Archive for January, 2011
Home School – A Valid Viable Option
The National Center for Education Statistics reported in 2003 that there were about 1.1 million homeschooled students in the United States. According to a 1991 report published by the Home School Legal Defense Association, nationwide the average home school student scores 18 to 28 percentile points higher on the basic battery of tests on the Stanford Achievement Test than do public school students. Possible reasons for these results are: mastery of content, lack of a rigid time structure, lack of distractions, parental motivation and interest, and lack of significant peer pressure. Another study, conducted by the National Home Education Research Institute found that teacher certification of home school students’ mothers, the primary teachers, made no difference in how well the home school students scored on national achievement tests. All these things combine to provide a fluid environment much more conducive to learning.
Home school parents fully understand that basics must be mastered before students can build on that knowledge. A good analogy would be of a carpenter building a house. Until the foundation and walls are finished, a completed roof would lay on the ground, unable to support itself in the air. Since there is no need to stay with a structure imposed by the system, home school students are able to keep working on a lesson until they have learned it. If the students are particularly interested in a subject, they are not restrained by lack of time from going further than the material. By following a topic into other areas of interest, students gain serendipitous learning. This helps students come to enjoy learning.
In the public school environment, teachers are expected to teach to a schedule and curriculum that is more or less rigidly controlled. Home school students do not have a preset schedule imposed from outside the home. They are able to take the time to understand a subject thoroughly before going to the next subject. Because of this greater freedom of time, more activities are able to be incorporated into lessons, such as field trips to museums, zoos, or historical sites. Even family vacations become part of the curriculum. When the family travels, home school students see firsthand the geography, flora and fauna, and lifestyles of the region they visit. Read the rest of this entry »
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Home Schooling is a Popular Education Option
Schooling children at home was not an unusual thing in the not-so-distant past. Settlements were often far apart and children were not often gathered in large numbers. Parents would purchase the textbooks most accepted as “necessary,” such as the McGuffey Reader, and both parents would be involved in educating their children. In addition to learning “the three ‘R’s,” students also learned the tasks of daily living and of spiritual and moral growth. Home schooling fell out of favor when people lived in more populated areas and when the federal government began emphasizing public education for all students.
The requirements of Home Schooling should be considered. The federal government requires that certain compulsory education requirements be covered for children attending K-12. Individual states may have other additional requirements. Parents should check the laws before starting to home school.
There can be drawbacks to Home Schooling. Home schooled children may have a reduced amount of age-segregated socialization with their peers. In addition to limited contact with children their own age, home schooled children are unable to participate in organized school sports that encourage teamwork and teach healthy competition with opponents of roughly equivalent age and skill. Children have fewer opportunities to participate in musical groups, concerts, and recitals. Although children can learn an instrument at home, they are unable to participate in school-related parades or events.
None of these things are entirely precluded by a child being home schooled. However, parents will need to work harder to ensure that their children can participate in them should their children be interested. Read the rest of this entry »
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