Home and Public Schools - Research Paper Example

Running Head: HOME SCHOOLS VERSUS PUBLIC SCHOOLS Home Schools Versus Public Schools of the of the Institution] Home Schools versus Public Schools Home-schooling is a very effective method of educating a child. There are many arguments to counter this statement. Many believe a child being home-schooled would come to lack social skills and to fear association with others. Another belief would be the idea that a parent's ability to educate a child would be inferior to the public education system because a parent usually do not have a license to teach. Although there are several other arguments to go against home-schooling, there are a lot more others to fight for the idea of it. The popularity of home-schooling had escalated over the last decade. According to the NHERI, a staggering 1.5 million people in America are home-schooled ever since it was first legalized in 1993. A child would not lack social skills nor would the child be afraid to associate themselves with others. Home-schooling does not mean a child would be contained in a house and isolated from the world. As a matter of fact, every child needs to be educated physically, such as participating in sports. The parents would provide a form of physical education by enrolling the student to a basketball team or even a dance studio. During this time, the student would have time to associate themselves with other children (Aiex, 2004). Brian Ray of the National Home Education Research Institute explains "90 percent of [home schooled] kids play with people outside their families." Home-educated children are happier, better adjusted and more sociable that those at institutional schools. As stated in Brian Ray's reports, the average child educated at home participates in a range of activities with other children outside the family and ninety-eight percent are involved in two or more extracurricular activities such as field trips, music lessons, and sports per week. Being in a classroom with other students is not necessarily a good thing either. When a student is in a classroom, the attention of the instructor or teacher is divided amongst the other twenty to thirty other students. Therefore there are seldom any one-on-one relationship between the student and the teacher. In an age-segregated classroom, a child would not be working on his/her own pace but rather someone else's pace. This environment would never be present in any time during our adult life. In a work environment, co-workers would be of all different ages and possesses knowledge in various areas. The assertion, "Home-schooling is inferior to the public education system", is an opinion that can easily be refuted. No one is able to state this as a fact due to the research that had already been done. Former director of "Education Resources Information Center" (ERIC), Dr. Lawrence M. Rudner, had done research to disprove the idea that home-schooling is inferior. He found that on average a home-educated student scores within the 80 percentile on a standardized test when the national average is within the 50 percentile. In addition, the home-schooled student population only made up less than three percent of the student population In America, but ten percent of top contestants for the nation's top scholarships, such as the "Presidential Scholarship", are home-schooled. In consideration of such outstanding records, it's safe to say that the parents are effective teachers despite their lack of a teaching license. This is also due to the vast resources supplied to both parents and students alike by their environment if any material was not understood. Parents are not the only tool or resource home-based educators get information from. In many cases, parents get the assistance of other friends, or any interested person in the family. For example, if an uncle in the family who is particularly skilled in computer graphics, he would be pleased to take part in the home schooling system for that subject. Additionally, parents can quest for on-line education web sites that provide plenty of information and methods used to teach children. Some websites such as time4learning.com and learnersonline.com provides lesson plans as well as guides on how to teach a child. Barbara Kantrowitz and Pat Wingert from Newsweek stated in their article "Learning at Home: Does it Pass the Test'" on October 5, 1998 that, "sophisticated new educational software help fill in academic gaps. If they need more inspiration, they can browse through bookstore shelves filled with how-to books and subscribe to dozens of newsletters and magazines, videos and software, and seminars." There are more information given to us through satellites and terrestrial channels than the knowledge our grandparents possess throughout their life time. Home-school education allows students to be more eager to learn and to love learning. They work at their own pace and on their own interests. If a child discovers that he/she have a huge interest in a certain field, they are now allowed to explore these areas at a younger age. If they start young, there would be extremely little competition once they reach adulthood. As home-school student themselves, they've learned to pursue their own interests rather than a huge range of subjects that would've never helped them. Additionally, with home-schooling, parents are now more involved in which academic field their child is most likely to pursue. In addition, this method of teaching would create a stronger bond between the child and the parent. Noticeably today, the traditional family values, have gradually declined since the 1920s, during the industrial boom. The introduction of cinema and automobile since then had taken away quality family time. In Michael Romanowski (2001) essay, "Common arguments about the strengths and limitations of home schooling," he discusses the pros and cons of home schooling. He states that the main reason parents choose home schooling is "to strengthen the quality of their relationships with their children," though parent-child teaching a bond is secured and strengthened. This is because a parent must invest much time to watch and teach their child what they like and may not like to learn, which gives the child a great source of self worth. He states, as his third strength of home schooling that "education is not exclusively about a child's intellect; it also includes character," this is aimed at parents feeling that their "view of morality and their deeply held beliefs and values are not being adequately taught in public schools, if at all," that says that parents choose home-schooling to engrave sense of their religion, morals or values into their child, without the outside grasp of society changing those beliefs before they get time to set. This seems that it's the major reason parents choose to home school. Seeing that enforces that some public school must be in order to sand the edges of a most likely lacking academic horizon. Romanowski (2001) then goes on to say that home