Hi, My question is do you think Homeschooling is better then Public education if so why? what are your proofs

Question

This brief uses data from the 2003 National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES) to estimate the number of homeschooled students in the United States in 2003 and to discuss the reasons parents decide to homeschool their children. The brief also shows that the number of homeschoolers, and the proportion of the student population they represent, has increased since 1999. More here: http://nces.ed.gov/nhes/homeschool/

Answer 1

I can see Postives to both , Home Schooling ~ you get the 1 on 1 attention some people need , due to Public Schools being WAY over packed, but then again the Human Interaction is needed an you get that in Public Schools ..

Home Schooling .. You dont have to worrie about being Bullied , Yelled at , you can work at your own pace. Where as public school , you pretty much need a gun to protect yourself ..

all i know is Yes i will be Home Schooling my Daughters once we move south.

Answer 2

When considering the needs and future of an individual child, homeschooling is probably going to be the better choice. As mentioned above, this isn't really surprising. More one-on-one instruction, a stronger student-teacher rapport, and all sorts of other things contribute to a stronger educational experience. It seems consistent that homeschooled 8th graders perform four grades ahead of their public school counterparts.

However, and I don't mean this unkindly, so what? 8th grade standardized test scores don't go on college entrance applications, and they don't go on job resumes. But that's only demonstrative of the point here. Different educational background and school styles all get painted over in the great weeding that is the college admissions process. The only students who make it into college are those who can, simple as that.

Homeschooling probably admits a higher proportion of college bound students than public schools do, but public schools certainly admit higher numbers of students. In this way, we see that public schools are better for greater numbers of people, for the public at large. I don't think homeschoolers can claim they are definitively better, or a better choice, simply because their bulk contribution to society is considerably less. In fact, the choice to homeschool a child negatively impacts the public school system, as do all those snippy little criticisms of public schools that seem so popular among the homeschool crowd.

This isn't to say that homeschooling your child isn't a good choice, because it usually is.

Of course, no one here is mentioning private schools, which I'd bet dwarf home schools in proportion of college bound students, while at the same time challenging public schools for the raw numbers of students they add to the collegiate population. This can't be surprising either. No one should be surprised AT ALL that money spent per child is directly proportional to the academic success of the child.

But we sure like to avoid the topic.

Answer 3

Yes and no. Homeschooling was the best choice for our family, but it is not the best for every family as it requires a large commitment of time and energy (as well as living off one income, generally).

My proof that homeschooling can work - A recent Berkley University report showed that homeschoolers do better than ANY other group on standardized tests. On average, by the time they are in 8th grade, homeschoolers score (on average, remember) FOUR GRADES ahead of their public school peers (I guess Douglas Z doesn't think that's significant enough). I've included a link to the report below (by the way, this was confirmed by ERIC - a US Dept. of Ed. research group).

As I said, homeschooling isn't right for every family. But for those who choose it, it sure seems to be working.

Answer 4

No. I think you need to study the chart available in figure 2 of your link. It shows the true reasons why parents choose home schooling. There are two main reasons shown. I must paraphrase some. (1) religion beliefs: to teach religious beliefs at home is NOT the function of a school; it is a function of the church. As such, it has no place in homeschooling, but of course, we know it does. (2) (paraphrasing) "Parents do not like the 'environement' of the school'". They are telling you that parents do NOT want their kids associating with other "bad" kids, who might lead their own kid astray. I disagree with this, because as a public school teacher, I have seen that a child who is raised properly by the parents WILL NOT be influenced by bad kids to the extent that most parents think. Raise them right, and you're kid will know what to do.

Only 16% think that the academic program is "wrong". Understand that this is a broad based question, and many parents who answered religion as their motivating factor are also going to mention THIS reason as a factor. The two are not mutually exclusive.

I have yet to read any scientific studies that prove that home schooling is in any way "better" for public schooled students, so I have no proofs. I do have many anecdotal tributes, both pro and con, of the effects of home schooling. I believe it is true that test scores are "slightly" higher for homeschoolers on the SAT or ACT, but they should be. The child has had individualized, one on one tutorial instruction throughout their education. These scores SHOULD be MUCH, MUCH HIGHER, but they're NOT.
Socially, there is much debate about the effect on homeschooling a child. I have to support the side of school kids, as they have many more interactions with friends of their own age, and thus, more opportunity; MUCH more, to learn socialization skills.

In short, I belief that home schooling parents, while good intentioned, are:
1) doing a disservice to their kids by depriving them of the socialization skills necessary to cope in the complex world.
2) offering slanted or skewed curricula, ie: religion, to replace proper education.
3) are misinformed about the ability levels of their own child.
4) are misinformed about what really goes on in a classroom. instead of investigating a classroom, a very simply thing to do, they choose to believe all the horror stories printed in the press and take that as fact, and base their decision to homeschool on bad premises.

Look, public schools have worked for over a hundred years now, for the vast majority of kids. And they still are working for the vast majority of kids. And they are teaching more than ever. Most of the negatives that you read about, including test score averages, are due to the large inclusion of students, who in the past, would never have went to college to begin with. Those scores ALONE account for the lowering of the test averages on college admission tests. And many of the horror stories come from inner city schools, ie: the ghetto schools.

So I say, if you raise your kid right, he will get a fine, indeed superior, education in the public schools than at home schooling.

Answer 5

Different kids have different needs, some are better not homeschooling, but some like it better. It all depends on who you are.

Answer 6

No. You must be incredibly smart to be capable of teaching english, science, social studies, physical education, biology, history, government, math, algebra, etc. When I went to school, my english teacher taught english and my social studies teacher taught social studies. You must be genius to be so knowledgeable about all subjects you can teach everything.

Where do the kids learn to interact with other kids besides school? Where do they learn how it is to be teased or why one girl doesn't come to school on Jewish holidays, or why black girls hair is different, or why that little girl walks with a limp, there is so much they miss by being sheltered at home. I do not agree.

--edit-- But being bullied is part of growing up!

Answer 7

Of course I think homeschooling is better than public schooling.
My proofs? My "proofs" are busy doing their work right now.

Answer 8

No, you learn to interact with other people in public education which is a very important life skill

Answer 9

jeez can we not just say that its better for some kids, and for others, public school it better, and leave it at that? jeeeeeez