What is the point of homeschooling?

Answer 1

Now that is a good question! The "point of homeschooling" stems from your worldview. The concept of world view is central to the current firestorms surrounding education because it forms the basis for one's idea of a good life. It is impossible to talk about education apart from some concept of the good life. People will inevitably differ in their conception of the good life, and hence they will inevitably disagree on matters of education. The point of education is to have a close relationship with your children and to instill a set of beliefs and values that will be passed from generation to generation. That is the point of homeschooling. That is the point of education! -Paul Though there are many reasons parents homeschool their children, one of which is that their child wants to be homeschooled, for many parents the point of homeschooling is stated very well in Paul's last paragraph. Parents have recognized that those in public education appear to believe it is the duty of public schools "to instill a set of beliefs and values that will be passed on from generation to generation." Many parents have taken a serious look at the beliefs and values being instilled in public school chldren today and have made the decision to homeschool their children. Another point to homeschooling is that many children are not learning what they need to be learning in content areas (reading, English, math, etc.), so parents homeschool because they believe their children will learn more by being schooled at home than they are learning in the public schools. I think that's as varied for an individual as the methods one can use to implement it for their family. For myself and my daughter, it allowed us to spend far more time together than we had before we started it (though I raised her as a single parent and still had to work full - time, she spent time during the day doing homework and such, while being watched by a friend of mine), and at night after dinner, we would spend those hours doing instruction for her. It also facilitated us talking more than we normally would have, about some really extensive subjects, and my learning about her in a different situation than were it just me helping her with homework for an hour a night. As well, it allowed my seeing firsthand where her strengths were, in addition to areas that she might have needed more assistance in, and my working her lesson plans around both. I was also able to have my daughter work more within HER varied abilities - some things, she needed more time and help with; others, she found easier for her to figure out. Not everyone's the same, obviously; consequently, it's all right for people to have different learning styles or timelines. It doesn't matter how long it takes someone, or how many times they need to be shown something - as long as the end result is understanding whatever you are trying to learn, then you've accomplished your "objective", and you should be proud that you have. :) In my child's case, it also allowed her to gain self - confidence in her abilities to learn and do things scholastically, which she had none of in a regular school setting. I remember DISTINCTLY when she said to me, "Mom, I'm really NOT stupid!", which I had been frantically trying to convince her of for ages. In school, she had always felt that she was. (She is an adult now, and I only wish that I'd been "better" at homeschooling, or had realized sooner that I could have done this for her. I also wish that I'd set up more socializing for her, because in my opinion, that is the one area that really can be lacking and therefore, create a sense of isolation for a child, if not resolved for them. Though for all my doubts and concerns, she says she's awfully glad that we did it this way. :) And my daughter's happiness, satisfaction and security, even these many years later, is all that matters in the big picture. Hey, maybe the kid'll let me homeschool my grandchild, when she has one. :)) Though we followed a secular (non - religious) outline for her, many families use a religious curriculum, because they feel a public or "traditional" school will not adequately teach their children the same moral or societal values they themselves hold. I think, as long as they are not espousing intolerance or fundamentalist views within their religious guidance, that this is a very strong argument in favor of homeschooling. In our situation, it allowed me to expose my child to a variety of issues and circumstances that she might not have been interested in while in a traditional learning environment. I was able to show her that there was a huge world outside her own, how to be accepting of differences, and gave her the tools to garner interest, enthusiasm, and curiosity about what was around her, with a global outlook. They may do this in school; however, because of lack of funding or class size or whatever the case, they of course cannot persue an issue with the detail that we were able to. (I work in a school now, in a small, inner - city charter school, and honestly, because of what I see and what teachers are so limited in their ability to do, and the lack of support from so many parents, and all the many, MANY discipline problems with children - young and older - I am completely assured that we made the right decision, for us.) Homeschooling is not for everyone; every state has different criteria that needs to be met. Some people don't have the fundamentals nor the resources for it(though both can be accomplished easier than one might think - I also didn't think I'd be able to). But...for many people, homeschooling is a wonderful and preferred method to try to give your children a decent start or continuance in their education, as well as their whole lives. This is somewhat of a rhetorical question. My opinion is, most home schooling programs are not superior to public school or private school; so what is the point? In many cases the point is the parents can't handle the fact that their child will have to deal with the real world. It keeps the child isolated from reality, and places the child in a simple, soft environment. Education is secondary to restricting exposure to ideas and practices of the real world. Why don't we take this to the Discussion area? I'll start. See you there! I THINK the point of homeschooling is that parents have more control over what their kids learn and to "shield" them from the public school system, and save tons of money from the cost of private or Parochial school. The only issue I have, is that for quality homeschooling, the family dynamics have to be very above average. Meaning, parents as well as children have to be highly motivated, self-disciplined and also parents have to be highly structured as well as intelligent. If these things are met, I think homeschooling is great. But; how many families and parents meet these objectives?? I do think many people that are not qualified, practice homeschooling; to the detriment of their children...Also parents that homeschool should remember to involve their kids is extracurricular activities to maintain social skills. Just some personal thoughts.....<<>>