schooling, "easily allows teachers to adjust the curriculum and instruction to fit the individual needs of students," which is probably the second biggest reason for parents' home schooling. Then Patricia Lines (2000) article, "Home schooling comes of age," she states, "...the most exciting development in the home-schooling world is the emergence of partnerships between public schools and home schools...," this excerpt shows that a partnership between public schools and home schooling students can be a huge revolution in the way a child gets his education and world outlooks. Parents themselves learned specific regions of the education world, and it's only sensible that public schools, which have certified teachers, help with the subjects the parents are weak on. Lines also points out "Washington public schools must enroll children part-time if their families request it," this could be enrolling the child in English or Algebra class if needed. Although Line's essay points out the misconceptions and problem home schoolers have to face, she doesn't go into the pros and cons of each type of learning. Then onto public schools, in R. Fallis and Susan Opotow's essay (2003) "Are students failing school or are schools failing students' Class cutting in high school," they state a major problem with public schools, class cutting. They state that students, "do so to avoid classes they dislike, see as too hard or too easy, or for which they are unprepared," this proves that a more involved teacher, e.g. home schooling, would be able to edit the curriculum to accommodate for the "easiness" or "hardness" that that class reflects, versus a public school which cannot edit it for other students may find it variably less difficult or more harder. All of us understand that public schools have a impossible job put to them, Educate all children in these certain areas and have them pass these standardize tests. Also, it's understood that children all learn at different speeds, some fast, some slower, and its not possible for a teacher to wait for one student to understand the topic, because by doing that he/she lets the minds of those who have gotten the topic already wander. The possibility of home schooling and public schooling, hand in hand, can solve these problems, and take advantage of both of their strengths and weaknesses. Public schools prepare us for social relations later in life. In our most diverse public schools, teaching students to cooperate and excel in a multicultural setting is a powerfully important lesson, because, as we all know, the real world is not of one color or race, our country is founded on diversity. This is how public school excels over home schooling, because home schooling parents tend to stick to their own social and economic groups, rather than diversify themselves. Then, in "Defending the common school" by Michael D. Ford (2001) he states that the public school system is a place where children of all backgrounds should learn together without compromise, and he states that racial inequity must be eliminated. Ford states that "the American common school was created in order to provide a setting in which children from different backgrounds could learn together, free of the constraints or benefits of family background," this lends to the fact that public school is there to teach students to work and learn from one another, to build on the differences and make the best out of it. With that said, public schools are the source of most Americans social awareness and basis of interactions after schooling is completed. Then Ford goes on to state that school was, "an environment designed to provide the resources for individual development and an appreciation of the common good," this leads to higher appreciation for their community and that it is necessary to give back to the community. This creates people who are active and prosperous in their community. Most parents object when someone teaches their children and idea or theory contrary to theirs or teaches them something the parent does not deem appropriate, which occasionally happens in public school. This is also one of the more popular reasons for parents to choose to home school over public school. Home schooling allows the parent to instill upon their children moral and religious values without having anyone else, such as in public school, try to change that. The children can grow up with the rest of the family in the religious and proper surrounding that the parent provides, with no boundaries as to what they can teach. Most children go to school for 7-8 hours a day with 20-30 students in the classroom and only one teacher. It is very difficult for a teacher to have one-on-one contact with each student each day. Let us say that an elementary school teacher has 20 children in her class for 8 hours a day and she wanted to have one-on-one tutoring with each student. That would let her have 24 minutes for each student, which is definitely not enough time for the teacher to get a whole day's worth of teaching in. when at home, the child can have one-on-one tutoring all the time and it would take them a whole lot less time than 7 or 8 hours to get through with all their work for the day. There are likely millions of other children home schooled in the world today. Believe it or not, students are actually facing many tribulations in public schools such as peer pressure, practices of unhealthy behaviors, and public schools are measured not challengeable enough for the student. The best and only alternative to deal with the problems in public schools today are home schooling. While some students handle the pressure of school very well and have few problems during their school year, most may not fair so well. Peer pressure is considered very common to students because they all want to be in styles with pretty clothes and hairdo, so that others would not judge or laugh at them. Another challenging pressure students in public schools faces are the delinquency from others students that they can easily mimic, such as smoking, cheating, stealing, and also fighting. The problem with public education is that it is considered to be a gateway to unhealthy behaviors, belief and practices for middle age children, and dangerous for older kids who are burnt- out by the time they reach high school. Furthermore, public education is designed to meet the educational needs of the average student. However, very few students are average. They all struggle with some subjects and excel in others. Our current public education system has lowered their standards so that the lesser achieving students will not feel bad about themselves. This is doing a great disservice to all students. Students should be challenged to work hard and achieve goals they never dreamed possible. This will not happen if we subordinate the principles. It creates a superficial feeling of achievement that is quickly shattered once they enter the real world and discover how little they actually know. The rate of home schooling is increasing dramatically and has become