which child is intelligent - school going or home schooling child?

Question

Whether a child can be taught the same portions at home which he would be studying at school if sent to school. which is best at school or at home?

Answer 1

It depends. At home, the parent can make the child do more studying and can choose the curriculum. Teachers, though required to include certain material by the state (and also to pass state tests!), usually include some material of their own personal interest that may or may not be considered to be relevant intelligence.

The most important difference, however, is the lack of social interactions for home schooled children. Being able to interact successfully with peers and make friends is a crucial part of life. We all rely on other people from time to time, and we all need people of our own age as friends. This part of the child won't be fully developed in home schooling. The child may also grow up fairly naive, possibly making him more prone to scams as an adult.

Answer 2

There is no one universal curriculum, and homeschooler are not required to immitate any school curriculum. When my daughter was in public school, she completed 2nd grade and changed schools-- the 3rd grade class in her new school, in the same city, was doing the exact same curriculum-- textbooks, workbooks and all-- that she had done the year before in her other school.

As for which is best, I think a lot of it depends on the child and if the environment is fitting his needs.

For example, a child who is very artistic and creative, or very hands on, might do better in a homeschooling environment where parents encourage and nurture this tendancy. A child who is extremely shy and intimidated by other kids and adults might also do better homeschooling and participating in social activities in smaller, calmer groups of kids until they build up some self-esteem and confidence in dealing with groups, rather than throwing them into a classroom of 30 where they might just become more withdrawn.

On the flip side, a kid who is extremely social and athletic might not do as well homeschooling in a rural area where there is a lack of opportunities for such activities outside of school, then homeschooling might not be ideal. If you have a child who has special learning needs (from developmentally delayed to gifted) and the parents cannot provide them for whatever reason, and are unable/unwilling to find a way to provide it outside of school, then the kid might be better off at school.

MSB

Answer 3

That question would be like me asking you if a Ford or a Chevrolet would reach their destination first. We don't know if they have the same destination, what is the age/experience of the drivers,or the agenda of the drivers.
It is a question that cannot be answered unless you just want opinions.
My son has learned more since being home schooled. His public school teachers looked at his IQ score and decided he was performing above expectation. We know nothing about the "same portions" because their portions are not even consistent in the same classroom. He was passed from grade to grade without learning until we began the private tutoring(home school).
And I want to add, to the people who think that home school children are protected, never get out of the house, have no social life, that they cannot deal with the real world: What planet do you come from? That is the silly propaganda. Where do you get your ideas? I'm sure it could not be from home school people because you apparently have never talked to home schoolers. If you have talked to them, then that blows the idea that they are sheltered, huh?
Sorry, just had to throw that rant in there.

Answer 4

I have one son who just finished high school as a homeschooler and another who is just entering the high school age. With my older son I enrolled him in a distant learning program called Alger Learning Center. Since the college he wanted required a diploma and is not yet accepting homeschoolers, the learning center allowed him that option. My younger son has a different school in mind so we are working out what option is best for him. It sounds like you have a wonderful resource in the community college in your area! I wish we had that here! As far as where to start, I would start with your state's dept of ed website. There you will find all the rules and regs involved. In my state, you would not be required to register him as a homeschooler because he 16 and no longer required to school. If it's the same in your area, then you just have to decide how you both want to finish his education. It sounds like he is tremendously motivated and will do well in anything he does. Good luck!

Answer 5

A child in school and child who is home educated can be equally intelligent. Intelligence is the ability to reason. We are all born with a level of intelligence known as an intelligence quotient (IQ) which comes naturally to us.

That level can vary from day to day based upon our mood. Some longer term changes can be made in IQ based upon the child's environment growing up and the learning activities that the child is involved in.

For example, experiencing child abuse can lower intelligence, while engaging in activities such as logic puzzles and reading challenging classical works of literature can lead to a somewhat higher IQ. This does not mean that someone who has an average IQ (90-110) will suddenly turn into a genius, but their average IQ may go up a few points.

I am guessing what you mean to ask is which child is likely to be better educated.

In answer to that question I would say that in most cases the child who is home educated is likely to get a better education simply because home education allows for one on one attention and a personalized curriculum.

Schools by their very nature must choose an ability level to teach to for each class and those with less ability get left behind and can't catch up and those with more ability are forced to wait for the rest of their peers to catch up before they are allowed to move on. Students in both of these groups tend to give up and stop trying.

Home school allows children to be taught at the pace and level appropriate for each individual child.

Similarly, schools must choose a what is taught in each subject at each grade level. A student may only be ready for first grade level reading and be ready for fourth grade math at the same time, but if they are in second grade than they are expected to be ready for 2nd grade reading and to work on second grade math.

Home schooling is flexible enough that the child described above could be working on reading at the first grade level, math at the fourth grade level,and spelling & grammar at the second grade level.

Answer 6

The type of schooling has nothing to do with intelligence. Now if you are talking about which is better well you read what the studies show on both. There are pros and cons to both. You really have to be dedicated to your child to make it work at home. You have to want to homeschool to make it work. Yes of course you can fit in more studies at home in less time only because you only have one or a few children versus a whole classroom full. They get the individual attention they need to get done quicker.

Answer 7

Studies and statistics show those homeschooled generally tend to do better, are more social, more mature and better educated.

