Home school vs. Public School?

Question

What are the pros and cons to you between these two?

Answer 1

uh this makes me so mad that people are always saying that homeschoolers dont interact with any body i have so many homeschooled and public schooled friends
and with my homeschool friends we get together so much and their is no law against having a homeschooled prom we had one this year and willhave one agian next year and we have more dances than the public school we just had one this saturday.
and from what i have know about public school (at least the one in our town public school is where you go to get pregnant of high)
and they dont learn the math at the public school in our toen is
ridiculus. my mom tutors a lot of kids from the high school and one girls siad her whole math class flunked it that really sounds like they are learning
so ya am bitter that people look down on home schoolers it is the only way to go
i have never heard of home schoolers going aroud shooting people hav u?

Answer 2

I am so sick of hearing that homeschooled kids don't get social interaction. Haven't these people heard of Scouts? Or the YMCA, or a community center, or god forbid, Yahoo Groups? Homeschooled kids can still hang out in their communities. They aren't "stuck in the house" all day, much like public school kids ARE stuck in school all day, then forced to do 3 hours of homework once they get home. There are many, many social outlets for any kind of child, not just public schooled kids.

Now if there are special needs, I don't know how it is everywhere, but here in KY, those needs are addressed, by law, by the public school, whether the child is homeschooled or not. I believe that's a federal law, so I think it's every where.

As far as dances and proms, go with a public school boyfriend. There is nothing saying you can't have one of those. Or where I live, a local group puts on a spring formal for juniors and seniors every year. It's on an elegant, historic steam paddle wheel boat.

The only pro I can think of about public school (and I was public schooled throughout my education) is the friends you make. But you know what's funny? I only have one person from all my k-12 years that I still speak with AT ALL . Most of my friends are from college.

Speaking of college, many colleges are actively recruiting homeschooled kids, that includes the Ivy Leagues.

I remember my public school days, especially the part where I was targeted by a gang of girls and tormented for no other reason than the fact that I was white (they told me this). I also remember the fact, that even though I was in AP classes and passed with flying colors, I had NO IDEA how to do basic algebra, and didn't learn that until college.

The only con I have come across in homeschooling my kids is that it is a little tough to stay motivated to work every day. But that's when we take a little break, and try again tomorrow. It's no big deal!

Answer 3

Depends a lot on the age of the child and their personality. There are some general things though, very briefly:

Pros with Homeschooling: You can go your own pace. Fewer distractions. Less negative social environment. Less focus on peers. More multi-age interactions. More time to do what you want to do.

Cons: For the high school student who is a social bug, homeschooling may start feeling stifling. There are also a lot of people out there who are ignorant and give homeschoolers a hard time.

Public school pros: For high school students, there are often courses that would be difficult to do at home. More social interaction for those who want it. Less stigma about a high school diploma through a school.

Cons: There's a lot of wasted time in school. In jr. high and high school, often a lot of focus on partying and drugs and boyfriends/girlfriends and school isn't take seriously. You don't get as much individual attention and have to take more time to get your work done. There can be too much social stuff for the more reserved person. For the elementary child, it's like growing up in a family with 30 siblings the same age--not exactly what would would classify as ideal.

Answer 4

Home schooling:
pros - not being picked on, more focus in the topics of education
cons - no real interaction with other kids there own age, no
making precious memories they look fondly back on when they are older

Public Schooling:
pros - the cons of home schooling, a good way for them to learn and see some what of the world falling in love, hearts broken, making unique friends, falling out with friends
cons - tattered eduacation system, bullies (including teachers)

Answer 5

Home school vs privet school vs public school has been debated forever. What is best has a whole lot to do with the child. My oldest child was unable to handle the social aspects of public school when he started first grade. The idea of a child talking back to a teacher gave him an anxiety attack. When we were no longer able to afford his privet school, he home schooled for three years. I didn't hold class for him. I bought the books and told him how long to spend on each subject. He had the self discipline to do almost all of the work himself. His ninth grade year he decided he wanted to go to public school and that was his first year. He didn't make a lot of friends because he was determined to make his long term goals. Most kids arnt like him but public school in his early years would not have been good for him.
My youngest, on the other hand, did not home school well at all. She needed the stimulation of a classroom in order to give her a reason to learn. Her reaction to other kids misbehaving is the satisfaction of being better behaved. She needs the ''competition" of other students grades as a reason to study and do well herself . Don't get me wrong, she has a great deal of admiration for the students who do better than her. She sees it as a reason to do better herself.
Public schools have to set up their lessons and schedules in a way that reaches the most amount of children. Children are not all the same and respond in different ways to stimulus, competition and methods of learning. You should look at what is best for your child at the beginning of each school year and make your decision then. Remember too, that not all children are cut out for col ledge. Auto mechanics are projected to be making an annual salary of over 70,000 a year within the next five years because there won't be enough to go around. Do what is best for your child.

