Social and Cultural Foundations of American Education/Second Edition/18.2.2

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Why Shouldn’t We Homeschool? Written By: Christin Satterthwaite

Edited By: Victoria Polite Monica Sobers edits this page

[edit] Introduction

Today many parents are beginning to choose to homeschool their children rather than send them to a public or even a private school. There are many reasons why parents choose to homeschool their child or children; some of those reasons include but are not exclusive to: drug problems in the school system, large classrooms, a more flexible curriculum, spending more time with the child or children, etc. Even though many people agree with homeschooling there are also many people who do not agree with it. Even though there may be some benefits to homeschooling there are also potential negatives to it including lack of socialization, lack of exposure to more than one view point or opinion, isolation from other social/ethnic groups, no effective academic assessment, etc. First we will try to explain the opposition point of view in some more detail and then you will read more in depth on the anti-homeschool viewpoint. The potential negatives completely ignore the fact that homeschoolers do socialize with their peers. They socialize with public school children in their neighborhood during the summer vacation and after school, they play on recreational sports teams, they belong to homeschool groups and other organizations where they have ample opportunity to interact with their peers. It also ignores the fact that homeschoolers come from all social/ethnic groups. Homeschoolers are a diverse bunch. Homeschoolers also go to college and have no problem meeting the college of their choice academic requirements.

[edit] What is Homeschooling

According to www.dictionary.com homeschooling is “to instruct (a pupil, for example) in an educational program outside of established schools, especially in the home”. Many people think that children who are homeschooled sit at the kitchen table with mom for several hours a day going over worksheets and textbook chapters but today that picture is changing rapidly; now many homeschooled children actually take courses online. It is similar to how some college students take courses.

The above paragraph was obviously written by someone without knowledge of how homeschool education works. In addition to taking place at the kitchen table, it takes place in cooperative classes, team teaching, community programs, and more. Children in our community have been taught biology by a physician who happens to be a homeschool mother and writing by a nationally published writer who is also a homeschool mother. Parents pool resources for group classes. In our community, classes for homeschoolers are offered by our libraries, YMCA, local art galleries, our zoo, and more. In addition, the average homeschooled American student is engaged in 5 outside activities. Furthermore, when they graduate they are more likely to volunteer for community organizations and to vote. The socialization and community building skills they learned in their school setting obviously sticks as they continue to give back to their communities.

[edit] Why do parents choose it?

Often parents who take their children out of public or even private schools say that their “children are also spared the brunt of comparison and competition that is rampant in the classroom” (Field, 2005) or that “homeschooling allows us to practice selective socialization, apart from the pain and ridicule of school” (Field, 2005). This type of education also allows the parents more flexibility when it comes to the curriculum and how long you spend on one subject over another and allows for more control over what the child is being exposed to. Ultimately the decision of whether or not to homeschool their child or children is up to the parents.

According to FamilyEducation.com, there are many pros to homeschooling. Among those are

Freedoms (Education, Physical, Emotional and Religious)

Educational

Homeschooling gives students the chance to learn what they want at a pace that works for them. The aren't normally forced to have to know certain things by a certain age.

Physical

Homeschooling also allows for families to work by a schedule that they set themselves.

Emotional

The issues of peer pressure and bullies are eliminated. Students aren't forced to feel that they have to fit in by dressing or acting a certain way and self esteem issues are lessened. Families can also selectively socialize their children.

Religious

In some families, religion is very important. Homeschooling allows them to bring up their children in their faith, and incorporate their religious practices into their daily lives.

Other pros of homeschooling are that:

       A) Families bonds are stronger, because they spend more time together.
       B) Students are more rested.
       C) More can be accomplished because they are more focused.

[edit] Why people oppose homeschooling.

Unrealistic expectations of results

Top Reasons Why Not to Homeschool:

1. Children are being deprived of important social experiences While homeschooling, properly done, can be rewarding to the child and enriching in many ways, some parents feel that the specific experiences of a mass school system are important. The shared reference frame and people met through the system can prove valuable later on. When homeschooling, it is important to remember that children need well rounded experiences and outside activities, clubs, groups and supplementary classes should be considered as part of a child's education. It should be noted that this objection plays on a typical stereotype with regard to homeschooling. While it is possible to socially isolate a child, this is the exception in homeschooling rather than the rule and requires an actual conscious decision on the part of the parent. For most families, daily life provides a wealth of opportunities to socialize.

2. Children are isolated from other social/ethnic groups This is a variation on the previous objection. Since schools are often (but not always) integrated, it is often seen as more diverse than a typical community. The counter argument to this is that, while families themselves are usually not diverse, homeschooling support communities typically are highly diverse - pulling members from a wide variety of backgrounds, races, nationalities and so on. Contrasted to that is the atmosphere WITHIN a school which often increases racial tension and attitudes conducive to prejudice.

