Analysis of Home Schooling

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Today there are new options for a child to get education. Gone were the days that all children are taught in a four-walled classroom. As years go by, new realizations and discoveries crop up with regards to the dissemination of knowledge. Educational techniques, methods, and strategies have been discovered after experimentations, observations, and studies made by professionals in this field.

With the advanced curriculum, new inventions and innovations to education, there is a need for an alternate way to get these across to children. In addition, the society today has evolved into producing some hindrances for a normal education; hence, parents are afraid to send their kids to a normal school. However, there are still advantages to normal schooling, meaning getting instruction for a classroom.

Home schooling ideas came at a time when the need for reforms and alternatives rose to cater to children who cannot attend a regular school for some reason. Related to distance learning, home schooling has proved to be effective for some and detrimental for knowledge acquisition for some kids. As methodologies are used for this new kind of learning, special skills for home teachers – parents – are needed to fulfil the role of the absent teacher. Home schooling is the new trend in education that is known to be beneficial to students.

Home schooling can categorically be the same as distance learning where both processes of acquiring knowledge entails the student to be situated in their homes, not in a school setting or classroom. In distance learning per se, students may be based in a library, outside the home, or any other places aside from the school or classroom. Otherwise known as home education or home learning, this system is defined as the education of children in the home by parents. History tells us that before the law on compulsory school attendance was mandated, the majority of early education happened within the family. Those who can afford to send their kids to a special school or hire private tutors or governesses experience how other people are teaching it. However, as years progressed up to the present most of the children are sent to school and get a formal education in either a public school or private educational institutions.

In developed and developing countries, home schooling is now an option for parents who do not want to send their children to school but would want them to be educated using a different way away from schools. Parents have their own personal reasons for deciding such. It could be dissatisfaction with school instructions, avoiding the chances of their kids to be bullied or hurt in school that makes parents lead their kids away from schools.

Another reason for non-attendance in school for some children is the distance of the school from their homes as in the case of some rural and mountainous areas. Correspondence schools, distance learning institutes, or umbrella schools may provide instruction in home schooling. The education board should legally approve a set of curriculum.

As aforementioned in the previous page, parent and guardians decide to educate their children home based style for many reasons rather than those already mentioned.

Parents believe children are better educated at home

For religious reasons, parents do not want to mix their children with different beliefs

Some schools have low standard environment or it is not conducive for learning,

Parents don’t want their children to be exposed to the influential (bad) characters of other people: classmates and teachers

Child has special need or disability thus curtailing or making it difficult for him to move about.

Home Schooling

Aside from those mentioned possible reasons, there are still other reasons that are beyond the control of parents or children like the location of the school and the availability of transportation.

There are a lot of misconceptions around home schooling. First, parents think that they have to be professionals like having a Ph.D. to be able to teach their children in a home school setting. There is really no mandated requirement for parents to have a formal education to be able to assist children in home schooling. However, parents or guardians must show their all-out support and willingness to go through the rigors and challenges of home schooling.

Basically, the social impact of home schooling seems to be used by the government education system to stop kids from leaving school. We all know that monetary budget will be lost to them. However, to give some benefits to the doubt, traditional classroom education still brings home some desired effects for the children. On the other hand, not all kids and parents would want home schooling for some reasons aside from academic. Financial status is a significant element to consider as well.

In the end, it is still the decision of the family, particularly the parents and the school-age child whether home schooling is a better alternative. Communication is still the best tool since parents must not force home schooling to their kids. Once pushed down their throats, children would rebel and not perform well.

Taking time to persuade and talk to children would be necessary. Listening to children’s woes and ideas would show them how much you value their education. Still, getting an education is what this is all about. No matter what kind of instruction and the manner of how it is administered, educational instruction must be present. The important thing is the willingness of the children to learn by means that would benefit them, the family, and the society as a whole.

References

Field, M., & Field, C. M. (2007). Home schooling 101: the essential handbook. Nashville, Tenn: B&H Publishing Group.

Mr. And Mrs. Mark Field are self-professed experts on home schooling after all their four children finished school that way. This book is a compilation of the basic information that parents should learn about home schooling. Furthermore, this book shares personal experiences of the couple in the home schooling system that they are recommending to parents.

Guterson, D. (1992). Family matters: why home schooling makes sense. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Guterson discusses the philosophy of home schooling and schooling rather than “how to home school”. Despite the fall back and shortcomings of home schooling, many Americans are now starting to see the benefits of this system. He provides an insightto the realities of home schooling.

Mur, C. (2003). Home schooling. San Diego, Calif: Greenhaven Press.

http://www.lib.msu.edu/harris23/general/atissue.htm

Home schooling has become the newest trend in instruction. Some critics have found this type of instruction can prove detrimental to the normal education of children. Mur attempts to provide a discussion on the pros and cons of home schooling.

Rivero, L. (2008). The homeschooling option: how to decide when it’s right for your family. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Rivero makes interesting insights into the world of homeschooling by identifying options for families. Homeschooling, according to the author, must be a major decision for families since it is the future of the children that are at stake. Making children help in the decision making for home schooling is essential.

Williams, M. E. (2000). Education: opposing viewpoints. San Diego, Calif: Greenhaven Press.

http://groups.google.ca/group/axylecodgacyregiuludi/web/opposing-viewpoints-on-homeschooling

Williams facilitates a discussion on the issues and concerns with regards the prevalence of home schooling, not only in the US but globally. The writer brings the the realities of home schooling as advantages and disadvantages of this education system are presented. Moreover, Williams identifies some ideas that have made home instruction popular today.