Answer 6

I definately think that homeschooling is better. You learn way more and statistics show that homeschooled kids do better on the SAT test and in college. Also homeschooled kids are nicer than public schooled ones. We except every one as they are and are not bullies. As for those who think that we get no interaction with other kids, instead of just saying that you should ask some one. I do have alot of interaction and when we get together we don't do bad things like drinking acoholical beverages, drugs and premarital sex. I am in a community where there are lots of homeschooled kids and we set up classes together and I see some of my friends almost everyday.

Answer 7

It's a wonder anybody at all learns anything in Public School. I think homeschool is the way to go. They try to give you this song and dance of personal interaction with people but you do that all your life anyway. They're just concerned with keeping a dead, incompetent industry alive. My time in school very much reminded me of what life was like in a prison with hardened felons. N.Y.C.

Answer 8

Pros to homeschooling: more one-on-one interaction, less distractions from socializing, more individualized instruction,
Cons to homeschooling: quality of education may suffer if the one doing the homeschooling is uneducated, lack of social interaction unless addressed through other means--can lead to socially inept individuals, child may only be exposed to one teaching style and later in life (tech, college, workplace) may have trouble adjusting to different teaching styles

Pros to public education--more access to a wide variety of technology that may not be available in the homeschool situation, learning through cooperative activities, learning from teachers who have received training in pedagogy and psychology as well as their particular subject matter, exposed to different teaching styles, easier access to sports and extra-curriculars, still has opportunities for individualized instruction, while homeschoolers are held accountable for learning, public schools and those who teach within them come under more scrutiny, teachers are usually evaluated yearly, grades and tests are examined, etc., fosters independence as the children can not always have one-on-one instruction

Cons to public schools-children can fall between the cracks due to the large number of students the teachers are trying to reach, socialization can equal distractions, perhaps not enough opportunity for one-on-one interaction or individualized instruction to meet the needs of all of the students, some schools are actually dangerous, politics can hinder education

Answer 9

As a graduate student in education I would like to sound off on this subject. I have read the posts to this point and have noticed many things. Those who are homeschooled seem to have enjoyed, or are enjoying, the experience. Those who are parents seem almost to be unsure of which would be better. Like everything in life, this is really a very personal question. I look at the one young lady who says she is homeschooled but they have proms and dances and get together to learn (sounds a bit more like a private school type situation to me). I also notice her spelling is not that good. This seems to be something we are seeing at the University level. Even though homeschooled students seem to be able to adjust faster to the amount of work in college, they do lack some very basic skills such as spelling and grammar (I profess I am not perfect either). Further, the quality of a public school education really depends on where you are. Public schools are such unique institutions in that they vary from district to district and sometimes from school to school. I have started to look at the effects of No Child Left Behind on public education and it seems that it is harming the inner-city schools and schools with students that are considered in the lower socio-economic classes. In contrast, suburban schools and schools that are more affluent seem to not be as affected by the NCLB legislation. In one of my graduate classes we had an argument about what the true purpose of NCLB is. Is it truly to "improve" the schools or was the purpose something else all together? There seems to be a trend that most of the schools that are failing are either inner-city schools or from the poorer rural communities. So we asked the question, is NCLB a policy that is, by nature, discriminatory?

That being said, I think the answer to this question has a lot to do with where you live. In some areas, public schools are awesome and do an outstanding job of educating their students. A further consideration of homeschooling is your child's future. Many state schools still do not accept homeschooling as a "viable" form of education. If you look at admissions requirements of major state universities, such as the University of Michigan or University of Texas, you will find that they do not even mention homeschooling in their admissions standards. Most of these universities require a high school diploma or GED. Now, I have not called them to find out about homeschooling so you may want to check into that issue a little bit. On the other hand, private schools, especially those affiliated with religious denominations, state clearly the requirements necessary for homeschoolers to be admitted. A good part of this has to do with state educational policies and the requirements of entry to the University. They use admissions policies to compare students and help them select the best candidates for study. If your child does not have these courses, they could be at a disadvantage. The other thing to do, after you talk to the Universities your student is interested in, is to go online or call your state department of education and find out the requirements for homeschooling. This is something that varies greatly state to state. In Wisconsin, my sister thought about homeschool so looked up the requirements, all you have to do is fill out a form and have your district school sign it (and some won't sign until after official count date so they can get money for your student). Here in Kansas you have to register your homeschool as a non-degree granting private school. Essentially, if you do not follow state guidelines you are breaking the law and can get in trouble.

Good luck, I hope this helped. There is a ton of information out there about pros and cons but, the reality is that it is dependent on where you live. You can always find options for socialization and a few districts in the nation allow homeschoolers to participate in sports and music programs for a small fee.

One last statement: There is no such thing as a FREE Education. Sure, there is supposed to be a free education but all education has a price. That price includes time, effort, money (taxes), and other variables. Not to mention, the biggest complaint received by parents is the fact that they have to pay sometimes 300 or 400 dollars a year in fees when they register for school.

Answer 10

Homeschool -- pros -- you can do field trips whenever you want, you can talk about religion, you can learn at your own pace, you come out smarter, more well rounded, minimal influence of evil.

Cons -- you have to be disciplined & responsible enough to do the work.

Public school -- you couldn't pay me a billion $$$ to send my kids to public school. They go to private school, but I have been thinking about homeschooling them.