Home School vs Public Education

Mary Kelly COM/155 Home School versus Public Education in Society Are we aware of what social environment your child thrives in daily? Are the teachers who are educating our children, the right person to get the job done? What are the success rates of our children in the coming future? Are there similarities between public school and home school? Do you know the answers to these questions? There are similarities between public education and home schooled children, but let’s face it, there are differences in who will be educating our children, how much school will cost out of our pockets, whether our children will develop healthy relationships with other children their age, and whether or not our children will become successful human beings in society. This essay examines all your concerns as parents with school-aged children, and what education method may be better for your child’s future. To many parents in society, it always has been a worry that socialization may become jeopardized in a home school bound child. Many people believe that public educated children learn about socialization from “the school of hard knocks” in a public setting because they have to learn socialization skills on how to act around other children, and teachers, by a trial and error process. Truth is many teachers just do not have enough time in the day to teach every child the correct way to interact with others socially. The good side of social interaction in public schools is that our children do make close friendships in school, and they usually last outside of the classroom walls. On the other hand, in a homeschool setting, each parent has the ability, and time, to teach their own children the correct way to act properly, socially. As long as the parent takes the time to interact with their child and take them to other social events in the community, with other children and adults, the child has an upper-hand to get the best socialization that a parent could teach them. Is this a real life scenario? A study done in 2003, conducted by the Home School Legal Defense Association, discovered that homeschooled children were either as equally, or involved more, in community activities, voting, and employment, than those educated from a public school. The downside to home schooling your child is that they do not get the constant interaction with children throughout their day, and maybe making it harder for your child to make friends near their home. One question to ask yourself, “Is your home located near other children close to your child’s age?” Public education offers college educated teachers to teach the students, while home school offers the students’ parents to become the educators. For instance, in a public school environment, the teachers are college educated, and very fluent in the area of study that they are teaching their students, so it may be easier to come up with ways to teach the students how to learn and retain the information they are taught. But does every student learn the same? No! Some students need more attention than others, and sometimes one teacher is just not enough for all the students present in their classroom. Whereas, in a homeschool setting, children are given homework and tested by their parents at their discretion of what they may think their child needs to learn more of and test to show they have the knowledge needed on the subject or material. If the parents don’t quite know how to teach all the curriculum materials on each subject, then home schooling your child may not work for you. As long as the student is learning the material, and the parent is not helping the child by giving them the answers, then homeschool is an excellent way for your child to learn. The parent has the full opportunity to teach their child the way they want them to learn, and be proud of them when they succeed in their studies. Success Rates may also vary from both education backgrounds. Boys generally have a higher rate of drop-outs than girls, in every state in the U.S. The National Center for Education Statistics did a study on the classes of 2010, in the United States, and found that 78% percent of students had earned their degree, on time, within the four years they had begun high school. That statistic was an all-time high of the past forty years, however, 1974 was the last year that those graduation rates were actually charted. More importantly, major cities generally have a higher drop-out rate than students from suburb schools. Generally, because of the changes in the economy, students can be seen dropping out to help out their family when times are tough. When the economy gets weak, high school students have a tendency to drop-out of school faster than they might otherwise have done. In 2005, the Education Department started publishing an official estimate of high school graduation rates, and, surprisingly, all 50 states agreed to a standard method of calculating those rates by this year, 2013. Currently there are only 4% of school-aged children home schooled in America. That number may seem quite small to hear, but it has risen up 75%, since 1999, to make that four percent, today. The number of kids, whose parents are not enrolling their children into public schools, is growing seven times faster than students seem to be enrolling in the k-12 school years in public schools, year by year. Although it is harder for non-traditional students, like homeschoolers, to receive scholarships for schools, due to the lack of recognition in their education background, they do, however, enroll and attain their four-year degree at a much higher rate than a public educated student. In conclusion, it does matter where you send your children to become an educated young adult. We need to all consider the positive and negative aspect of the education path we send our children down. There are some questions to ponder when doing so. Think about what environment you want your child to be involved in daily. Decide whether you want to be the educator, or someone from a school. Think about what social environment you think you will see your child truly blossom in. Lastly, decide whether or not it is the right decision for your child, not just yourself and the family.

References: Michigan Department of Education (2012). “Home Schooling in Michigan”. www.michigan.gov Beverly Hernandez. “Is Homeschool for You?” www.homeschooling.about.com Ellen, Mary. (2012). “Homeschool vs. Public School: Who’s Better Socialized.” Off The Grid News. www.offthegridnews.com

Layton, Lyndsey. “National public high school graduation rate at a four-decade high.” The Washington Post. www.washingtonpost.com

Lawrence, Julia. (2012). “Number of Homeschoolers Growing Nationwide.” Education News. www.educationnews.org

References: Michigan Department of Education (2012). “Home Schooling in Michigan”. www.michigan.gov Beverly Hernandez. “Is Homeschool for You?” www.homeschooling.about.com Ellen, Mary. (2012). “Homeschool vs. Public School: Who’s Better Socialized.” Off The Grid News. www.offthegridnews.com Layton, Lyndsey. “National public high school graduation rate at a four-decade high.” The Washington Post. www.washingtonpost.com Lawrence, Julia. (2012). “Number of Homeschoolers Growing Nationwide.” Education News. www.educationnews.org