3. Children are denied the full range of curriculum experiences and materials This objection stems from the belief that a typical school curriculum contains a complete set of subjects and topics within subjects necessary for a "complete" education. This objection has been countered by a wide variety of curriculums, homeschooling methods, support and specialized products designed to "round out" a homeschooled education. Many people have noted that the typical public school has dropped large sections of its traditional curriculum to focus on testing requirements caused by new "No Child Left Behind" type legislation forcing classes to focus on reading and math, sometimes to the exclusion of all else. Others point out that children, being unique individuals with unique goals and requirements benefit more from an individualized learning plan than a traditional curriculum can provide.

4. A burden is created for the school administrators. The reasoning behind this is that school administrators in some - but not all - states are required to keep track of homeschooled children. This accountability sometimes extends to the requirement that they monitor curriculum, test scores or other details of a homeschooled child's education. Opponents argue that none of this has been shown to be a benefit to the children and states should drop the requirement by the administration to monitor children for which they have no other responsibilities.

5. Homeschooling does not provide effective assessment of academic standing. The argument is that without the report cards, test results and other records usually generated by public schools, homeschooled children will be at a disadvantage when attempting to pursue further education at a college level. However, the majority of homeschoolers take the ACT or SAT and go on to college. In fact most homeschoolers score higher on the ACT & SAT then public school students do. Because of this, homeschoolers are sought out by most top and state colleges.

6. Many times children are taught by adults not certified in education. This argument is based on the idea that a child is best trained by someone who has training and specialized knowledge on providing an education. This is often countered by parents who note that the vast majority of what is learned in getting certified for education is actually techniques for maintaining discipline in large classrooms - none of which is necessary in homeschooling. Offsetting any minor advantage in modern teaching techniques are the advantages of curriculae tailored to the child, a greater degree of one on one training, the extra motivation of providing for one's own child instead of a large group of strangers, a wealth of knowledge of the child being taught that no public school teacher will have and a growing amount of resources a parent can go to for anything she feels uncomfortable teaching.

7. The whole approach is isolationist in nature. This is another objection based on a preconceived notion of homeschoolers who do so specifically to "drop out" of the community. The objection here is not that you, as a homeschooler, will suddenly turn into a hillbilly survivalist living in a bomb shelter to keep the "evil world" away from yourself and your children. The objection is that parents who want to isolate their chidren can do so by homeschooling. Of course almost no homeschoolers actually choose to do so, but for the few who do, the argument is that as the children's parents, they DO have the right to protect their children and provide for them as they see fit. Given this, even the few highly isolated homeschooling children that turn up have been found to be STILL well educated and quickly adjust to society in general.

Many parents expect that once they start to homeschool their children that the “results to be as high as their level of sacrifice” (Homeschooling and Homeschool, 2007). When parents have these unrealistic expectations it can, and often does, put even more pressure on the child to perform at the level that their parents expect. If the child fails to perform at this level they oftentimes will feel as if they have let their parents down. It is unfair of the parents to put this type of pressure on children who are often very young. Parents should realize that whether or not they homeschool their child that he or she may not be capable of living up to their parents expectations for them. For some parents just being able to “prove that the arguments against homeschooling were either wrong or worth the sacrifices” is the main thing that they are after (Homeschooling and Homeschool, 2007).

....As a homeschool mom, I've never considered the sacrifice relative to achievement. It's been my experience that homeschoolers have higher expectations of character development and have more lenient expectations on the timing of academic development. We have age ranges for talking, crawling, walking, weight gain, growth, and loosing teeth. But, why say every kid has to read a set number of words in a set number of seconds at exactly 5.4 years of age. Homeschooling relieves a child of this forced expectation and the lack of confidence that comes when compared with other children of the same age.

Also, no parent gives birth to their beautiful bundle of joy, experiences the most overwhelming love ever known, and then considers proving others wrong to be more important than who that child becomes. Whoever wrote this and their opinions...well, they just aren't as important to homeschoolers as they believe. Homeschoolers really don't have the time to worry about proving others wrong..we're too busy socializing !!

