Is Home Schooling the Right Choice for You and Your Child?

Home Schooling when done the right way can be extremely beneficial to a child. These children can actually far exceed a child who is receiving their education in a public school setting. They can explore areas of interest in depth and specialize their education to meet their needs more than a public school classroom can. It also takes up less time in their day to complete their studies since they are not traveling and their education is so individualized. This frees them up and allows them more time to explore other interests. This type of schooling can be very beneficial if your child is very involved and talented at a particular sport or musical endeavor. I know of one parent who chose home schooling for her son because he was training for the Junior Olympics.

My experience with home schooling has been limited to seeing students reentering the public school system. Some found themselves being placed in advanced classes, but many found themselves very far behind their fellow classmates and some even had to repeat a grade. Often times the choice of home schooling comes out of a negative reaction by a parent or student to something that happened in the school setting. When we find ourselves making decisions reactively, we often don’t make decisions in an informed way. Be careful that you make this decision after careful thought and not in response to something. Home schooling is hard work for both the student and the parent who is going to be overseeing their schooling. It is a huge commitment on your part that will affect your child for the rest of their life, please don’t make this decision lightly. It may be less of a time commitment on the part of your child, but it is certainly a huge time commitment on your part. Preparation and implementation of a home schooling curriculum is time consuming and does not fit into everyone’s busy life style.

One thing I think it is important to include in your home schooling curriculum is access to other home schooling parents who may have expertise in a subject that you are not strong in. We all have our strengths and weaknesses and it is important to play to your strengths and find support in your areas of weakness. I am very strong in Mathematics and somewhat weak in Language Arts. If I were home schooling my child, I would find another parent who would compliment my abilities in order to provide the best education that I could for my child. I think “swapping” teaching in a circle of home schoolers will strengthen your child’s education. These groups already exist in most areas, you just need to go out and find them. In addition, many virtual schools are providing “ala carte” classes for homeschoolers to supplement the curriculum. Virtual schools are not yet available in all areas but I believe that they will be soon.

I also think is important to include social interaction with same age peers. I have found that some home schoolers are lacking the ability to interact with their peers when reentering the public school system because they have had little contact with groups of their peers during their home schooling experience. This peer interaction can be obtained through participation in sports leagues. classes at the local YMCA, or church groups to name just a few. Public schools will sometimes allow students who are being home schooled to participate in Art, Music, P.E. and some itinerant Special Education classes. You will need to check whether your district allows for this.

When choosing Home Schooling, it is important to consider your commitment to educating your child. There are many benefits that can come from Home Schooling your child if you are committed to doing it the right way. It is important to choose this option with your eyes wide open to the amount of time and energy that is going to take in order to do it right. Before making this decision, talk to parents that are currently home schooling their child. You can find them by researching on the internet for Home Schooling groups in your area. Again I emphasize the importance of doing your homework before making the decision about which school will provide the best learning environment for your child.

Is a Public School the Right Choice for Your Child?

Is public school the right choice for your child? That is a question that a lot of parents are asking themselves nowadays. Parents are finding themselves looking for an alternative to public school given all the violence and bullying that is popping up in public schools, the funding cuts and the believe that teachers are focusing their teaching on what is going to be on a standardized test. There is some validity to these concerns; however the reports of violence and bullying are over emphasized in the news. Make sure that you are getting accurate information on the violence present in the schools located in your area and how your district handles bullying behavior because there are probably as many ways of dealing with bullies as there are districts in the United States. Don’t rely on the information reported on television or the information provided by the district. Get your information from parents and students already attending the school your child is zoned to attend. It is also important to understand that bullying occurs in charter and private schools as well.

I don’t believe that there is as much teaching to the test as is reported. If your child attends school in a state that has standardized testing each year, it is important to understand that these test were developed to ascertain whether your child has learned the concepts that they were to have learned in that year of schooling. Having said that, I have run into some teachers in the public school system in the twelve years that I was working there that I would classify as teaching to the test, but they are few and far between.

There are several benefits to choosing a public school over any other school choice. One that you may not have considered is the number of different classes that they can choose to take at the middle school and high school level. Depending upon their interests they may have the opportunity to take classes in photography, specialized art classes, woodworking, theater, mechanics, band, orchestra, and electronics to name just a few. Be sure to research what your district has to offer.

If your child has a special need such as a learning difficulty, speech or language delays, autism, low ability or emotional difficulties, the public school provides support that other types of schools cannot provide. Charter schools do provide some support for these difficulties but not to the extent that a public school provides them.

Public schools have access to many different types of technology that other types of schools cannot provide for their students. Most public schools have several computer labs which provide students access to programs like movie maker, Google map, and educational games that help support what the students are learning. In addition, they can share information and interact with students all over the world instantly. In our technology driven society, this type of access may be very important to your child’s future.

As you can see it is most important to do your research when picking out the right school for your child. Be sure to consider what your child’s needs are and which type of school best meets those needs.

Picking the Right School for Your Child

One of the most important decisions that parents have to make is what type of school to send their child to. The choices available today are numerous. There is public, private, magnet, charter, virtual and home-schooling options. Every month it seems that there are new options available, and all the options seem to have their benefits and their drawbacks. I will be exploring each of these options in a series of postings to assist you in making this important decision. I feel fairly confident that I can speak on the pros and cons of attending public school, and I will be seeking out the advice of other parents and educators who know more than I do about the other options that are available. In addition to the generalized information provided in these postings, I hope that you will do your research on the schools in your area by talking to parents and children who are already attending the school and finding out how the school is doing compared to other schools nearby. The statistics on schools can typically be accessed through the State’s Department of Education and most schools are more than willing to give you a tour of their facility. Do not take it as a bad sign if the tour is conducted when there are no students in the building, many schools have adopted this policy to ensure the safety of their current students.

It is very important to keep in mind the stregnths and weaknesses of your child when picking out the right school. Not every child fits into every school setting, and finding the school that is the best fit for your child may be the difference between academic success and failure. If you are not sure of how your child learns, Howard Gardner's books on Multiple Intelligences may be a good place to start.