Homeschool or Traditional School?

Homeschooling is not for everyone. Homeschooling requires a much greater commitment of time, energy, and planning than public school does. Most homeschooling families have one or both parents who either stay home or work from home. Homeschooling can only be a success when the parents are willing to take on the role of teacher, guiding children's learning and checking on them as they go. However, when parents have the time, energy and commitment to devote to their children's education, homeschooled children receive a better education than children in traditional schools.

There are numerous benefits to homeschooling. Perhaps the greatest motivation for homeschooling is that parents have a greater opportunity to pass their own values on to their children, rather than the values of the school teachers and administrators. Many Christian and/or conservative parents are wary of how the curriculum is changing. It wasn't that long ago that evolution was not allowed to be taught, even as a theory. Now evolution is taught as a fact, and no other options are even considered. Sex education frequently safe sex, without a mention of abstinence. Parents don't have the right to opt their children out of certain classes, and in some cases, are not even allowed to know what their children are being taught. For parents who are used to keeping an eye on their children's education, this course of events is a cause of deep concern. Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, stated “In the state of California, if I had a child there, I wouldn't put the youngster in a public school. . . I think it's time to get our kids out.” Other notable Christian leaders, such as Dr. D. James Kennedy of Coral Ridge Ministries and General T. C. Pinckney, Second Vice President of the Southern Baptist Convention, as also expressed concern that “public schools are too dangerous for Christians” (“Dr. Dobson Tells,” 2002). How can it be right to claim that parents are capable of guiding their own children only when the parents' beliefs coincide with those of the teachers?

Another advantage of homeschooling is that the closer interaction with children allows parents to be more aware of a child's bad actions and bad attitudes. This allows the parent to deal with a problem immediately, rather than waiting until the bad actions become habits, or the bad attitude becomes worse. Debra Bell (2001) calls this “Character First.” She states that “closely tied to passing on our faith is our responsibility as parents to shape our children's character” (p. 17). Honesty, integrity, kindness to others, a love of learning, a strong work ethic are all character traits that most parents would love to foster in their children. However when children spend the majority of their waking hours away from their parents almost from the moment of their birth, how can parents instill their own values and beliefs in these impressionable young minds? A study of the freshman class of a private interdenominational Christian college revealed that students who had been homeschooled had a stronger sense of communal potential, institutional integrety, and a greater commitment to higher education than their traditionally schooled classmates. As a result of institutional commitment, homeschooled students had a higher rate of persisting into their sophomore year (Saunders, 2009). Bell (2001) sets four goals for her children's education. She wants her children to love learning, have a marketable set of skills, understand and practice the Christian faith, and share their faith with the world in a way that is culturally relevant and persuasive (p. 11).

Children benefit from having a curriculum that is tailored to their needs, interests and abilities. In a traditional school setting, this would be far too expensive and time-consuming. In a homeschool setting, a tailor-made education allows children to study things they are interested in while they are motivated to learn about them. For example, a young boy who is interested in rocks can learn about geology in a variety of fun and interesting ways, rather than waiting until that class is scheduled. By the time a child in a traditional school gets around to geology, his interest may have changed to airplanes or astronomy.

Homeschooling allows flexibility and choice for both parents and children. Field trips are rare in a public school, due to lack of funds, and the difficulties of scheduling transportation, finding chaperones, and keeping track of so many children. One field trip per year is a lot to manage, because it's such a nightmare to arrange and execute. Because homeschooled students are fewer in number, and are home all day, they can go on more field trips. They can visit battlefields, museums, parks and aquariums, theater productions and butterfly gardens. Bryan Crosby(2008) advocates more field trips in public schools. He says that field trips “broaden a child's knowledge,” and are fun, positive, memorable experiences for kids (p. 136). Because they can go places during the school day, the kids don't have to wait in line. They also receive more attention from adults, which can mean acquiring more information.

