Okay, so the title is a little tongue-in-cheek, but it does get the point across. I’ve been asked to share my opinion on what I think about homeschooling, so here is how I feel about homeschooling.
As a starting point, it’s hard to say what I have to say without a bias. I only have the experience of being home schooled aside from private school from K4-2nd grade, and my current experiences at a private college. I can not accurately compare my experience to that of one I might have received with a public/private school education.
As far as homeschooling is concerned, I did enjoy it. There are specific advantages to homeschooling that aren’t provided at your typical school. With homeschooling, you’re free to move at your on pace (be it slower, or faster) while not limited to the learning pace of other students in the class. Many times, I could be finished with the days work before noon, and have the rest of the afternoon to spend as I please. There were also some other local advantages that not every family may have, such as trips away from home. My dad for what he does, is required to travel a lot across the United States, and us being home schooled allowed us the distinct advantage to go with him where ever he went.
That’s not to say that there aren’t disadvantages of home schooling, I think there are actually quite a few. For starters, one does not gain the experience of being able to network with peers and friends, and out in the real world that’s exactly what you have to do. You need to learn how to get along with others, even those who you may not see eye-to-eye with, and if you’re home schooled for all of your schooling years, you may be in for quite a culture shock once you reach the college level. In short, there might be a lack of social interaction with others in your day-to-day activities. You also may miss out in some of the various activities that are provided at schools such as band, sports, clubs, and any other events that may normally happen at schools. I am aware that such opportunities do exist, where there are home school sports teams and home school bands, but the availability of such really depends on where you live and if there are enough people interested.
So what is my overall view of homeschooling? I am not a proponent of “pure” homeschooling. I believe that there should be a mixture of both schooling at a private/public school along with home schooling. At what points do you determine which they should attend? It really honestly depends on the child. The bible tells us,
Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it. — Proverbs 22:6
At a young age children are easily influenced, and will listen to correction and guidance. I think home schooling at a young age is important, you can instill in them Godly qualities for when the time does come that you feel they are ready for a public/private education. At that point if you have trained them up to seek God first above all you should have nothing to worry about.
In a nutshell, that is how I feel about homeschooling vs a public/private education. I do not think that either one is better than the other, it really depends on the situation that you are in, and the key is if God is leading you to home school in the first place. If so, I strongly believe that a mixture of both will help to further that child’s education.
That’s not to say that there aren’t disadvantages of home schooling, I think there are actually quite a few. For starters, one does not gain the experience of being able to network with peers and friends, and out in the real world that’s exactly what you have to do. You need to learn how to get along with others, even those who you may not see eye-to-eye with, and if you’re home schooled for all of your schooling years, you may be in for quite a culture shock once you reach the college level. In short, there might be a lack of social interaction with others in your day-to-day activities. You also may miss out in some of the various activities that are provided at schools such as band, sports, clubs, and any other events that may normally happen at schools. I am aware that such opportunities do exist, where there are home school sports teams and home school bands, but the availability of such really depends on where you live and if there are enough people interested.