I want to first state that it is not my place to tell you what to do with your children. I simply write my ideas, theories, and opinions and have people comment on them in order to gain more insight to what people think of them. This article is not intended to offend those who home school, but rather challenge and identity the reasons why people are inclined to home school their children.
First and foremost, I am not someone who dislikes home schooling. In many aspects a home schooled education can far succeed a public or private school education. Parents that have the time, energy, and will to home school I commend you for you efforts. However, like every system I see flaws that I have to question.
As someone who went to a public school, my education was not only in academics, but also in interactions with others. I personally attended an inner city school with a large amount of diversity. I was able to interact with students that shared cultures from all of the world and who shaped and challenged my belief system. The public school was designed to not only educate in class, but outside of class as well. This remains a critical aspect to the school system and is crucial to a child’s education.
Home school students are often given opportunities in this social education, however it is difficult to replicate the diversity and environment of a school through home schooling. Of course, there are extra curricular activities that home school children can participate in, but this is a controlled environment in which all the students within the group share a common interest. This is great in terms of making friends and interacting with others, but offers limited diversity and doesn’t allow students to interact with others that have different likes and ideals.
Another potential flaw is the amount of time spent with parents. This sounds as if I don’t want parents to have control of their children, which I think they should have control of them, but I fear that with too much time spent with parents, children are often indoctrinated to their parents ideals. This of course, is dependent on the parents. However in an environment of over protective parents, children are often more likely to be at a disadvantage because they haven’t had the time to see other people’s views and perspectives. Public school challenges the perspectives and ideals of children in order for them to see the diversity of opinions and demonstrate the perspectives of others. It is with this that I often fear for children who are home schooled by parents who are over protective. The parents don’t give their child freedom to explore, and instead force ideas and only their perspective on their child. Of course, some people argue that public schools indoctrinate students with government agenda (which I don’t believe is true, but we all are entitled to our opinions).
There is no perfect solution to where to teach your child. Whether in a home school or public or private school environment, each has positives and negatives. Of the people I have recently polled, a majority admitted that home schoolers are often richer in academics but lack the social aspect in which public schoolers often thrive in. However, this is solely a small poll of ten people. I personally will put my children through public school as a way to encourage diversity and allow them to socialize in a school setting (which I often think is a microcosm of the world or community you live in).
However, those that told me that public school often are behind home schooling in academics, is why I have such a strong passion to improve and be involved in curriculum and the educational system. Since public education is accessible to all children, we must take a step forward in improving academics and catering to the future, instead of reprimanding American public education.
In order to grasp your take as to why you choose where you have your child please post a comment!
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- Four reasons pastors shouldn’t home school. (davidwalker1.wordpress.com)
- Homeschooling Special Needs – Stress or Success? (kidzedge.com)
- Ways To Make Homeschooling Easier For The Family (eaglediving59.wordpress.com)
Interesting thoughts. I was just reading an article about “blended learning” and it occurs to me there are parallels–i.e. taking advantage of intimate, private study to acquire new information and then doing something with that information in a social context.
Also, you mentioned that students who are home schooled might become indoctrinated by their parents. Spending too much time with parents also risks becoming at best satiated with them and, at worst, alienated. One can get too much of even a good and well intended thing.
These are good thoughts pertaining to diversity of cultures as well as opinions, however, in some cases, there are lots of other reasons why families choose to home school. In my case, I will be doing it because of the area in which we live (rural), and the proximity to out of zone schools, as well as lack of leadership and support from school administration and my son being constantly bullied. It works for some, not for others. I believe you can raise a well rounded child, being schooled at home, and not have them be naive about the rest of the world…
I agree that homeschooling has it’s drawbacks, but I’ve always wondered about tweaking it to solve the social issue. What if instead of just homeschooling your kid, a group home schooling method was used? Let’s say you are in an area where you have 10 families on your block…how about each mother and/or father teaches the kids of those 10 families for a half a day a week? There would be the social interaction and yet it would still be considered home schooling. And there wouldn’t necessarily be the all kids sharing common interest issue since it’s chosen by location alone. I don’t want to sound like too much of a proponent of this because I’m unsure myself…I’m just curious to hear your opinion. Thanks in advance.
i honestly never thought of anything like that. it is an interesting idea and for sure something that i could see as something to counter public education and the traditional homeschool. i’m not sure how it would work outside of theory, but i believe it has the potential to be something. the downfall would be the need for parents to have time to teach that group of children (which not every parent has). however, this could certainly work and is a very innovative idea. thanks for the comment!
