Is homeschooling better for a child than public school?

Question

What about a christian school? Which is better?

Answer 1

My wife teaches in a community college. She has found over the years that her best students are generally home schooled, with students from private schools generally falling a little below the home schooled but significantly better than public school students.

Doc

Answer 2

Definitely this question has to be asked on an individual basis,both for the school and the child. Children have different strengths and different amounts of parental involvement. I sent my kid to a private Christian school and it had more immorality and bullying than the public school. I knew a Catholic school that was used as a reform school by parents with unmanageable children. Some children excel in public school and have a wonderful experience. Some do not. Reading this board I am led to believe that all homeschoolers are A students with a full, productive social life. I don't hear a lot about the kids who are struggling and lacking in social contacts even though I know they must exist. I have sent children through public school with disastrous results and homeschooled with reasonable success so far. My youngest has never been to school, now that she is 11 I am giving her the option of going next year because there just isn't any activities or homeschool groups to interact with. I think she could do it because she likes to compete with others and enjoys children her own age.

Answer 3

I think it all depends on the individual family, child, parent, situation, etc.

I don't think any educational model is better than others.

Of course if you have parents that absolutely will not let their children out of the house, homeschooling could be bad-- unless of course you lived in a very bad area and there are too many real daily dangers children in schools face. If you have a situation where a kid is getting involved with a bad crowd at school and warrents more supervision, homeschooling could be good-- unless of course the parents are both out working all day and the kid would essentially have no supervision. So much depends.

Same thing with education. I've heard people say they meet homeschoolers who is "below average," but it never occurs to them that, if the child were in school, perhaps they would have fallen behind even further-- perhaps they are simply struggling students, and the homeschooling has been beneficial? No, they just assume that the child would have been on-target IF he attended school from the start. That doesn't make it true. As we know, there are many public schoolers whose work is below average-- do we ever wonder how many of them would be doing better if they homeschooled?

So it all depends. I think all the options-- public school, private school, distance learning, homeschooling, unschooling, charter schools, combinations, experimental schools, etc., will probably work for some and not for others. For me, it's hats off to the parents who really do their research, consider their options, watch the results, and are willing to make changes when something isn't working.

I have no respect for people who make blanket-statements like "public schools are ineffective, everyone should homeschool," or "homeschoolers are in danger of being socially deprived; they should go to public school." I have no respect for the opinion of people who make blanket prejudiced statements because they are obviously fixed on what they like best and unwilling to admit anything else has merit. Their opinions count for nothing, AFAIC.

MSB

Answer 4

While I definitely believe that Home schooled kids have some advantage by being taught at home, I know of a lot of public school kids that turned out wonderful! Very smart and level headed. And on the other hand, I have met some home school students I felt would have benefited from going to school as their parents didn't take the commitment seriously. I really believe it comes down to the parents. If they are involved in the child's life and don't just leave it up to some one else to raise their child, the child will do fine. The parent knows if the student will do OK in a public school or would benefit more from being at home. Each situation is different.
On socialization- that is the last hold out that people that don't understand home schooling cling to. They don't take the time to look into it before they say anything. My kids are socialized with a variety of people of different ages, backgrounds, and races on a daily bases, not just put into an environment where they are exposed to a bunch of kids the same age usually. My kids live more in the "real world" and I am able to train them in manners and respect, not let them try and figure it out themselves.

Added:
I forgot about the Christian school option. My oldest went to a very popular and recommended private school. When I made the decision to bring her home, I discoverd that I had to re train her in a few areas. So, even though it a private school, it still has to be monitored. BTW, just because it is a Christian school, don't expect all the teachers and students to act "christian." I ran into that as well. It is a little better than Public school as in they pray and discuss God, but there are still some issues otherwise.

Answer 5

It depends on the child!!! That is the number one thing that matters.

A lot of mistakes parents make is home schooling or public/private schooling their kids because it works great for someone else's child. A lot of times parents look at them and think thats the best thing for my kid. Wrong. The only way you'll know if homeschooling or public school is better is if it works best for the child, not the parent.

