For this week’s educational focus, I want to take a look at homeschooling. In the U.S., it is legal to teach your children at home rather than send them to a school. A growing number of parents have decided to homeschool their children. It is difficult to determine how many children are being homeschooled, since many states don’t require homeschoolers to register. Estimates range from 900,000—2,000,000, but a reasonable estimate would put the figure in the neighborhood of 1.2 million children being homeschooled as of 2007.
As stated above, it is legal in all 50 states to homeschool children; however, different states have different requirements for homeschooling. Some states require that a parent obtain state certification in teaching; other states don’t require teacher certification, but insist that homeschool students take the same yearly assessment tests as the ones given to public school students. Still others require that homeschool students follow a state-approved curriculum, or be “in class” a certain number of hours a day or a certain number of days per year. In Illinois, homeschools are considered “private schools,” and there are only two requirements: 1) that the branches of education or subjects taught in a private school be equivalent to those being taught in the public schools, and 2) that the daily instruction of a child in a private school be in the English language. This makes Illinois one of the easiest states in which to homeschool your children, since there is minimal government interference, and parents have maximal control over what and how their children are taught.
The reasons why parents choose to homeschool are essentially the same as why parents opt for private over public schools: Concerns for the quality of education, concerns over violence in school and negative influences from peers, regards for religious beliefs, and interest in alternative teaching philosophies are all reasons why some parents choose homeschooling.
Naturally, people have concerns regarding homeschooled children. Do they do as well academically as students attending a public or private school? How can homeschooled children develop a healthy social life without the interaction of their peers in a regular school setting? How can parents offer the same variety and depth of instruction as regular schools? These are valid concerns, but they do not pose as much of a problem as people generally think. Let’s look at these concerns one by one.
Concern #1: Academics – Do homeschooled students do as well academically as students attending a regular school? Since not all parents are trained to be teachers, or even have a college degree, are they qualified to teach their children at home?
Answer: Believe it or not, the level of parental education or lack of teacher qualification has little, if any, negative effect on homeschool children’s academic performance. In fact, studies indicate that on a national basis, homeschoolers perform at least one grade level higher than their counterparts in private and public schools. One reason for this might be that by being schooled at home, children benefit from the individual instruction and attention – individual instruction and attention that are simply impossible in a class of 25 or more students. Other reasons might be that with individual instruction, children can concentrate on areas or subjects that need additional attention, rather than waste time reviewing concepts that the child has a good grasp on.
Concern #2: Social Development – Are homeschooled children able to develop a healthy social life without the interaction of their peers in a regular school setting?
Answer: Most homeschooled children in fact have better social skills than those of their peers in regular school. People tend to think that homeschool students are isolated from others, sitting at a desk at home for several hours a day. In reality, homeschoolers are generally a very interactive group, whether it’s getting together for joint field trips with other homeschoolers or taking swimming lessons at the local YMCA. Many homeschoolers also participate in co-op classes, where (for example), they get together once a week to study chemistry, or some other class in a more advanced subject. Consequently, homeschoolers tend to have better interaction not only with their peers, but with young and old alike. This is in contrast to a regular school setting, where students’ social interaction is limited almost exclusively to their own peer group, and thus is an artificially induced social group.
Concern #3: Depth and Variety of Instruction – How can parents offer the same variety and depth of instruction as regular schools?
Answer: There are various ways for parents to provide a broad, liberal education. As mentioned earlier, many homeschoolers participate in co-op classes for subjects like chemistry, physics, foreign languages, and other advanced subjects. Some colleges allow homeschooled students to enroll in specialty subjects. And of course the Internet gives homeschoolers access to information, materials, and online classes in ways that were unimaginable a decade ago. Additionally, homeschoolers have the time and freedom to pursue areas of interest to them, instead of focusing on taking classes and earning credits for graduation.