The limits of a parent teaching

"What if one of the child's strongest subjects is one of the parent's weakest subjects, how will the child be able to achieve his or her full potential if the teacher (in this case the parent) has difficulty explaining the subject matter?" This is one of the main arguments for people who are against homeschooling - that there are limits to what a parent can teach a child. This argument suggests that a teacher is simply better capable than a parent to pass knowledge along to a child. Counter arguments to this include the following:

While a parent may be weak in a particular subject, he STILL likely will be able to teach it at a grade school level. Very few people are so weak in a subject that they couldn't explain the basics on a fourth grade level. Later on, other resources can be explored.
Teachers also have strong and weak subjects. Teachers are human just as much as parents. Having a teaching certificate means that human knows methods of passing information to large groups of children in a uniform manner. it does NOT mean that the teacher is now guaranteed to know all - or even some of the subjects better than anyone else.
Parents have a wide variety of resources - including other parents and even professional tutors in extreme cases - to assist in teaching subjects. Books, videos, software, websites, games, multimedia curriculae and even professional guidance dedicated to ensuring that no matter what a parent's skills are, he can still teach his children have all grown in abundance and popularity as the homeschool movement has matured.
The process of teaching a subject benefits the teacher as much as the child. In some cases, a parent who was weak in a subject as a child will find that, from a more mature viewpoint and with added experience, the "weak" subject was not so hard after all.
Several methods of homeschooling do not require a great deal of expertise in any one area. One example is unschooling, which emphasizes child directed learning, exploration and self discovery. In unschooling, a parent's role is more that of a facilitator than educator. Other examples include the Robinson homeschool method (which involves learning mostly through literature with the parent's role being mostly one of keeping the child focused and maintain discipline) and internet based curriculae where a company provides the majority of the actual instruction up to and including forums where the child can ask questions and obtain answers.

The lack of socialization

One of the major parts of school is the socialization. Children from a very early age are exposed to different ethnic and social groups in public schools that will help them be able to relate and socialize with many different types of people throughout the rest of their lives but with homeschooling children are exposed to a very few number of people if any that are outside of their own family. Many parents say that homeschooling allows them to “practice selective socialization, apart from the pain and ridicule of school” (Field, 2005). This ‘selective socialization’ may hinder the child later on in life because he or she may not have the social skills that will enable them to know how to interact with different personalities. Some parents choose to participate in support groups which can “begin with two or more friends discussing their experiences and concerns, or they may be planned and coordinated from the very first meeting, with the groundwork laid out carefully beforehand and fifty or sixty people attending” (Field, 2005). While these groups are better than sheltering children from the whole outside world they still only expose the children to a very limited amount of people. By homeschooling their children in such a way the parents may be doing hurting their child's chance of being able to relate to many different people throughout their lifetime.

....This really needs to be thought out a little more. A typical child coming out of the public school system has spent his/her entire life with 30+ children of the same age, competing as individuals for achievements. Then enters the "real world" where they interact with varying ages and authorities usually needing to work as a team. Once graduated from high school, you will never again be in the same social dynamics as you were. The only thing that makes school reality is that it's required for everyone. In no way, does school resemble the real world. At least, I've never met a person that considered high school to e the real world. Homeschoolers spend their entire lives in the real world, dealing with all the different social dynamics of life. Does on really believe that a mother living in the real world, leaves her children home while she goes about her life in the real world. That would be child abuse, wouldn't it?

[edit] Bringing it all together

The parents of homeschooled children only have their best interests at heart. There is no lack of socialization with other children. People must understand that ultimately it is up to the parents how their children will be educated and no one should judge that decision because they may not know what the exact situation is or what was taken into consideration. There are tremendous benefits to homeschooling and everyone needs to understand that homeschooling is a viable educational choice.

[edit] Multiple Choice Questions

1) What is it called when a parent exposes their homeschooled child or children to a select group of people?

A. Support groups

B. Selective socialization

C. Homeschooling

D. Sheltering

2) Parents justify homeschooling their children with all of the following except.

A. Drug problems in schools

B. Lack of individual attention

C. Classroom sizes

D. None of the above

3) This may be a limit of the homeschooling teacher or parent.

A. Own knowledge on a subject

B. A teaching degree

C. A teachers guide

D. All of the above

4) Children who are homeschooled enjoy?

A. Sports teams

B. Socializing

C. Exposure to different opinions

D. All of the above

5) The unrealistic expectation on the parent may do ______ what to the child.

A. Make them feel comfortable

B. Make them feel more pressure

C. Excite them

D. None of the above

Answers

1) B

2) D

3) A

4) D

5) B

[edit] Essay Question

Many parents today feel that homeschooling their children with help to protect them from unnessecary ridicule and help them get ahead in life, do you agree with this? Why or why not.

