Homeschooling provides students who are superior to their counterparts in most areas, including test scores, proper socialization, and general character. Homeschooling is also being embraced by a diverse group of people because of the convenience that has been added through the development of online programs and local cooperative groups. Homeschooling is a wonderful option for most families and provides tremendous results.