Fiona Moon Pearl (2009) is a twelve year old girl who is being homeschooled. Her family uses an eclectic, wide-ranging style of education. Fiona gets to choose her math and vocabulary books with her mother. When she wanted to learn French, they bought a French book that she reads every day. Fiona says, “I really enjoy being homeschooled this way, because I get to school some of what I learn and do – and my parents also choose and guide my learning.” She added that it's “amazing to have my parents be my lifelong teachers! It feels really good to know that they support and encourage me to grow so much” (p. 16).

Children with special needs require more attention and a more individualized course of study. Lynette Criddle felt that her dyslexic daughter desperately needed one-on-one help. Criddle said, “after testing, we didn't want to put her in a place where she was going to fail, or always need special help” (Koemer, 2009, p. BN1).

Traditional schools are designed to fit the average child. It would be ridiculous to do otherwise, when a teacher has anywhere from 20 to 40 students per class. Students who fit into the “normal” category may do quite well in a traditional school environment. Students who require extra help or an alternative method of learning have special education classes. They get the extra help they need, but they are also labeled as “Special Ed” or sometimes as “retarded” by unsympathetic classmates. Such labels can damage a child's sense of self-worth, and convince him that he is stupid or incapable of learning. In fact, the opposite may be true. Children with “learning disabilities” are frequently very bright children who only need the right teacher and the right type of learning in order to succeed. How sad it is that five and six year olds are already convinced of their own limitations at an age when they should be eager and excited about all the world has to offer them. The other group of students who “don't fit” are the gifted ones, the students who catch on the first time, do their work, and spend half the class being bored. As an elementary school student, the only provision made for “gifted” students in my school was a special reading class. What about students who are gifted in math or science? They also need to be challenged in those areas. In many schools, particularly smaller ones, Gifted and Talented classes are just an excuse for students to socialize instead of being in their regular class. Clearly schools recognize the need to help these exceptional students, but don't know how to challenge them.

Homeschooling also allows parents to focus on specific areas of study, such as music. Because homeschooling is more efficient, schoolwork can be finished in a shorter amount of time. According to Bell (2009), 30 minutes per day is sufficient to cover the basics of kindergarten learning. As the children get older, the amount of time needed for learning goes from 1 to 2 hours per day for first through third grades, up to three to four hours for grades four and five. After that, lessons and activities may take a longer time, more consistent with a typical school schedule. But she says, if parents have properly taught their children to take iniative, the kids will be doing much of their work at this level without requiring much oversight (p. 42). Compared to the number of hours most children spend in school, added to the number of additional hours spent doing homework, it becomes clear that a tailored education is more efficient. Students who want to spend time on large projects or practicing music or sports have the time to do so.

Academic excellence is a lesser concern of homeschooling parents, but seems to be a natural result of homeschooling. A recent study of homeschooling found that homeschooled students, on average, perform exceptionally high compared to public school students. On average, homeschoolers scored 37% higher than public school students on standardized achievement tests (Anonymous, 2009).

Of course, homeschooling, like anything else, is a trade-off. It comes with its own set of challenges and limitations. The biggest challenge to parents is one of time. Homeschooling simply requires more time, commitment, planning and patience than sending a child off to school for five days every week. Parents who can't stay home to oversee their children's education are better off sending children to a traditional school. Most homeschooling families have one or both parents who either stay home with the children, or work from home. It takes time to get through the lessons, particularly with younger students who need more guidance. In addition, parents also need to spend time preparing and planning lessons, just as traditional teachers do. Homeschooling requires parents to give up some of their personal time so they can devote that time to their children's education. Still, most homeschooling parents seem to feel that is an acceptable sacrifice. Susan Mills homeschooled all four of her children. She said, “I loved being home with my kids, and have a wonderful husband who always seems to know the time I need a little getaway” (Koemer, 2009).