[edit] Essay Response Example

Many people think that sheltering their children will help them in the long run but unfortunately it will only hinder them in life. There have always been bullies in schools and in the neighborhoods and when parents seperated their children from the others it has only enhanced their childs problem of being picked on. Every child has had to go through it at one point or another and it only makes them stronger and helps to teach them how to handle situations that aren’t always favorable to them. Parents should understand that by not allowing their children to be exposed to other people they are only hurting their child in the long run. Children need to know how to deal with other people their own age and people from different backgrounds. If a child has only been exposed to a single view point they may have difficulty understanding how people can think differently from them or why things are different from how they thought that they were. By not allowing their children to go through experiences that most children go through they are hindering their childs development and limiting what their child may be able to accomplish in their life.

Homeschooling is not sheltering your child. Homeschooling is making the BEST EDUCATIONA CHOICE FOR YOUR CHILD. Homeschoolers interact with a wide variety of people in their neighborhood, on recreational sports teams and through various other organizations.

RESPONSE ESSAY BY ROSE FIGLIOLA

I personally am not inclined to home schooling, although I don't have a problem with people doing it. Yes, it is true that keeping them at home might protect them from unnecessary ridicule but I think that it is somewhat a thing that all children go through in life. There is a point where it becomes extreme, but I can say, as I’m sure a lot of people can, that I’ve been picked on or ridiculed in my life, but I turned out just fine. I don't really agree that by home schooling a child they will get further in life. I think that for some parents, home schooling is a way for them to keep their children sheltered from all the "bad" things in life. But by doing this they are taking their children away from important peer interaction that can help them later in life with future jobs and personal relationships. I do believe that when children are home schooled there are ways that their parents could still give them the important interaction with peers. I have heard of people getting together and doing group projects with other families that home school. There are also opportunities for high school home schoolers to go to a home school prom and graduation. I agree that home schooling might be the best route for some children, but overall I think that public education is the way to go!

Editing By Victoria Polite

Deciding if it is best to homeschool a child can bring up a lot of questions. Many people are concerned with the effect homeschooling can have on the development of a child’s social skills. Children need to learn cooperation/ collaboration skills, how to hold conversations with peers, and how to interact with other students. These skills can be hard to pick up when a child is not in an environment with their peers. When children are allowed to be in public and private school systems they naturally pick up the social skills.

Studies have been done that show homeschooled children are better socialized then their public school peers.http://learninfreedom.org/socialization.html

It has been shown that, “Homeschooled students were more likely than public or private schooled students to be living in families with three or more children” (http://nces.ed.gov). Although homeschooled students will have social interaction with siblings, it is not the same as having social interactions other students. Children need to be introduced to peers of different backgrounds, socioeconomic statuses, and cultures in order to naturally learn tolerance. In public and private school systems students are blended together in classes where they learn and play together, which helps students develop a policy of open-mindedness. This is harder for a homeschooled student to achieve because they have fewer chances to interact with a diverse population (http://www.ecs.org).

Homeschoolers come from divers socioeconomic statuses and cultures. Homeschoolers have plenty of opportunities to meet others from different backgrounds in their homeschool groups, and in their interactions with others who live in their community.

Being surrounded by other students also builds collaboration skills. In public and private schools students share and are allowed to do group or partner work on some assignments. A homeschooled student does not have this opportunity because there is nobody of the same grade level to work with and group work would be impossible in such a small setting. Cooperation is an important life lesson.

On the contrary homeschoolers often work with others on special projects. People should stop making false assumptions about homeschoolers.

Homeschooling a student can be harmful to their social development. With stunted social skills students may grow up to have difficulty in the work place and also have difficulty connecting with their peers. Learning how to collaborate, hold conversation, and interact with peers are not skills that can be read from a book. This skills can only be learned to experiencing them first hand.

It's already been shown that homeschoolers do very well in the work place because of a well taught work ethic at home. Children in a homeschool family have to learn cooperation and team work. It's a survival skill for the family. Let's face it...if you can learn to love and get along well with your siblings...you can get along well with anyone !!

RESPONSE ESSAY BY ANN KERCHNER

While making unfounded assumptions about harm to the social development of homeschoolers, it seems those who are against homeschooling are not willing to address the social harm people like me have already received from public education. I am NOT stronger for being picked on or bullied, but instead am scarred. There are MANY who have gone through our public school systems and who ended up with "stunted social skills", "difficulty in the work place" and "difficulty connecting with their peers." I have yet to meet any homeschoolers like that. My public school education 20 years ago did not prepare me and many of my "peers" socially for entering the real world and from what I've seen it hasn't got better. It's wrong to assume that public education is the only place for social and communication skills to be successfully learned. Maybe if I had been homeschooled I would have enjoyed learning instead of dreading school. Maybe I would have continued on to college instead of being turned off to school altogether. Maybe if I had been homeschooled I wouldn't dread socializing today.