That’s funny – it’s a great idea, and the logical progression of it would create a public school system! I think the biggest, most challenging problem of public schools is that the system is larger than we can deal with; it’s not too hard to come to consensus about neighbourhood mores (well, it is hard, but it’s doable) – but to come up with an agreed upon set of rules/norms for, say, a nation is really hard. The more people involved in the system, the more people will feel alienated by it. It’s a question of scale.
Maybe real neighbourhoods are the answer?
That would be one step in the right direction imo. I think the schools that do the best are the ones where neighborhood parents take an active role in their kids education. And the ones that do the worst have combative neighborhoods (the parents that say school isn’t important or schools in areas of high crime.) And on a side note, I don’t think money matters as much as people think – where I went to school was pretty good with a solid AP program and the majority of our district was lower middle class.
A few thoughts from a homeschooling mom–As far as socialization, one thing most homeschooling families believe is that homeschooled children are “socialized” just not with a bunch of kids their age. My children interact with adults, cousins of various ages, church groups, etc. I see two basic flaws in your reasoning–one that kids have to socialize with kids their own age to benefit. I personally believe that a variety of ages (especially older) provide a much better social scene. Two–that public school will automatically mean diversity. I understand that your school was diverse, but my school was all white, all low-to-middle class, all suburbanites. I didn’t personally encounter someone of color at school until I was 15, but I did encounter all races at the church I attended, the grocery store, in books, when we went to the city for special events and through tv from a very young age.
I very much agree that interacting with many ages is very much as important as interacting with peers. If we were to read only the latest books to come out then we would miss a great deal of references made by our elders. Social mutation would accelerate exceedingly. Equally we need the exposure of many more years of understanding and experience than our peers can offer. One could argue that teachers provide enough age diversity; I hardly think they could substitute the value of learning from store owners, plumbers, policemen, ranchers, artists, and every other walk of life to which we are exposed to in life.
Also, anyone who thinks that kids will automatically lock-step with parental beliefs has never had…or been a teenager.
I myself was homeschooled as a child, and I think it provided me with an amazing education and a life-long appetite for learning. I do, however, think it limited my social skills a great deal as a young person. I had good friends while I homeschooled, but I didn’t have the vast and varied social interaction that many kids did. Also, I was not around very many young boys, causing me to be fairly shy as a child and not know how to react when boys flirted/joked with me. I went into public school in 6th grade and eventually assimilated very well, but it was difficult at times. Overall, I think that homeschooling can be a fantastic opportunity to give children a unique and wonderful education – but it may come at a cost socially.
Home-schooling is not easy, especially, if the parent really understands the challenge at hand. Usually parents who homeschool use a set curriculum offered online or through an institution that supports homeschooling. Parents who chose homeschooling seem be concerned with environments in the public school, whether the environment lacks something or has something they do not like. I met quite a few homeschooled kids. Two of the most interesting were brothers from a family with 9 children, and all 9 of them were homeschooled. They all used an online curriculum based out of California. To get social interaction, the curriculum required that they learn an instrument and join a musical group of some sort. The younger brother was in his junior year of high school, and he learned the bagpipe. He seemed to be very happy with his bagpipe band that was composed of adults. I think he was the only kid. Neither of the two brothers seemed socially awkward, however, the bagpiper seemed extremely mature for his age. Because his social interaction were with adults, maybe??
From what I read, parents who chose homeschooling say they are unschooling, a term coined by John Holt. I feel very nervous for their kids, because John Holt was a teacher for 15 years and a visiting lecturer at Harvard and Berkeley. To unschool the way Holt intended is not easy.
If I still had children at home, I would homeschool When my children were growing up, I thought it was important for them to learn to get along with all kinds of people as well as to learn academic disciplines. I also thought it was important for them to learn how we live Christian in a very non-Christian world. I did not want them to think everyone was the same. However, public schools now believe that it is their mission to unteach all the values and standards parents teach. Public schools encourage children to believe that the school knows better than their parents, that maybe their parents are ignorant or behind the times in attitudes about morals and ethics. Public schools have no respect for patriotism or for religious teaching. Public schools don’t teach how to think in a world of diversity; Instead they belittle diverse values other than the one the school values.
I would homeschool but I would make sure I was part of a large community of homeschooling families so my children would actually learn social skills and develop understanding and respect for people of all ways of life. Most of all, I would teach my children to know the difference between truth and fact.