Parents need to be self-motivated and provide daily accountability, direction and tutoring. Homeschooled students can learn self-motivation and self-discipline from their parents. But if the parents don't possess these qualities, they won't be able to teach them to their children. It would be unreasonable to expect to hand a six year old child several assignments, then leave him on his own to complete them. Just as young children need a teacher in a traditional school, so they also need a dedicated, motivated teacher to learn at home.

Learning is limited by the teacher's abilities. In a traditional high school, the teachers specialize in certain classes. However, what most parents don't realize is that frequently these teachers are teaching whichever classes need a teacher. They don't necessarily correlate to the teacher's own specialized area of study. But because the teacher routinely teaches these same subjects, they become more familiar with the curriculum. I suggest that parents can do the same thing. The benefit to the teachers is that someone else has determined a curriculum for them to follow. The parents must decide on their own curriculum. But having chosen the curriculum, they can study it themselves so they know how to teach it to their students. Homeschooling groups sometimes have shared classes. This allows children to benefit from the knowledge of another parent besides their own, while still giving parents some say over what their children are being taught.

My mother unsuccessfully attempted to homeschool three of my brothers. Unfortunately, her mild-mannered personality, combined with a lack of planning and failure to properly oversee their studies, quickly led her to conclude that they were better off in a normal school environment. My aunt, who has a much more forceful personality, homeschooled her kids until they decided to attend high school so they could participate in organized sports activities. Socialization is one of the greatest concerns parents have about homeschooling children. Ironically, my cousins, who were homeschooled, were much better socialized than my brothers, who attended public school for most of their education. Susan Mills also disagrees that home-schooled children lack social skills. “I find that idea comical because our kids are probably overly social,” she said (Koemer, 2009, p. BN1). Homeschooled kids have plenty of opportunity to socialize with their peers, unless they live in a completely isolated area. Homeschooling groups offer opportunities for shared classes, group trips, and even some organized sports teams. Children can socialize with their homeschooled peers through these events, and with their other friends after school. After all, there's really little time for socializing during class. Most socializing takes place during lunch and recess, or after school.

Healthy family relationships are essential to successful homeschooling. Both parents need to have a common vision and goals. For this reason, Bell recommends setting family goals before parents start homeschooling (2001, p. 55). Parents need to be able to resolve conflicts quickly. Attitude matters. The parent who is teaching needs to enjoy it, and the non-teaching parent needs to be supportive. They need to work together, and the kids need to have a strong relationship with the parents.

The decision to homeschool a child is a big one, with many things to consider. Time, the teaching parent(s) abilities, students' learning styles and availability of learning opportunities and materials are all factors in this decision. But parents who have decided to take that step have found that the rewards are amazing and worthwhile. The children perform better academically, have stronger values and a greater sense of self-worth, love to learn and have strong family relationships. They are better prepared for college, more self-disciplined, and better prepared for adulthood. While homeschooling doesn't meet the needs of every family, most home-schooled students end up with a better education than they could have received from a traditional school.

References
Anonymous (2009, August 12). Homeschooling a success story. Herald Sun with Chapel Hill Herald, p. Ch2. Retrieved November 13, 2009, from ProQuest Database.

Bell, D. (2001). The ultimate guide to homeschooling. Nashville, TN: Tommy Nelson.

Crosby, B. (2008). Smart kids, bad schools: 38 ways to save America's future. New York: St. Martin's Press.

Dr. Dobson tells Christians to get kids out of California public schools. (2002). The School Liberator. Retrieved November 13, 2009 from http://www.home-school.com.

Koemer, M. (2009, November 5). Home-schooling meets special needs. San Antonio Express-News p. BN1. Retrieved November 13, 2009, from ProQuest database.
Moon, F. M. (2009). Living room school: The real deal on homeschooling! New Moon Girls, 17(1), 16-18. Retrieved November 13, 2009, from ProQuest database.

Saunders, M. K. (2009/2010). Previously homeschooled college freshmen: Their first year experiences and persistence rates. Journal of College Student Retention, 11(1), 77-101. Abstract retrieved November 13, 2009, from ProQuest database.