The Homeschooling Option

by Nicki Bradley | More from this Blogger

22 Feb 2006 06:12 PM

More parents than ever are opting to homeschool their children for all or part of their primary education. In fact, in 2003 approximately 1.1 million students were educated at home in the United States; this is up just about 75% from 1999. A decade ago, homeschoolers were primarily those who opposed public or private schools for religious reasons but now homeschoolers are as diverse as their public educating neighbors and friends!

Why do people homeschool?

The reasons that parents choose to homeschool are as varied as the parents, themselves. Additionally, few parents homeschool for only a single reason.People choose to homeschool for a variety of reasons. Some of the popular reasons include:

• The desire to more specifically meet the needs of a child with a learning disability or special needs.
• The desire to challenge a gifted child beyond the capacity that most school districts are able.
• The desire to maintain a healthy and strong bond between child and family.
• To support active learning from life rather than sitting for many hours behind a desk as a passive recipient in the learning process.
• The desire to maintain a healthier type of socialization than is ordinarily offered in schools.
• The desire to escape bullying, harassing or other traumatic experiences.
• To avoid possible physical harm if one lives in an unsafe school district.
• The belief that a parent is more adequately equipped to educate his or her own child than an over-crowded, under-funded school system.
• The desire to let their children grow at their own pace.
• The desire to support an extra-curricular gift or talent such as professional acting, modeling, dance or music.
• The parent's desire or need to spend time traveling whether for work or pleasure, without separating from the family.
• To give a child a proper religious education, offering academics that are in line with a parent's spiritual views.

Finally, the evidence is compelling. As a group, homeschooled children score significantly higher than their publicly and privately educated peers on state and national academic tests. Aside from academics, though, homeschoolers are also seen, by many, as more mature and socially capable than their non-homeschooled peers because of their involvement in real life activities across the generations rather than mostly with same-aged peers. Homeschooling is far less expensive than private education. And homeschooled children of actively practicing religious parents are more likely to attend religious services regularly as students. Homeschooling isn't for every child or every family but it is quickly becoming an option. No longer do parents feel confined to either public school or private school. Now there is a realistic third option for many.

Learn more about Nicki Bradley

I live in the suburbs of Detroit and I'm happily re-married with six children (3 his, 2 mine, 1 ours) ranging in age from 3.5 to 12.

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mcmama (51978) 23 Feb 2006 04:15 AM

Something I have noticed that many homeschooling parents have in common with involved parents in public school and private school - intentional involvement with their children, and a family that makes education a priority. That attention and advocacy certainly makes a difference!

vague (5) 10 Feb 2007 05:55 AM

I'm not too sure how this site works, but I was researching home schooling vs orthodox schooling and came across this site, and wondered if I could get some advice??viewpoints? I'm a single mother of a 13 year old boy. As a child at school I had an awful time, got bullied etc. Apart from the fact that it made me miserable, I was spending a lot of time on the unpopular problem and as a result didn't do very well, despite being quite a lot above average intelligence. I think it had a long term effect on me and left me with depression. I was brought up in England and home shooling was illegal at that time. I used to think though that when I was an adult Iwould do something about bullying, and that any children I had would be home schooled, legal or not! My son started primary school 8 years ago, and despite being generally popular ,still wanted to take days off, to the point of crying about it. This has continued, and for years I've been struggling with whether to do home schooling or not. It kills me off when he wakes up sometimes and says he doesn't want to go. I worry like mad that maybe he's being bullied, I'm really can't find it in me to send him off to school upset -I'd feel like a traitor. As a result he has quite a lot of time off, but still does extremely well at his work. Now I've come to a new hurdle. He's just started secondary school, and he doesn't like it! He's very sensitive so even small things can upset him a lot, and I've gathered that somebody has said something very slightly men to him, and he hasn't made any real friends yet. Also apparantly a friend in the next grade up, was apparently being bullied, some other boys had stolen his locker padlock and were throwing it over his head so that he couldn't get it. He's only been there for a week and a half, but he asked me if he could do home schooling again. I was a bit upset and told a friend, who says that he thinks it would do Tom good and make him a better person, to stay at school, and do what he really doesn't want to do. That it would bemolly coddling him to do home-schooling. that he would think he didn't have to go to work when he was older. I don't really understand this attitude, maybe there's something I don't know? I recently heard of someone who had a breakdown as a result of being bullied at school. I believe they've recently proven that bullying can cause depression later in life. I don't THINK my son has ever been seriously bullied, but I do know that even small things can knock his confidence for six.I don't think that this friend really knows my son as well as he thinks he does. Tom is a lot more sensitive than he realizes. Surely it's right to keep your loved ones out of dangers way? The friend thinks it will make him tougher to learn to deal with life's horrors. Personally I think that may be true for some children , but not for all. I'm finding this problem very tricky. He has lots of friends round after school , so I don't think he would miss out on socializing, but I'm not sure how easy I would find it to get him to work. Also I could teach him most things, but the things that he really wants to learn, -welding, metal work, electronics are the things that I really havn't got a clue about. What should I do? and DO you understand this friends attitude? I really don't get it

Andrea Hermitt (5512) 10 Feb 2007 10:50 PM

Hello, I am a writer for the families.com homeschooling blog. I will do my best to adress all of your issues this week. Meanwhile, please visit the homeschooling forum http://forums.families.com/homeschooling,f167 and blog http://homeschooling.families.com/blog/.