Home Schooling - The New Educational Frontier

More parents than ever are beginning to home school their children.  Years ago, the only people who home schooled their children were those who were very religious.  Even the church schools were not strict enough for them.  In order to keep their children away from a secular lifestyle and ideas that were promoted in the public school systems, many people with strong religious beliefs choose to home school their children.

Over the past decade, home schooling has moved more into the mainstream.  No longer relegated to religious fanatics, more secular people are also choosing to home school their children.  Stores have sprouted up all over the states that cater to those who home school their children.  There are countless organizations designed to provide support for home schooling parents.  There are groups and clubs for parents who are home schooling their children.  It looks as if home schooling is a concept that is here to stay.

Parents who choose to home school their children give a myriad of reasons as to why they are going this option.  Take John and Mary, for example.  Staunch Catholics, they have seven children, the oldest of whom is nine years old.  Mary is a stay at home mom who chooses to home school her children.  Why?

Mary states that she would love nothing better than for her children to have a Catholic school education, but because there are so many children in the family, it is way too expensive for them to even consider.  John is a pipe fitter, and although the family lives in a modest home and has plenty to eat, the cost of uniforms and tuition at a Catholic school for seven children is too much for them to afford.  So Mary has opted to home school their children.

When asked why Mary just did not send them to the public school, she answered that the public school did not instill the values that she wanted her children to have.  Unlike some parents, however, Mary plans on sending the children to public school when they reach high school age.  She also makes sure that they are on a variety of team activities through their park district so that they can meet other children their age. 

Although John and Mary point to the religious aspect that directs their decision to home school their children, not all parents make this choice due to religious beliefs.  Take the case of Barbara and Tom.  Both are professionals with two young children.  Barbara plans to quit her job to home school their children when they reach school age. 

Neither Barbara nor Tom are religious people, in fact they never even go to church.  The reason they want to home school their children has less to do with religious principals and more to do with giving their children a chance at a better quality education.

“I have a degree in teaching,” said Barbara during her interview.  “I think I can do a better job teaching my children on a one on one basis, or one and two basis, as Danny grows older, than a teacher with 30 kids in the class room, half of whom are acting up.” 

Barbara has already taken a course to qualify her to home school her children.  All parents who want to home school their children have to register with the state.  Their children have to pass the regular tests that other children have to pass who are being taught in more traditional classroom settings. 

Barbara has said repeatedly that she feels that she can give her children more attention when it comes to learning and that they will benefit from this attention.  She points out the fact that children who are home schooled tend to do better on testing for college than those who attend public or even private schools. 

“It is all about the attention and learning to work with your child and how they learn,” said Barbara.  She also feels that many schools have a cookie cutter method of churning out students.  Those who conform to the standards of the school usually end up at the top of the heap, while those who question authority are often thought to be trouble makers. 

“I am not raising sheep,” said Barbara.  “I want them to question authority.  Yes, they should do it in a respectful manner, but imagine where we would be if no one ever questioned authority?  We would still be thinking that the earth was flat.” 

Barbara and Mary are both two different types of women, but both have the same concerns when it comes to schooling their children.  They want the best for their children and also want to press their values onto the children instead of allowing the state run schools to pass on their value system to the students.

Other parents are choosing home schooling because it is a safer option.  Take Yolanda Jones.  She lives in a poor neighborhood where gang shootings are not uncommon.  Last year, a friend of her eight year old son was shot in the head as he walked to school in a random, drive by shooting.  Yolanda decided to teach her child at home after that. 

“My son is bright and I want him to excel in school,” said Yolanda in an interview.  “I want him to be able to some day leave this area and live somewhere that is safe, where children can walk to school without worrying about being shot.” 

Yolanda works as a nurse and rearranged her schedule so that she could teach her son at home.  Already, his grades went from Cs and Bs to mostly As. 

All three families have different reasons for home schooling their children.  However, all three are valid reasons and all three children, according to studies, will most likely prosper under this home schooling tutoring. 

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