Home School vs. Public School - Term Paper Example

Home School vs. Public School Introduction This paper compares and contrasts the existing advantages and disadvantages of public school versus home schools. It is aimed to assist the parents in their decision making towards the appropriate form of education system to grant to their children. The futures of students are defined by the decisions made by the parents in their tender ages, persistence of the students to the educational course among other factors. Therefore, parents have a debt to pay in humanity by assisting in the molding of their children’s future, a brighter tomorrow. Parents value the education of their children and therefore making it a high priority before their decision on the type of education to give to their kids. Most parents may not be privy of the contrast that lies between home school and public schools. Debates have been in existence for decades in an attempt to conclude on the best type or academically appropriate learning for students. Before defining the best academic setting, which would be beneficial and best for schoolchildren, there are key crucial elements that parents put into consideration. Firstly, the parent has to check and analyze whether their children require any special educational needs. These needs include physical, intellectual, social and emotional needs. Next, the parents declare the school fit to provide their kids with the needs at hand. The learning environment chosen should auger well with the educational needs. The difference between homeschooling and public education helps in the influence of the guardians’ decision in offering the educational setting most beneficial to their child’s needs. The common good between the two is that both strive to ensure that students achieve educational success. It is agreed among many that more dedication is got from home school tutors and hence many believe it should be the best type of education in this century. Which is the best type of education setting for students in this century? This paper further debates towards an aim to choose between them as the rest of the world also fights on for the best format. Decisions on the type of education are all held by the parent who knows his or her child better given that without their participation, children do not achieve their dream goals. Where parents go for homeschooling, the first consider the necessities required to provide a conducive learning environment in their homes. With this in mind, below is a description of the merits and demerits of each systems of education. On the advantages of public schools, one realizes that kids get exposure to various and diversified backgrounds. Besides being free, public schools are run under the guidelines of federal and state standards in their standardized tests, grading and curriculums (Labaree, 2010). Through group testing, kids learn the required skills of a good team player, they have easy access to science labs, sports and learning technology such as machinery and computers. Public schools have facilities such as transport on buses. While here they can get counseling sessions from specialists away from the family where they can share their problems, they are exposed to college scholarship experiences. In most areas public schools take the benefit of possessing many and larger facilities in some areas. Home schooling draws its first benefit from the factor that the student has face-to-face attention from the assigned teachers. Personality skills are boosted when it comes to the point that home students develop skills to learn unsupervised, self-taught. After decision to school students at home, parents or guardians have the options of evaluating the subjects to offer to them as well as advanced programs. Here there are absolutely no fears from bullies or bad behavior influences form other kids. The continuous interaction between parents and their children develops a rapport to stronger relationships. Curriculums are controlled by the parent as they focus on individual levels. Social skills are not lost once the students are put under this system. Moreover, the social interactions are achieved through associations that render access to other homeschooled students giving more time and flexible trips, scouting and community events among others. However, both systems may have desirable qualities but also have bottlenecks amongst them. To start with the disadvantages of public schools, it is clear that children have higher chances of succumbing to peer pressure. The fact that a single teacher may be allocated up to 30 students is reason enough that not all the students will get the attention regardless of their educational needs (Hall, 2013). Academic advancement may not be achieved. Bullying may affect the social and psychological lives of the public school children. Notably, where students do not understand a topic they lag behind if they do not seek assistance from their teachers. The rates of school dropouts and violence are ever on the rise in public schools. Given that the choice on the curriculum is left to the schools, students have reduced learning independence from the low educational qualities. There have been debates that the issue that these schools’ education is of the lowest denominator leads to eventual loss of the smart children in the tangle. As for the disadvantage of home schooling, the main element is the financial constraint. A good number tend to maintain the active involvement of their children whilst reducing the social lives between them. Not all parents have the required skills to prepare study plans and teach as professional teachers would achieve. Most children prefer to be out of their homes at all cost. In line with the admission policies, most colleges do not take up a graduate prepared form home schooling. The children, before or after admission, may seclude or lack socialization (Baer, 2008). The parents have a hindrance in an attempt to draws lines between their teaching lives and parenthood. Not all parents can provide enough information on the education requirements. Full support is called for from the parents. Where parents volunteer in public schools the ensure safety and smooth operation in public school programs. The parents can communicate with their children’s teachers via memos, newsletters and phone calls. In home schooling, decision making is concluded at home. Parents who have involved in homeschooling ought to attend classes or embrace distant learning facilities to widen their education platform as they continue with their work. They may develop relationships with teachers to seek advice toward their children’s academic excellence and access to public facilities such as computer labs and libraries. Parents are not limited to seek information from the community and ask for involvement in business leadership. To sum it up, it was clarified that home schools or public schools pose a hard decision on the option to embark on and therefore, every guardian or parent has the obligation of remembering that every child is specific to certain needs. The best option would be to evaluate the personal situation before the decision of what best suites the student. Reference Baer, F. L. (2008). Resistance to public school desegregation Little Rock, Arkansas, and beyond. New York: LFB Scholarly Pub.. Hall, J. (2013). Childrens human rights and public schooling in the United States. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. Labaree, D. F. (2010). Someone has to fail the zero-sum game of public schooling. 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