about homeschooling

According to Macedo and Tamir (2002), parents who want to home-school their children will achieve the needs of the child and the state in education independent of any authority or legislation. Indeed, according to some reports, children who are educated at home often outperform their peers in public and private schools. Furthermore, when it comes to the state's mutual interest in academic success, home-schools are often more competitive than traditional-based schools. Overall, homeschooling is as successful as public schools, and very promising numbers show that the scheme is operating in the United States. The students who have undergone the home-based also show similar performance to their counterparts in the traditional setting since they are also more highly involved in community life. They are respectful, civil, as well as decent and they are also participating in democratic processes, civic activities, and they exhibit leadership traits. This paper will argue that the homeschool is just as effective as the traditional one since every student who has graduated from home school is attractive, brilliant, and destined for success. This is because they are regularly admitted to most universities and colleges, and they show exemplary performance on college entrance exam.

Jones and Gloeckner (2004) pointed out that the parents who wish to educate their youngsters at home should not feel that the education they are offering is lower than the K-12 education of their counterparts. The science and reasoning subtests, reading, mathematics, ACT English and ACT Composite test scores, credits earned in the first year, and the average first-year GPAs for home school graduates surpassed those of their counterparts in the traditional school setting. The analyses of academic performance signify that in comparison to the traditional high school graduates, the home school graduates are as well ready for college. As such, the home school population is anticipated to grow in the coming years. There are lots of reasons to why parents choose to homeschool. They want to teach them self-learning and allow them to have a say in what they want to learn. It allows some to travel as a family. Another reason is the capability to structure their learning so that they may not be overwhelmed but challenged in every subject. Learning from home also ensures that the youngsters stay away from the negative media influences and peer pressure that the parents don’t think they are ready to handle. Also, many parents choose to homeschool their children is because they want to build a strong family unit and spend time with them while they are still young.

Cogan (2010) argued that in the United States, homeschooling is currently perceived to be one of the fastest growing K-12 education segments and it is legal in all 50 states. In 1999, 800,000 students between the ages of 5 to 17 were homeschooled. However, this number increased to 1,508,000 in 2007 representing 88 percent increase. Several organizations dedicated to the education of students who are educated at home have created due to the perception that students cannot gain comprehensive training experience in homeschooling. Homeschooling has been phenomenal, and the growth of the students studying in this setting has nearly doubled in the past eight years. The homeschool environment is similar to the virtual schools since it presents a useful alternative to the traditional school for many learners. In 2011 to 2012, approximately 1.77 million students were learning at home (S. McQuiggan, Kosturko, J. McQuiggan, & Sabourin, 2015).

In regards to the pros and cons of homeschooling, the arguments often surround issues such as under presentations of teaching styles and subjects, instructor expertise for higher-level subjects, and socialization. Although people time and again refute these claims with solutions that are efficient, mobile technologies can enhance a homeschool environment and serve to alleviate such concerns. The technology can present a valuable opportunity to access high critical content for those who choose to homeschool their children. It will enable them to engage in collaborative learning and use standardized suitable educational resources. Ideally, the mobile devices have allowed people to be more social than ever before. Many are in constant communication in one form or another although it is not face-to-face. The mobile devices and their various apps are a great technique to generating communications skills and collaboration by establishing communication with other students through the homeschool network (McQuiggan et al., 2015). The homeschool learners can be taught the art of public speaking by delivering speeches, participating in live debates with other students, and presenting projects to a virtual image. The homeschool setting can work similarly to the flipped classroom approach. The parents across the country who have adopted homeschooling can as well team together and co-teach so as to expose students to a variety of teaching styles and take advantage of individual areas of expertise.

Besides the religious convictions, another prominent factor in the decision to homeschool is dissatisfaction with the public school system. Martin-Chang, Gould, and Meuse (2011) reported that the homeschooled learners were operating at a higher level compared to the traditionally schooled children. This is the case in every grade and over the entire tested curricular areas, including information services, science, social studies, mathematics, language arts, and reading. In the second place, when a trained experimenter presents the tests under the same circumstances, there are no visible differences between the performances of learners who were educated at home and those who were attending the traditional school system. Homeschooling children are perceived to have high parental involvement such as input into course selection and having higher expectations. Therefore, these students have been able to achieve higher standardized scores compared to the students with parental involvement that is perceived to be low, in this case, the learners in the traditional setting. As measured by the standardized test, the parents may choose to homeschool their children for the reason that they are seeking to increase their development academically. In this context, the homeschool method is anticipated to raise the learner's test score above those of their counterparts in the traditional setting.

Snyder (2011) found that the remarkable increase in the number of children schooling at home makes homeschooling one of the top rising educational progress when compared to the private and the public school education. In essence, this growth is not likely to slow shortly. The families that have opted for homeschooling are based on two groupings due to the reasons they choose to homeschool. The first group is the pedagogues. They are concerned with how the content is taught in school and not with the substance itself. This group values the independence of education, and their interest is to ensure their children are educated outside the educational school setting. This is because according to them the educational education system has ultimately failed to meet the needs of their children and is highly bureaucratized. The second group is the ideologues, and they are time and again perceived as the religious fundamentalists. Their objective for adopting homeschooling is to conserve their social agenda and the promotion as well as protection of religious doctrine. For this reason, they reject the idea that their children are taught any other idea than their own and that they are being indoctrinated with values that are liberal.

