Homeschooling:More Than A Viable Option

Student Name
Eng 112 WB
Argumentative Paper

Homeschool: More Than a Viable Option

Homeschooling is a viable alternative to institutionalized schooling because it allows for an individualized education that meets the child’s needs, allows more freedom and flexibility in terms of curriculum, and better prepares a child for real life social situations. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES.ed.gov), in 2007 there were roughly 1.5 million children being homeschooled in the United States. While this number only represents 2.9 percent of all students age five to seventeen, the data collected shows a steady increase in the number of American children who are being homeschooled. The survey results show that, over the eight year period between 1999 and 2007, there was a 74 percent increase in students who were being homeschooled. While it’s true that homeschooled kids are different that their public and private school counterparts, these differences actually work to their advantage, proving that homeschooling can be a successful option for families. Homeschooled kids have been described as polite, smart, and well mannered. They are able to converse with people of all ages and from all cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. However, the common assumption is that homeschooled kids are lazy, out of touch with society, have an inferior education and are naïve. Those who oppose homeschooling as a viable alternative spout lack of a qualified instructor, poor social skills and the inability to meet the needs of children with special needs and learning disabilities as reasons in support of their anti-homeschooling argument. Their concerns are valid, but unwarranted, as every one of them can be refuted with a little bit of research. What exactly is homeschooling? Simply put, it is the education of one’s children outside of the public or private school system. Homeschooling does not always happen “at home” as the name suggests. Homeschooled students have the entire world at their educational disposal, and learn from a plethora of ways that meet the student’s individual needs and learning style. Homeschooling allows parents full control over curriculum, exposure to sex, drugs and violence, and the ability to protect their children from the social pitfalls of the public and private school environments. The NCES study provided information that, when given standardized tests, homeschooled students yield equivalent or higher results than their public and private schooled peers. Colleges and universities today have admission representatives who are specifically equipped to recruit homeschooled students and who are capable of helping this unique class of students with the admission process. If homeschooling is steadily on the rise and clearly producing equal if not better results, what’s all the fuss about from the opposing side? When push comes to shove, those who favor the anti-homeschooling movement will list socialization as their number one reason for being against homeschooling. Opponents state reasons like “they need to learn to get along with all sorts of people,” or “how will they learn to communicate with other people” as part of their argument. These may be valid concerns for the minority of parents who choose to seclude their kids under the guise of homeschooling, but for the majority of homeschooling families, they are out living and learning in their communities. Their children are involved in church groups, community activities, youth sports, classes, apprenticeships and a myriad of other experiences in the world outside of their home and family. Let us not forget our own school experiences, where we were told numerous times by teachers, “you are here to learn, not to socialize.” Schools do not provide an environment conducive to real-life socialization. Where else in life are you segregated with only those peers who are the same age as you? We shop, bank, dine out, and work with people of various ages for our entire adult lives. Are we really to believe that, in order to be properly socialized, all seven year olds must learn their social skills from the other seven year olds they are forced to spend six hours a day with five days per week? How does that prepare someone for real-life social situations, other than by providing some good stories about the kid who used to eat paste? Another argument that is often heard in opposition to homeschooling is that parents are not qualified to teach their children. Why not?! As parents, we are deemed “qualified” to teach our children to walk, talk, use the bathroom, have manners, share, and a laundry list of other useful skills necessary for their development. Then suddenly, at the magic age of compulsory attendance, we are no longer qualified and must hand our children off to an “expert”. Aren’t parents the best expert with regard to their own child? The majority of the adult population is a product of the public school system. Do they doubt their own education when they make these statements, or are they claiming their education is superior to that of the average parent? There are parents from all levels of education, from G.E.D recipients to biochemists and nuclear engineers, who are successfully homeschooling their children. Parents who homeschool have the ability to purchase curricula complete with teacher’s guides, just like in school, in order to instruct their children. Homeschooling families also have access to other homeschooling parents who may have a background in a specific area and can seek their assistance. In the Boston area, colleges and universities such as M.I.T, Tufts and Boston University offer classes to homeschooled students. Teachers in an institutionalized school setting are restricted to the approved texts for all students, whereas homeschooling parents can seek out materials that best suit their child’s needs and learning style. It seems an individualized education in a one-on-one setting would be far more beneficial than a one-size-fits-all style, where the ratio is more like one to thirty. The final reason many people dispute homeschooling as a viable option is for those students with special needs or learning differences, because parents simply just don’t have the knowledge required to teach these special children. This is again a situation where parents are expected to hand their child over to the “experts who know better.” Special education services and programs provided within the public education system have been known to fail many children, with parents still needing to seek outside services or provide services themselves at home. Most private schools don’t provide special education services at all. In fact, the flexible nature of homeschooling and the ability to individualize the child’s education to meet his or her needs is exactly why homeschooling is a fantastic solution for many parents of children with special needs. Services such as physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy can be sought privately or through the school system to ensure that all of the child’s needs, medical and educational, are being met. Homeschooled kids are different than kids who attend school, but not for the reasons most who oppose homeschooling cite. Homeschooling is not for everyone, but it is a valid alternative for many families. Statistical data backs up the fact that homeschooling is on the rise and an education at home is at least equivalent to that of the public and private schools. Families who have children with special needs or who are simply seeking an individualized education for their child find homeschooling to be a successful choice for their children.