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I know awhile back homeschool was almost a dirty word because everyone freaked out over their opinion of it being a non-social environment but now with public schools becoming more and more unsocial and unsafe every day (my opinion), has the opinion of homeschooling stayed the same or are there more people who would be inclined to homeschool their kids? If you have kids, did you end up homeschooling them when you thought you wouldnt? For those who dont have kids, would you be into the idea of it?
What do you think are the pros and cons for homeschooling and public school? Which is better in your opinion?
If you live in a neighborhood with high performing peers, parents who are proactive and educated, etc, then the government school experience is acceptable. Government education is a return on your tax dollars.
Homeschooling in that regard is like buying a book you can check out for free from the library.
The public school system that I went through was amazing. The sheer number of opportunities you have for learning would make it a clear winner in my opinion.
My school had an awesome computer science program, Criminal justice program, Vocational training, cooking classes, A highly ranked NJROTC unit, and the list goes on and on.
Not to mention all of the excellent extra-cirricular activites that the school offers. In most areas home schooled children can participate though.
tercel, it sounds like a great experience. I do think public schools and homeschooling has come a long way, I know that in some areas homeschoolers are welcome to participate in sports at the local public schools and other after school thing. Which I think is a great opprotunity.
Pros of Public School
- We could make more money because we'd have more time to focus on money as opposed to educating our children.
- We could relax more as we'd have more time to focus on relaxing as opposed to educating our children.
Cons of Public School
- Too many to name... loss of critical thinking skills, excessive peer pressure, lack of morals, you learn how to be a good "worker bee", if you don't fit the mold then you are going to have a hard time....
Pros of Homeschooling
-Our kids are receiving an education that is tailored to their learning styles. There is no one-size-fits-all. Every kid learns differently.
- We are able to encourage our kids to love learning, and not just memorize and regurgitate.
-Life is learning. We are able to do so many activities, field trips, and hands on things that really make learning fun.
-Our kids can learn a foreign language without waiting until they are 14 when the ability to acquire it greatly decreases.
- Our kids don't have the peer pressure to conform. It's natural for them to be assertive and confident.
- They can get along with all age groups because they are regularly around all age groups.
- We are able to instill our family values and not have them undercut by teachers, administrators, or other students.
- Our family is able to bond.
-We can vacation when everyone else is in school which makes it less crowded.
-We have confidence that our kids will turn into adults who are literate, able to perform math functions, and think critically without having everything spoon fed to them.
Cons of Homeschooling
-People who know nothing about homeschooling feel very comfortable giving you their uneducated opinions on homeschooling.
I took very intensive computer science classes in High School up to AP computer science 2. I also competed on the programming team in the tri-county programming competitions. How do you replicate such advanced tech learning enviroments in a home school setting?
My school offered a number of programs to take advantage of: computer science, criminal justice, NJROTC, vocational training, etc... How can a home school environment ever expect to replicate the sheer number of opportunities there are in a public school?
I believe that public school teaches you a lot about how the real world/social groups work. Mainly that they suck. Majority of homeschooled kids that I met (very small sample size) were not well adjusted socially. Is this a 50/50 thing or is this just a small minority?
Pros of Public School
- We could make more money because we'd have more time to focus on money as opposed to educating our children.
- We could relax more as we'd have more time to focus on relaxing as opposed to educating our children.
Cons of Public School
- Too many to name... loss of critical thinking skills, excessive peer pressure, lack of morals, you learn how to be a good "worker bee", if you don't fit the mold then you are going to have a hard time....
Pros of Homeschooling
-Our kids are receiving an education that is tailored to their learning styles. There is no one-size-fits-all. Every kid learns differently.
- We are able to encourage our kids to love learning, and not just memorize and regurgitate.
-Life is learning. We are able to do so many activities, field trips, and hands on things that really make learning fun.
-Our kids can learn a foreign language without waiting until they are 14 when the ability to acquire it greatly decreases.
- Our kids don't have the peer pressure to conform. It's natural for them to be assertive and confident.
- They can get along with all age groups because they are regularly around all age groups.