Additionally, the parents also give various reasons to homeschool their children. These include concerns about negative peer pressure and the school environment, such as drugs and safety. Other parents cite providing moral and religious instruction. Other reasons include distance, finances, and travel as well as dissatisfaction with academic instruction. A percentage of the parents wanted to provide their children with an educational system that is nontraditional. There are also parents who had a child with special needs, such as one who is mentally or physically handicapped (Snyder, 2011). Moreover, these kids may have rare or severe mental or physical disabilities, which may require such a simple learning environment or require such specific learning needs that the private, as well as the public setting, cannot provide. In these circumstances, practicality and justice demand that teach such students at home. Beyond the issues of impaired or disabled students, some families live in sparsely populated or rural regions that the nearest school that the closest school, private or public that their youngsters can attain an education. This school needs to promote their capacities and thinking for reflection on others as well as their ends (Macedo & Tamir, 2002).

Snyder (2011) further established that the children who are schooled at home perform as well, if not better than, than the ones attending the traditional school setting. As such, this development has realized augmented approval from the general U.S public. As the educators and administrators struggle to fix many problems in the traditional education setting, homeschooling is perceived to be a viable alternative to private and public school education in the eyes of many. The high achievement in the homeschooling environment is regardless of the degree of state regulations or control, whether or not parents are certified, the family income, and parental educational background. Many prestigious universities and colleges are actively pursuing homeschoolers as a consequence of their high academic achievement. Nonetheless, the top myth of the students who have schooled at home is that they lack the social skills required to operate normally in society and higher education. Here, the misinformed stereotype is that such students stayed locked in their houses where there is little or no interaction with the community outside. However, the mobile devices and their various apps are a great technique to generating communications skills and collaboration by establishing communication with other students through the homeschool network (McQuiggan et al., 2015).

In the recent years, there have been more instances of mixed programs for education across the country. For this reason, a greater amount of communication will be required of the public school officials and the homeschooling parents if this trend continues. The crucial concepts that are evident from the routines of the homeschoolers include structure, individualized instructions, faith, community, and collaboration. Most parents pointed out that their methods involved the unique needs of the student, specific goals of the family, family schedules, faith of the parents, the amount of homeschooling experience, and the availability of the community resources. Other routines of the parents involved the educational interests of their children as well as their unique learning styles. In regards to the mixed educational conditions, the parents were interested in the equipment the public schools had to offer, teachers, the advanced courses, and quality extracurricular activities. Besides, based on the mixed education programs, the parents have demonstrated the desire for a reformed school structure, instructional methods and appropriate curriculum, quality student care, respectful parental solutions, and the desire for favorable regulations (Thomas, 2015).

The homeschooling education has time and again recognized as a non-traditional teaching practice, and it is not likely to fit the corporate model of education. Nonetheless, due to the rise of homeschool instruction in the U.S and more links, which have been achieved with the public school districts, the communication on education need to comprise the voices of the homeschooling education. This will be a critical method for promoting the U.S educational system. The homeschoolers need to be of particular interest for the reason that they have been a constant growth in their number. This will be crucial because the methods that will make homeschooling valuable will as well enhance the quality of conventional schooling and find their way into public education. For this reason, having the knowledge of the methods and practices of non-traditional homeschooling may be one of the means of promoting education as a whole. Various studies have indicated that there are merits to the choice of homeschooling. Furthermore, at least in different circumstances, there must be a great deal of executing, planning, and reasoning so as to make such as an educational endeavor successful. For this reason, it is likely that the discourse of the traditional education might benefit from the homeschooling ideas (Thomas, 2015).

Furthermore, since the parents desire more educational options and the homeschoolers currently represent more than three percent of the student’s population; this would be the appropriate time for the public educators to proactively understand the needs, dreams, and ideas of the homeschool families. On this note, actively involving the families that have adopted the homeschooling system will lead to numerous positive results in the country’s educational system as a whole. For instance, it will present an opportunity for those in the traditional educational setting to see the homeschooling trend as an alternative based on instruction and curriculum. Also, it will enable the homeschoolers, who are regularly an excluded group to have a voice in the educational system of the nation. Another positive result involves embracing the free spirits that both parties in the traditional and homeschool system are stronger when they unite. The open discourse between the homeschooling and the traditional school will promote a community where instructions would emanate from various school houses and where everyone had a role in education. Since best education is perceived to be a passionate collaboration between the community members, parents, and school educators. Although homeschooling is not advocated in this concept, it will be crucial to integrate it in this ideal setting (Thomas, 2015).