I was both h/s and p/s and as for me p/s was much better for me. But that was me, it may be different for your child.

Good luck


P.S. I'm reading some of the responses and I find it really sad what some people think.

Answer 6

There's no set answer to this. It's going to depend on the family doing the homeschooling, the child and more.

Some Christian schools are better than some public schools, but the reverse can also be true.

Some homeschools are better than some Christian private schools and vice versa.

There is no ONE schooling option that is best for everyone; that's why there are so many options.

Answer 7

That depends entirely on the parent(s) and child(ren) involved.

Homeschooling is not always better. Public school is not always better. To try to fit everyone into the same box is like saying that everyone should live in the same house - it just doesn't work for everyone. It MUST be decided on a case-by-case basis.

EDIT: I'm actually coming to appreciate all those who question socialization while homeschooling. It keeps the issue at the forefront of my mind and reminds me that, although I'm not much for being in a crowd and socializing, my two boys are, so I need to keep them engaged in social activities even if *I* don't need it.

Answer 8

Oh boy...a hotbutton question again!

First, socialization. There's a lot of studies out there that show homeschoolers are no worse off than public students in socialization. I read in here that school is where you get exposed to other cultures, but that's not exclusive to public school. Like everything else, it is what YOU make of it. If public schools are supposed to be a reflection of the community in which you live, then you'll get exposure just through your other public interactions. To my way of thinking, public schools of late have not proven to be the best place in the world to develop social behaviors.

I don't think it is necessarily better. I am a big advocate for it, because I have seen a lot of truly wonderful results. Kids that can think for themselves, rather than just repeating what they have been told. Critical thinking skills are not a core knowledge subject in public school. Kids that can interact with all ages, as opposed to only being comfortable with people their own age. Kids that have a lot of confidence in themselves. Kids that are less likely to be influenced primarily by popular culture. Kids that are comfortable talking to their parents about difficult subjects. Kids that excel adademically, too.

It's not for everyone. Not everyone has the ability to have a parent stay home and teach (although that stereotype is being erroded more and more every day). Bottom line is, it likely is going to have a financial impact on a family. Not really negative for our family. We have enjoyed the journey immensely.

I don't homeschool for religious reasons, so a Christian school wouldn't be of interest for me. From my standpoint, the ability to be fully integrated into our children's schooling is simply fantastic. You take the responsibility and you move ahead with your child's learning style, interests and strengths are. It's a marvelous way to get tailored education for your child, and so to me is prefereable to public or private school.

Is it better? Don't know. The logical, practical answer is, it's not better for everyone, but is obviously better for all the people that move to it and think it works really well...and for those who choose it from the very beginning of their child's education (that's where our family fits).

Answer 9

I believe that it depends on the child. I have one child in public school and one in homeschool. My youngest sister went to a christian private school and to be honest it was just like a public school with a private name! I would make sure I check into the private school before I sent my child there because sometimes the children are sent there because they were "bad" in public school. My son got asked to go to one of the Bill Gates funded schools for the advance but when I went to check into it there were children there that parents couldn't handle. The school was trying to change that but it was hard.

Answer 10

Homeschooling and Christian school is a lot better for your Child then Public school. Theres so much bad stuff going on in Public school.
I would homeschool your child/children for like a year and then send them to Christian school for a year and see which they like best. If you have the funds for Christian school that is.

Answer 11

If the parent/person doing the home-schooling is a qualified teacher with proper curriculum and study plan, I would think this education method is better than formal schooling. Just compare a good private tuition one to one and a classroom tuition which is better? Obviously the latter choice is better.

Another major advantage of home schooling is learning at the child's own pace - parent can pace learning faster or slower according to the child's mental development's level.

The social interaction aspects can always be plan into the curriculum as outside activities eg. social classes- dancing, music and sports etc. Hope this helps...