I tried to do all these things while allowing them to attend public schools, and it worked more or less. The pressures from schools to conform are much stronger now than they were when my children were small.
obviously since i am a college student, i am unaware of how your children were taught when they were in public school. however, as someone who just went through 12 years as public school, i slightly disagree. it is a goal (or at least my goal as a future educator) to not let a child see one view point, but to see many others. i (as well as many teachers i have worked with…social studies teachers) have a passion to instill a desire to seek other perspectives and to see what perspective they agree with. in sense, this can take away some of what parents teach their children, however teachers with my philosophy don’t force your child to think one way, but to have them think outside of their comfort zone or outside of what they are used to. in order to better understand others and themselves, they must be able to understand perspective. in a government class, i might ask a student that is dead set on a democratic candidate to do a report to see WHY they like that candidate and what makes them different from their opposition. by doing this i am not forcing a student to vote for someone, but for them to validate their opinion and possibly do further research into a candidate they had opposed (to understand why they opposed him/her or why they might have change their mind on how they would/will vote). i understand the fear of manipulation and indoctrination, but quite frankly childrens’ (and adults’) views are manipulated by anyone they come in contact with (who they speak with, live with, are taught by, participating in certain activities). so all in all, i would say that as someone wanting to go into teaching, i don’t want to take away the rights of parents on their children, rather i want my students to think critically about the world they live in and understand other perspectives. if in doing this they change their opinions against their parents, it is not by force but by intellectual growth and (in my opinion) a sign of maturity. i hope this addresses your question and pardon any errors…it’s quite late here in Vienna!
What a great reply! You have a good attitude, the attitude a teacher should have. You speak like a real teacher. I had a few fabulous teachers myself, and so did my children.
You are expressing the teacher attitude I expected my children to encounter when they went to public school, and for the most part, that is the attitude they did encounter. However, in public schools today, children are taught to experiment with sex, even to experiment with sexual orientation. Children are forbidden to use common language such as the words “Merry Christmas” because somebody might take offense. Children are taught that global warming and evolution are proven scientific facts when they are actually unproven theories with significant gaps in the documentation, observation and experiments that would be necessary to prove them the way we can prove gravity or evaporation. To teach such things is indoctrination, not education. Maybe you have no intention of allowing these and other items on the socialist agenda to be taught in your classroom. I hope you can take such a stand and successfully defend it.
You mention taking children out of their comfort zone. I really hate that terminology. It is used to justify a lot of curriculum which, in my opinion, is deliberately abrasive and destructive of the values children are taught at home. The homosexual sex education is a fine example of that. To talk about such things truly is outside the comfort zone of most children, and it ought to be. Maybe what you mean is that children need to learn that the world is bigger than they imagine. That is fine. Maybe you believe they should be taught to respect people who do not share their values. Absolutely they should. I just hope you don’t believe that children should explore aberrant and destructive ideas simply because somebody had such ideas.
I am very glad it was different when my children were in school. If I had children of elementary school age today, I would homeschool them.
In America, home schooling preceded public schools; which is better? It depends, seems to me. The average large city schools are pretty bad in the U.S. They’ve been ‘dumbing down’ for a long time; Common Core’ seems to continue that.
Home schooled kids regularly ace competitions. But some top kids come from public schools too and we have no idea what an ‘average’ home-schooled kid looks like.
I suggest that this is irrelevant: The problem is the inadequacy of the education provided the average student in the average public school. If that’s the problem, then that should be the focus. Otherwise, we’re just talking about putting new buttons onto an old suit, or so it seems to me…
Jack Curtis, “I suggest that this is irrelevant: The problem is the inadequacy of the education provided the average student in the average public school. If that’s the problem, then that should be the focus.”
Jack has it right. Public Schools today are not meeting the needs of the public. 75 percent are not preparing students for college or a career. 75%, is a staggering number. Our country needs to successfully compete in the world and our people need the tools (education) to be successful. We need public school reform. It is not happening and the reason it is not happening is teachers unions and bloated administrative bureaucracies. The unions contribute hundreds of millions to the political process in order to maintain their power, influence and control. Politicians are captured by this money. They recognize the need for reform but do not want to get off the gravy-train. Thus we get lip-service and half-measures, some good, some bad and all on a level that will not change the status quo. Meanwhile the unions and bloated school administrations fight reform at every turn.