Additionally, presenting a rich depiction of the homeschooling aspect will potentially be useful in other educational environments. With the objective of coming up with an optimal system of education for all students, the homeschooling parents can assist operations of the public school to improve and establish mixed educational options. Putting more effort towards a system of education that values the unique preferences and needs of the homeschoolers may consequently enable diverse students to benefit from the more engaging educational atmosphere and greater learning opportunities. The school system in the country may be improved by listening to the voices of the homeowners. Despite all the advantages of the traditional education, the owners have chosen to opt out of it. Such benefits include extracurricular activities, a wide variety of classes, advanced technology, and expert teachers along with many other conveniences. Despite all these advantages, they have chosen to possibly delay the opportunities and career goals of the parents, at their own expense, on their own time, and stay in the home. Listening to the voices of the homeschoolers and understanding the homeschool environment can likely unveil great favorable option. Managing the behavior of the students is crucial in offering an efficacious and a safe educational environment for the teachers and the students (Powell, 2014).

Ideally, the homeschooling community has an extraordinary association with other educational entities. This is because they possess a wide variety of unique knowledge because many of the families within this educational setting have experienced private as well as public schooling, besides the homeschool education. Furthermore, apart from the background in multiple forms of knowledge that these families have, they have more than likely weighed the advantages and disadvantages of their options and given it serious thought before they made the decision to homeschool. The children who are homeschooled are instructed by various tutors, guardians, or the parents. The students are considered to be homeschooled if they were not being homeschooled solely as a consequence of a temporary illness and if their enrollment in the private or public school was less than 25 hours a week. Another consideration is that if the parents pointed out that the students were being schooled at home instead of private and public school. The home schooling situation is more robust than the traditional school. First, the regulation of the trend is not the responsibility of the government and is internal to the family. Secondly, the position is more stable when the parents offer the service and not privately financed or state-funded. Lastly, the student’s education is funded by the family and not the government.

The ideologues and the pedagogues have attacked the traditional schooling from different angles. The ideologues argued that the social climate and the academic program that flourished in the public schools undermined the values at home and were unfavorable to the children. The pedagogical perspective is that the public education presents a dangerous place for the children and a poor setting to learning. Despite these two groups having dissonant motivations and views, there are numerous similarities between them. Both of them consider homeschooling to be a part of a more comprehensive worldview and not an isolated activity. Furthermore, the group's reason that controlling the education of their children is their right. On this note, politicians, the members of the public, as well as, some educators have become advocates for this trend as the movement of the both groups has become more united and stronger. For this reason, just like the traditional school, homeschooling has turned out to be an important, diverse, and widespread segment of education in the United States. In the United States, homeschooling is currently perceived to be one of the fastest growing K-12 education sectors, and it is legal in all 50 states (Cogan, 2010).

Additionally, the families making up the homeschooling movement represent a group that is more diversified, and this has led to the concept becoming more accepted alongside the traditional schooling. Homeschooling shall consist of lots of diversity, which includes the various levels of the parents’ education, all levels of incomes, as well as, a variety of political and religious backgrounds. The emphasis of homeschooling on support groups and associations is among the main reasons that provide for the strength of the movement. Other aspects that have led to the success of homeschooling include the fact that the concept is working in various families and the accessibility of new technologies.

Conclusion

For all that, in comparison to the traditional school, homeschooling is considered to be as useful for the reason that the students who have embraced the concept have demonstrated excellent performance. This is evident from the fact that they are time and again accepted in most universities and colleges and also perform well on college entrance exams. For this reason, a greater amount of communication is needed between the public school officials and the homeschooling parents. This is necessary for the whole education system because having a better knowledge of the needs, preferences, and goals of the homeschooling families will enable the public schools to prepare better for meaningful relations with the homeschoolers. The minorities are also quickly embracing homeschooling whereby 15 percent of the homeschool families are non-white (Ray, 2016).



References

Cogan, M. F. (2010). Exploring Academic Outcomes of Homeschooled Students. Journal of College Admission, 208, 18-25.

Jones, P., & Gloeckner, G. (2004). First Year College Performance: A Study of Home School Graduates and Traditional School Graduates. Journal of College Admission, 183, 17-20.

Lippincott, L. (2014). The Homeschooling Handbook: How to Make Homeschooling Simple, Affordable, Fun, and Effective. Skyhorse Publishing, Inc..

Martin-Chang, S., Gould, O. N., & Meuse, R. E. (2011). The impact of schooling on academic achievement: Evidence from homeschooled and traditionally schooled students. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement, 43(3), 195.

Macedo, S., & Tamir, Y. (2002). Moral and Political Education. New York: New York University Press.

McQuiggan, S., Kosturko, L., McQuiggan, J., & Sabourin, J. (2015). Mobile learning: a handbook for developers, educators, and learners. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Powell, L. M. (2014). Teachers' perspectives on classroom management: confidence, strategies, and professional development: a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Educational Psychology at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand (Doctoral dissertation, Massey University).

Ray, B. (2016). Research Facts on Homechooling | Research. Nheri.org. Retrieved 18 July 2017, from https://www.nheri.org/research/research-facts-on-homeschooling.html.

Snyder, M. (2011). An evaluative study of the academic achievement of homeschooled students versus traditionally schooled students attending a Catholic university. Nova Southeastern University.

Thomas, J. D. (2015). Toward a Mixed Home-Public Education: Understanding Homeschool Curriculum and Instruction (Doctoral dissertation).