- We are able to instill our family values and not have them undercut by teachers, administrators, or other students.
- Our family is able to bond.
-We can vacation when everyone else is in school which makes it less crowded.
-We have confidence that our kids will turn into adults who are literate, able to perform math functions, and think critically without having everything spoon fed to them.
Cons of Homeschooling
-People who know nothing about homeschooling feel very comfortable giving you their uneducated opinions on homeschooling.
So all parents that send their kids to public schools rank money and relaxation first? That stupid statement disqualifies your opinion.
I homeschool and always planned to, so I'm biased.
IMHO, most schools are the worst places to learn social skills. Kids are grouped by ages and learn social skills mostly via their peers, who have no idea how to communicate and interact in a healthy manner. Young children and even teens need adult role models to teach them how to socialize. That doesn't mean they shouldn't interact with their peers, but that responsible adults should be their primary role models. In most schools, that is impossible because of the adult/child ratio.
Everyone assumes homeschoolers can't be "socialized" because they assume that the way most public school alumni socialize is healthy and normal. It's not. How many adults are insecure, always comparing themselves to others over superficial matters, petty, cliquish, gossipy, etc? More than a few. I've had to retrain myself out of a lot of these negative behaviors that I learned from my peers while in public school.
Besides that, homeschooling is becoming more and more common. At one point, it was mostly just very conservative religious people who homeschooled. So the homeschool graduates from that era seemed weird and as though they had no social skills. But they were raised to socialize a specific way...a conservative, Christian way, if that makes sense. They couldn't relate to their "worldly" peers because they had a completely different set of values. Their environment was designed so they couldn't relate and interact with most secular or not-so-devout Christians. That was the point. I'm not saying that was good or bad, that was just how it was. So people grouped all homeschoolers into the "socially awkward" category, but if you are homeschooling for other reasons than to mold your child into a conservative Christian, you can mold them into a social creature who can fit into all types of groups and relate to all sorts of people. It's how you approach the matter.
Besides that, the main pro of homeschooling is that I can tailor everything to my child's specific needs and interests. I've always been more of a fan of constructivist/progressive education, which you don't find that often in public schools. When you can adjust curriculum and teaching/learning methods to your child's specific needs/interests, you can get a lot more accomplished and your child will enjoy learning at the same time. I used to work in public school and the amount of time wasted just walking in lines and waiting to take turns takes up a huge chunk of the school day. My child can learn 2x more in half the time it would take in public school, freeing up more mental and emotional energy for extra curricular activities....or just fun time being a kid.
There is also no stress about being "behind" or "ahead" of his peers. He learns at the pace that suits him, without feeling inadequate or getting a big head. He is experiencing learning in a way that is not a competition. He learns because he has an internal desire to do so, not because it is forced upon him (usually...lol). I don't know about you, but I loved to learn and apply myself to gaining more skills/knowledge as a young child. But by middle school, I hated everything about learning and education because of the whole way it was approached in school. I am trying my best to make learning something my child will enjoy and pursue indefinitely, even without external motivation or pressure.
Now the cons: like someone else mentioned, I am giving up a lot of income to do this, but it is still manageable with a reasonable budget. It can also get overwhelming at times if you are doing everything on your own, without a spouse taking part in the education process. It can take a lot of time and preparation, but once you get the hang of it, it is not too bad. My son is still young, but as he gets older, I plan to have him do a lot more independent work, which will free up some of my own time.
Also, shuffling kids around to lots of extra curriculuars can be a pain. Like, if he was in some public schools, he could be involved with music/band/sports/clubs/etc all under one roof and other adults would be taking care of all that for me. Now it's all on me, and most of it is not free or even cheap. Also, you do have to go out of your way to create opporutnities for peer socialization, which can be difficult, depending on where you live. But if your kid is in school, you don't have to think much about that at all, so it's just another thing on your over filled plate sometimes.
A lot depends on circumstance. My son went through our local school system taking full advantage of sports and JROTC.. He did well became a leader and is now a college student. On the other hand a close relative in a Pa suburb pulled her daughter out and home schooled her in her senior year due to violence.
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