This is why alternatives to public education are taking root. Home schooling is good if parents have the time and capability. My personal observations, albeit on a very limited scale, is the older siblings eventually take on the burden of teaching the younger children at the expense of their own advanced studies. Private schools are obviously the best alternative from almost all aspects save cost and transportation. Online education continues to make rapid advances and in my view offers great value as a supplement to poor and failing public schools.
I found this post very interesting. Seldom do we get any real feedback on what people think about homeschooling and what their issues are. I also appreciate how you handled the issue. Being home schooled myself I don’t find the lack of social interaction much of a problem. But it is hard for people to see how that is possible unless they have experienced it, and they are afraid to chance it. I have seen home schooled kids who are awkward and shy around people, but since there are many others who are quite the opposite I don’t see that as a very good indicator. In my interactions with publicly educated kids I have seen both shy and outgoing. I think it depends on the child as well as what kind of home the child lives in.
Another point which grabbed my attention was your concern about the child’s exposure to indoctrination of the parents. I understand that over protecting the child will have adverse affects. My concern is that since public schools are constantly trying to be up to date with the world a child may be underexposed to some of the more wholesome values that seem to have been left behind with the older generations.
Great post. I agree that the decision to have one’s children education through public or private schools or at home should be left to the parents. I have two questions for those who choose to homeschool their kids, however, because I am legitimately curious.
1. Is there a point in the child’s life in which he or she is asked whether they would like to go to a public school? Say around the age of 14 or 15? What sort of answers would the children give, and how would the parents react?
2. A point was made that children do not have to have all of their social groups and friends derived from people their age. That is very true and a good point. However, we need to point out that those social groups are imposed upon the children by their parents. The children’s groups are the parents groups. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but going to school with a larger group of people in a public setting allows students the chance to create their own social groups and networks of friends, which is important. Are there opportunities for homeschool students to explore the world on their own terms while they are growing up?
Interesting post, Chris. A couple of thoughts. First, about homeschooled kids spending too much time with their parents: that was actually the norm in generations past. Think of farming communities, for example, where kids worked alongside their parents and siblings and possibly hired adults. Or a boy might be apprenticed in his father’s shop. No one would have thought to question how much time was being spent with parents. It’s only because we are so used to kids spending most of their day away from their parents that we think there can be “too much” time with them.
Second, the socialization problem is really non-existent. Most homeschoolers belong to some kind of homeschool group or co-op. Some have co-op classes. In ours, we have a musical play or variety show each spring, where we practice together a few hours each week. We also do park and rec sports. We are blessed to have another homeschool family with kids of similar ages to ours right next door!
We are Catholic, but most of our homeschool friends are Protestant, so there is some diversity right there. And if they weren’t homeschooled, my kids would be in Catholic school, not public, so the diversity would be limited again. Plus, we live in a small city where there is very little racial diversity. In fact, I only know of 2 African-American kids in town and they are both homeschooled.
Obviously I like the idea of home schooling as I write a blog on the subject (schoome) and we homeschooled our boys back in the 1990s.
It’s a very big subject so let’s just choose one point…”Too much Time with Parents”. I think that you will find that this problem will solve itself. If the child has ‘helicopter parents’ the child will reject the idea of HS very quickly and ask to go back to school. A good HS environment has the parents in the background quietly providing the means and opportunities and not hovering over the child. HS parents are facilitators not teachers. Children teach themselves….. even in school, teachers just think that they do the teaching.
It’s always good to remember that children who attend school are broken into 3 groups (it has always been this way right up to the modern era) one third thrive, one third scrape by and one third fail. If you are in the top third it is probably hard to see what all the fuss is about, but for two out of every three children school is not a positive experience and that proportion is way too high.
I’m impressed that you are interested in this stuff as I’m guessing that you you come from that top third.
Terry
No doubt there are some disadvantages to homeschooling, particularly when it comes to social development. Most of us know someone who is home schooled who seems to be way behind their peers in this area. However, the astonishing academic difference. In spite of billions of dollars being spent by our government on myriad programs and policies and professional development, they are trumped by the average mother teaching their children at home.
As a teacher myself, I can tell you that it is not the fault of the teachers who work diligently to do a good job. The fault lies with a system that caters to mediocrity and with parents who simply do not care.
i agree that parents need to have an influence in their child’s education in order for the child to succeed, but do you feel that curriculum is a possible reason why public school students aren’t provided a ‘good’ education? i’m really interested in curriculum development and can’t help but feel that the curriculum in place restricts the teacher from actually teaching. i’m actually working on a post right now to post in the next couple of days about letting teachers teach. whatcha think? also thanks for your comment!