Homeschooling allows for a lot of options and perks you don't necessarily have in school.

The ability to go to public libraries at the drop of a hat for reserach materials

The ability to watch Discovery, Science, History channels or PBS

Better food and anytime you want it.

The ability to break up your work day.

The ability to take things at your own pace, faster or slower as required.

In school you have to take things as they are given to you

Homeschool always you flexibility to chose course materials from a variety of sources. YOu can find a math program that shows you the same topic in a different more learnable way or has better examples.

Some schools do have some advantages you can never really get at home. Metal, wood or plastics shops, for example. You would never buy a commercial drill press at home, unless your family needed one. So you'd make do with Skill drills from Home Depot.

But not all schools have fully equipped shops!

The student newspaper is another example where the school may excell, they may have a small web press which you'd never buy for home use.

Then again, some schools outsource to a local newspaper.

But you can possibly take tours of a newspaper or commercial print shop with a web press.

But you won't get hands on experience if the school owns one and print shop does the school newspaper directly.

So there can be some advantages to a brick and mortar school.

The thing of it is, these things may only be open to "honors" type students.

I was very much into film and movies and wanted to work in the school AV center but my grade average was too low so I was NOT afforded the opportunity to learn the skills that way. Instead I lied in class and operated the projector for History, learning it on the spot by looking at the threading diagram. Since I worked with 8mm it wasn't much different.

So this is another area where you can excell at home.

Let's say you don't grasp algebra all that well. You can still take math oriented Chemistry and Physics in homeschool but NOT real school.

You can go back to your algebra books in tandem and possibly build both skills. Maybe you won't do great, but you will get a CHEMISTRY background with a brick school WON'T GIVE YOU without high grades in math.

Brick schools DENY students with low marks the ability to attempt a course they deem too advanced for them.

Homeschools allows you to attempt ANYTHING you want to.

This is where homeschool really has benefits. A marginal student can take the full college course prereqs, even if they don't pass them with high marks and GET A FUNDAMENTAL education. They WILL come out knowing SOMETHING MORE than if they stayed in a NON COLLEGE High School major.

Just because you can master benzine rings, doesn't mean you won't learn anything. You'll know what a benzine ring is, which is something a kid in a non-college major at school may never know.

This is where the system fails the individual. They declare the individual UNSUITABLE for certain courses and DENY KNOWLEDGE based on Ds and Cs

Homeschool delares NO ONE unsuitable. Everyone is given equal access to an education.

Homeschool has no prejudice no bias, no limitations.

Answer 8

Intelligence is innate and largely genetic. However, if a child is in an environment that nurtures his intelligence, it can definitely be enhanced. Homeschooled children have the benefit of a parent teaching, instructing, listening, and helping them pursue their interests. A child with average, or even below average, intelligence can only thrive in that type of learning environment.

Additionally, if children who attend traditional school, public or private, have excellent teachers and caring parents who involve themselves in their children's education, they too can thrive just as well. The amount of time, attention, instruction, etc., a child needs to thrive academically and socially depends upon the individual child.

I began homeschooling my son this past November, and I am so glad I made that decision. I realized even when he was quite young that his intelligence was above average. However, I also realized he was a child who needed a lot of one on one time and attention. He could never get that in our neighborhood school setting with 25 to 30 children in a classroom. Under my tutelage, he is blossoming.

Answer 9

That would depend upon the particular parents and the particular school in question, but I think that, when done well, home schooling is the better option.

the child's intelligence is independent of his or her educational setting. the setting may enhance or hinder it, but does not determine it.

Answer 10

Intelligence is what every human being is born with,
Intelligence is not produced by "schooling, either in the home or elsewhere.
The question is do we give our children enough freedom to develop their thinking skills.
Formal institutionalized education does not improve ones intelligence; intelligence does not equal wisdom, or common sense; wisdom is gained by living life, and through the experiences on has over a life time.

I do not care about test scores, studies on socialization or any other rhetoric in regards to education; this should never define who a person is.
I want my children to look back one day, and say " I love who I am, and I love/loved what I do/did"!

Quote:
"We are faced with the paradoxical fact that education has become one of the chief obstacles to intelligence, and freedom of thought".
Bertrand Russell.

If you'd ask, " where will a child have the most freedom to develop being who he/she was mend to be"?
I would say "home schooling", no doubt about it.

Quote:
"We are shut up in schools, and college recitation rooms for ten to fifteen years, and come out at last with a belly full of words, and do not know a thing".
Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Answer 11

You have many excellent and well thoughtful replies to this question. May I also add: Public school advocates argue vehemently that exposure to many different classes, ethnic backgrounds, different ideas etc. is beneficial to the child and that can only be accomplished in the traditional institutional setting. I beg to disagree. In most schools (all schools?) children who dress differently. act differently or who have a different outlook on life are shunned, if not abused to excess. Sometimes even by the teachers. (come on ,we have all seen it or heard of it) The children have to form into cliques, or identifiable groups for companionship and protection. They do not have social relations with the student body at large. They form "packs" and shun or victimize those who are different from them. Individuality is NOT rewarded; children HAVE to conform with how the dominant members expect them to dress and behave. Home schooling allows children to develop as individuals, form their own ideas, (not the teachers or their peers) They can excell in their chosen course of studies because they can eliminate what is irrelevant to them and concentrate on their own learning needs.