Homeschooling vs. The Public School System BY TAYLOR SPILKER

“ ” Lawrence Rudner, being the head of ERIC, saw lots of studies that indicated that homeschooled students excel, and he didn't believe any of them. He believed they were all methodologically flawed. He got so sick of seeing these studies that he finally decided he was going to create the perfect study to show once and for all that homeschoolers are probably below average. ERIC is a group that collects all sorts of studies that have been done towards education. Many people like Rudner have negative feelings towards the homeschooling system and they seek many ways to discredit it. Through out all of my research on homeschooling vs. public school I have read more negative comments about homeschoolers than I thought possible. Some of the more common comments were that homeschoolers end up being illiterate, socially awkward, and fail to succeed in gaining a further education. Let me show you the result of Rudner’s research to discredit homeschooling. EVALUATION

As you can see in this graph, instead of discrediting homeschooling Rudner actually proves that homeschooling is actually a higher form of education! Many studies similar to Rudner's have been and all resulting in the same manner.

So Why Do Homeschoolers Excel So Much Academically? Although professional educational teachers have experience in teaching, they lack the kind of care and understanding that only a parent can have for their children. Parents know the needs of their children and in a homeschooling setting parents can give them the kind of one-on-one attention that may not be available in a public school setting. Another reason why homeschoolers excel academically is because they become much more independent at a so much younger age. Instead of sitting in a classroom listening to the teachers lectures, homeschooled children often are assigned a project or material that they study independently. Homeschoolers are also not limited in what they can study. Most parents will base the child's assignments around the interest of that child. This method of teaching helps children stay excited about learning and also helps point them in the direction they want to go for a career.

What About A Homeschoolers Socialization? One of the biggest concerns that many parents and teachers have for a homeschooled child is how will they be able to socialize? I ask, is school the only place in the world that a child can socialize? It may be the most common place, but not the only place. Most homeschoolers have the chance to get out and socialize a lot more than public school children because they don’t have to worry about one thing. Homework! That frees up their evenings to be with family and friends and socialize. Homeschoolers are also just as involved in sports as public schooled kids and they participate in organizations like Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts.

So Why Is The Homeschooling Population So Much Smaller? Really it doesn’t make much sense to me either. According to the Progress Report released by the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) in 2009, homeschooling is a much better educational system and it is much cheaper. The Progress Report states that homeschoolers scored on average “37 percentile points above public school students on standardized achievement tests.” That percentile did not vary much with gender or financial circumstances. In addition to being a highly effective system, homeschooling is a huge money saver according to the HSLDA. Public schools spend about $10,000 per child per year whereas the average Homeschool family spends about $500 per child per year. Given those calculation I would think that more parents would start homeschooling their children. In reality, homeschooling is becoming much more popular than most people think. There are over 2 million homeschooled children in the US which makes for about 4% of all school aged children.

In Conclusion. So we can see all the different benefits to homeschooling, but is homeschooling right for every child? I do not believe it is. There exist many situations where homeschooling would be counter productive for the child, like if both parents work full time jobs. However most parents do not homeschool their children because they don’t know enough about homeschooling and fear that they wont do a good job. Homeschooling is fun, educational for both child and parent, and is much more affordable. Many Professional scholars have tried to discredit homeschooling, but they always come to the same conclusion. Homeschooling is a highly effective educational system.

Citation Page Lifestylenews.com New Study Shows Homeschoolers Excel Academically, Progress Report 2009: Homeschool Academic Achievement and Demographics, Research Against Homeschooling? Rudner, Lawrence. Research Against Homeschooling by homeschooling-family.com