I think that the diversity of what a homeschooled child is exposed to is directly related to the diversity their parents are comfortable with. But I think that is true of public schooled kids as well. If the parents aren’t willing to expose the kids, or back up the teacher when they present contrary ideals, then the kid isn’t going to get it. You can have close minded public schoolers, homeschoolers, private schoolers.
Among the homeschoolers I know, no one sits at home not interacting with the outside. We are out, at parks, in classes and camps, with other families who might only have homeschooling in common with us. My daughter converses with everyone, regardless of age, she is equally good with younger kids and older kids. Funny thing is, any social awkwardness I see in her is nearly an exact mirror of me at that age, and I went to public school. It didn’t help me to be less socially awkward, or to feel like I had been included, in fact the exact opposite – I felt forced to deal with a group of people I had little to nothing in common with. My daughter feels the same when confronted with a large group of people she doesn’t know. So, I would say that social or not, open minded or not, chances are it has more to do with the parents and what they are like or doing at home than it does with what the school situation is. Now, this is all said having homeschooled my daughter to 2nd grade, LOL and with her and now a baby, we will see how this changes over the course of time. Good teachers, regardless of whether they are in school or parents, challenge their kids. Ask them to think outside the box, away from their comfort zone. There are, of course, inadequate teachers in both realms, I think.
Well put.
Have you ever consider the history of public education? Up until the American Civil War, there were no state schools. Everyone went a private school if they can afford it, a church run school if they could not, or went to work with their parents or friends as an apprentice. And that is just in the USA. If you go look at Europe, you will many institutions were also originally private or religious. It is the American progressive movement that pushed for public schools and by extension public indoctrination. The argument for indoctrination also works in public schools too.
For example, the LBGT community is pushing for sex education and acceptance of their lifestyle for public elementary school children. Wiccans and the New Age movement – mystics without a single academic value or credentials – are also being pushed. Children at that age are certainly not able to process such materials. And yet many educators are blind or complicit.
Parents who strongly disagree with such things ought also be able to complain without being labeled as judgmental or narrow minded. The school cannot teach morality; only the parents can. There are limits to “tolerance”. There are limits to “diversity.” You can learn ABOUT such things without the level of exposure. You can talk ABOUT them but you have to do it at an age appropriate level. This is what is happening to the public education system – no values, no standards, all in the name of “freedom of speech.” That’s indoctrination too.
Home schooling works for parents who work overseas, especially in different languages and culture. I’ve met plenty of missionaries who home-school their children because it was easier than sending them to the local school where they don’t speak Khmer. In this, it is a matter of practicality.
Obviously, everyone is coming from different backgrounds and values based on the diversity of the comments.
I love your blog and the discussions on it! Congratulations!
I was homeschooled because I was bored to death in all the enviornments that my parents could provide for me, so they homeschooled my siblings, and I recieved an “unschooled” education. For a long time I allowed adults and others to bully me into thinking I had a second rate education; then I entered the teaching field!
I thank my parents every day now for the oppertunities they gave me, and the culture of “thinking outside of the box” I was allowd to grow in.
Not one method will work for every family or child, having choices is the best solution.
Again, I love you blog! I consider you a mentor!
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I referenced the comments you made here .
http://satisfiedmom.wordpress.com/2013/04/29/well-i-guess-im-a-monster/
Hi Chris, a well thought-out article. I did know a family that home-schooled their 5 children a few years back. The kids ended up with a well-rounded education because they joined a home-schooling group that had the children involved in sporting activities and other social activities on a regular basis. I think joining this type of group would make up for the lack of socialization home-schooled children experience. I know it worked for them.
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I have posted your comment (apologies for the delay!) and responded in more length
http://satisfiedmom.wordpress.com/2013/05/04/homeschool-challenging-your-perspective/
Good article. We’ve recently begun homeschooling our five-year-old, and I’m starting to think that concerns about “socialization” are overblown. We know plenty of other families who homeschool, and she spends time with their children (her age and others) a few times a week. She also has ballet class, art class, gymnastics and other activities that require her to work alongside other children her age. I think back to my days in school, and even in a class of 30-40, kids tended to socialize with smaller groups of 3-5. So we aren’t really concerned about this.
Reblogged this on Pagan at Heart and commented:
As a follow-up to my previous post on education, read this article and then the comments. The comments were wonderful! Rarely have I seen so many people engage in meaningful conversation like this, without descending into throwing mud and being nasty. I think the readers really did a great job responding to the author’s thoughts and questions.