Homeschooling
Homeschooling
For the first five years of my education I went to a few different public schools. My dad is in the Air Force, so I never stayed at any one school longer than three years, however I did get a general feel for how public school works. It has its cliques, its teachers that everyone loves and the ones everyone dislikes, and a constant interaction with kids or teens of the same age. This constant interaction, more often than not, provides a means of negative peer pressure leading to kids and teens who don’t always make the best choices. Sadly, I was influenced by my peers to do things I wouldn’t normally do. So, after a few years of public school my mom decided this wasn’t the best way for me to be educated, so for the past seven years I’ve been homeschooled. Over this period of time I’ve come across a handful of people that think being homeschooled puts me at some kind of disadvantage, however, through my personal experiences homeschoolers have more free time, are better socialized, and receive a better education than public school students.
Let’s start with the amount of time spent on school work itself. The longest I’ve ever spent on any one day’s work is about 5 or 6 hours, and on an average day I spend a little less than 4 hours doing school work. In communicating with other homeschooled students, not too many of them spend more than 5 hours a day on school, unless they are pursuing a subject which they are very passionate about. So what do homeschoolers do with all that extra time? One example given by Charles Glenn declares, “Last Christmas season, one of my daughters noticed that most of the other young dancers in The Nutcracker were home schooled; their flexible schedules made it easy for them to attend the rehearsals.” This is a perfect example of what makes homeschooling, not only good, but maybe even better than public schooling. On an average day a public school student may have up to 4 hours of homework or more! Add that to 8 hours
For the first five years of my education I went to a few different public schools. My dad is in the Air Force, so I never stayed at any one school longer than three years, however I did get a general feel for how public school works. It has its cliques, its teachers that everyone loves and the ones everyone dislikes, and a constant interaction with kids or teens of the same age. This constant interaction, more often than not, provides a means of negative peer pressure leading to kids and teens who don’t always make the best choices. Sadly, I was influenced by my peers to do things I wouldn’t normally do. So, after a few years of public school my mom decided this wasn’t the best way for me to be educated, so for the past seven years I’ve been homeschooled. Over this period of time I’ve come across a handful of people that think being homeschooled puts me at some kind of disadvantage, however, through my personal experiences homeschoolers have more free time, are better socialized, and receive a better education than public school students.
Let’s start with the amount of time spent on school work itself. The longest I’ve ever spent on any one day’s work is about 5 or 6 hours, and on an average day I spend a little less than 4 hours doing school work. In communicating with other homeschooled students, not too many of them spend more than 5 hours a day on school, unless they are pursuing a subject which they are very passionate about. So what do homeschoolers do with all that extra time? One example given by Charles Glenn declares, “Last Christmas season, one of my daughters noticed that most of the other young dancers in The Nutcracker were home schooled; their flexible schedules made it easy for them to attend the rehearsals.” This is a perfect example of what makes homeschooling, not only good, but maybe even better than public schooling. On an average day a public school student may have up to 4 hours of homework or more! Add that to 8 hours
Bibliography: Glenn, Charles. "Kingdom of Children: Culture and Controversy in the Homeschooling Movement. (A Not-So-Radical Alternative)." First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life (Feb 2002): 58(4). Academic OneFile. Gale. Northeast Lakeview College. 24 Sept. 2007 <http://proxy.nlc.accd.edu:2058/itx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=AONE&docId=A63856605&source=gale&srcprod=AONE&userGroupName=txshracd2907&version=1.0 >. Lines, Patricia M. "Homeschooling comes of age." Public Interest (Summer 2000): 74. Academic OneFile. Gale. Northeast Lakeview College. 24 Sept. 2007 < http://proxy.nlc.accd.edu:2058/itx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=AONE&docId=A82472995&source=gale&srcprod=AONE&userGroupName=txshracd2907&version=1.0 >. Romanowski, Michael H. "Revisiting the common myths about homeschooling." The Clearing House 79.3 (Jan-Feb 2006): 125(5). Academic OneFile. Gale. Northeast Lakeview College. 24 Sept. 2007 <http://proxy.nlc.accd.edu:2058/itx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=AONE&docId=A144751704&source=gale&srcprod=AONE&userGroupName=txshracd2907&version=1.0 >