very popular throughout the United States. With an estimated of 1,200,000 to 1,700,000 K-12 students currently being home schooled (Romanowski). For students who struggle with subjects or peer pressure to the point where they feel isolated or that it is unbearable, home schooling can offer them a way to complete their studies without the added pressures of other peers. Home school provides more attention for the students so that it diminishes distractions in their education. Students will not be disturbed with negative behaviors from irresponsible students because their study environment would be as peaceful as the ocean floor. Students can also customize their studies to their goals, which eliminate wasted time. Nevertheless, there are quite a few misconceptions about the idea of home schooling. The main misconception is children who are home schooled will lack social development. In the second interview with a mother whose ten years old son is attending a public school. Melanie Busch is a single, hard working mom and wants the best for her son's future. She is very pleased with the public school her son attends and will not agree to her son to be home school because she is afraid her son won't have the chance to interact with other children on a daily basis. She also met all of her son's friends and teachers and is delighted that they associate with her son for educational and recreational purposes. She believes that social skills are very important for children and home schooling does not provide this affair for them. However, Melanie Busch did not considered that home schooling students are also in many activities themselves, such as sports, band/chorus, and theater. They also have a chance to socialize with other children and become friends with other home schoolers, so that they can learn new skills and tips from variety of home schooling curriculums. Some children lack social skills regardless of where they attend school. There are plenty of students in public schools who lacked social skills, and they were also tormented and ridiculed by the other children. Being around children everyday isn't going to help them. If anything, it hurts them because they will be dealt emotional scars that will take years to heal. Nonetheless, home-schooled children don't generally have to deal with the negative behaviors exhibited by children in large groups. Most home schooling groups are smaller in size and the children tend to play better with all ages rather than just their age level peers. Children are allowed to mature at their own speed and by the time they're exposed to large groups of children, they're more likely to be socially mature enough to handle the situations. Contrary to popular belief, most homeschoolers do not spend all their time at home alone. All the homeschoolers are quite active in church, community, and sports activities. They will select activities, which they most enjoy and they get involved in a group or activity. In Florida, homeschoolers can participate in all school extra curricular events, so any of them are involved in band, sports, chorus, and theater. Home-schooled children are no less social than public schooled children. Home schooling is the number one choice for students today because there are several benefits toward the children and parents of home schooling. Children have the opportunity for one on one instruction so that eradicates wasted time. Unlike public education, children waste their time changing classes, 50 minutes for lunchtime, and hours of instructions from the teachers. Home school children can also move at their own pace in challenging areas, so that the materials that they are confused with can actually be absorbed in their mind. Parents can also spend time with their children and educating them at the same time. President Bush should really investigate further into home schooling so that he can realize how much better home schooling is compared to public schools. Once he realizes how beneficial home schooling is to the children of America today, he would definitely take action to increase the numbers of home schooling for our nation. The future of our children lies in the hands of their love ones. The best schooling is not just home or public schooling, its somewhere in the gray area of the two. For each child, one may have more of one or the other; but a combination of the two is much better than just one. While public schools teach us tolerance of different views and ideas; home schooling provides us with the care we all need for certain subjects. Public schools provide students with the social aspects required to stay active and prosper in whatever community they choose to be a part of. While home schooling provides the emphasis and time required for some students to grasp complicated theories or ideas. So, with school teaching the social aspects and the subjects that require a student the average amount of time to grasp, and home schooling teaching the harder and easier topics for the student; the parent's views and morals they think the child must have, and for the parent and child to make a stronger bond. References Aiex, Nola Kortner. Home Schooling and Socialization of Children. ERIC Digest. Eric Digests. 1 Jan. 2004. < http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed372460.html> Brian Ray, (2008), California Homeschool Court Decision Ignores Research Findings and Constitutions, NHERI, http://www.nheri.org/Latest/California-Homeschool-Court-Decision-Ignores-Research-Findings-and-Constitutions.html Fallis, R.K., & Opotow, S. (2003). Are students failing school or are schools failing students' Class cutting in high school. Journal of Social Issues, 59(1), 103-119 Ford Michael D. (2001). Defending the Common School. Nation (December 9): 748 Kantrowitz, Barbara, and Pat Wingert. Learning at Home: Does It Pass the Test' Newsweek 1998, 64-70. Lines, (2000b). "Homeschooling Comes of Age." The Public Interest 140 (summer), pp. 74-85. Luffman, Jacqueline (1998). When Parents Replace Teachers: The Home Schooling Option. Canadian Social Trends, Autumn 1998. Statistics Canada Catalogue 11-008-XPE. Mayberry, M., J.G. Knowles, B. Ray, and S. Marlow, (1995). Homeschooling: Parents as Educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. National Home Education Research Institute: http://www.nheri.org/ Neal, Andre. (2007). Homeschoolers: Into the Mainstream. Saturday Evening Post 278, 21-25. Patricia M. Lines, (2000) Homeschooling comes of age, The Public Interest, http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php'command=view&id=277 Riemer, Joel. (2007). Perspectives from a Home-Schooling Educator. Educational Leadership 52: 53-54. Romanowski, M.H. (2001). Home school and the public school: Rethinking the relationship. (Report No. EA030967) Alexandria, VA: National Association of Elementary School Principals Streamlined Seminar. Rudner, Lawrence M. The Scholastic Achievement of Home School Students. ERICWagner, David. "No Place (to learn) like Home School". Insight. September 8. Read More