Home School Vs. Public School

Introduction

Many families are turning to home schooling as a solution to the decaying public school system. However, home schooling is not a new idea. Until the early 1900's, home education was the predominant form of education in our country. As more and more parents become aware of the advantages of home schooling, the number of home schoolers continues to increase.

Discussion

Homeschooling has been a debated issue for years. It's been disputed as to whether homeschooling is more beneficial to a student than attending public school. Although there is some advantages in homeschooling a student, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages and are too detrimental to the student. Homeschooling hinders a students' social development by allowing them to escape from the distractions and pressures of society. Taking students out of public schools only isolates them from society and their peers.

Allowing a child to learn at home, lets them create their own schedule. By establishing a personal agenda, the student gets many perks. They are allowed to sleep later and have more free time. In all, they'll waste less time because school is all about them. They learn things at their speed and can concentrate on their educational weaknesses. Students can get more individual attention from their parents, which can provide greater challenges. And without the crowded schools, the student can have a reduced amount of distractions and avoid peer pressure due to the lack of peer interaction. Although these are all great benefits of homeschooling, they also can be detrimental to the students' growth as an adult(Spiegler 179-90).

The academic side of home schooling has far more advantages than a public school. Consider the size of a classroom in a public school. It usually consists of at least 15 or more students. A home schooled classroom can consist of only one student. It is much smaller and more individualized. A home schooled child can learn at the level he or she is really at. Academically, studies have shown children that are home schooled out perform children that are publicly schooled when taking the same standardized test.

Home schooling has its advantages for another reason also. The socialization aspect is a reason for parents to choose home schooling over public schooling. A child is not subject to the daily peer pressure of a public school. The child generally becomes much more involved and self-motivated because there is no fear or failure from those around him(Distefano et al 222). Children that are home schooled do not have the constant exposure to the immaturities and abuses of those children in a public school; therefore, a home schooled child is socially better off.

The last advantage of home schooling compared to public schooling is the family involvement. The parent is the one that chooses the curriculum of the child not the government. The parent is completely involved in the child's education because the parent is the educator. This tends to allow the child a to develop a sense of dependency on the parent causing a bond to ...