Homeschooling vs Public Schools

Stay home and teach my children?

What are the benefits of homeschooling, anyway?

More and more parents are discovering those benefits and deciding to keep their little (and not-so-little) ones at home. And the reasons for making that decision are as diverse as the children.

In my effort to compare homeschooling vs public schools, I thought it wise to consult those who have been there, done that. Much of what you will read has been acquired from teachers, both in the public and the home environments. Comments from friends and family also went into putting this together. It has been a labor of love and I am thankful for everyone’s input.

Family Values

This is the most important topic of all when comparing homeschooling vs public schools. The job of instilling family values and good character qualities are difficult enough at home. But when your child is in public school, it becomes even more difficult. Family values seem to be compromised in the public school daily. From the obvious exposure of bad language to the subtlety of an assigned influential book or movie, family values are under attack.

As a parent, it is your responsibility to make sure their little minds are supplied with wholesome content that parallels your spiritual beliefs and moral values. Your children are young only a short time and you only have one chance. Be diligent.

We have undertaken a variety of projects around our home over the years including woodworking, landscaping, and painting. We have always encouraged input from everyone. Get a head start instilling family values by homeschooling toddlers. The involvement alone has made for a fantastic learning experience.

--As a side note here--One teacher mentioned to me that more than fifty percent of the children in his class had either a single parent (from death or divorce) or a parent who was remarried. I can only imagine the psychological impact this has on families. This spills over into the classroom making it difficult for the teacher. Now, I’m not saying that all homeschooled families are perfect. They’re not, by any stretch of the imagination. But, as a parent, you have much more control over what your child is exposed to when you keep him home.

Homeschool Socialization

“What about socialization?” Of all the questions I get asked, this one tops them all. Parents often make the homeschooling vs public schools decision on this one topic alone. Now stop and ask yourself this question:

Now, let me ask you: If your children are around their peers all day, what type of social skills do you suppose they’re learning? Be honest now. Do you really think “excuse me”, “please”, and “thank you” are words frequently used in the cafeteria? Somehow I think not. And if they are, it would not have been enough for my children. They had to be reminded to use their manners all the time, from the way they talked to the way they chewed. Sometimes at the same time! I don’t know about you, but I would much rather my children learn from me what I value important for our family.

The bottom line seems to center on how homeschooled children can possibly interact with others if they’re at home all day with their mother! As if they might meet up with someone and not know what to say or how to act! Nothing could be further from the truth.

Many homeschool children are able to communicate with any age person they happen to meet. It comes natural.

Could it be because they are not around their peers all day? I tend to think so. Our family found a number of clubs and church functions that gave the children ample opportunity to interact with children and adults. Those positive environments gave the children powerful communication skills allowing them to feel right at home with anyone of any age.

Fusefly is a free social networking tool available for homeschoolers to interact with each other. Our free home school stuff page has a link for you to check it out.

To me, homeschool socialization is the very best there is!

Peer Pressure & Friendships

Don’t answer that! Today, girls are coloring their hair, wearing makeup and having their nails professionally manicured in grade school! Yikes. Whatever happened to waiting until there was gray hair to cover?! Is the color of the hair on your head more important than what you put in it?!

Putting the right thing in one's head is not always easy either. Especially when you combine peer pressure with drugs. This is a growing problem in the school system. More on that later.

Without a doubt, the opportunity for your child to make more friends in the public school is greater because he or she is surrounded by other students his or her age. And if you were to ask a former public school student what he misses most, now that he is homeschooled, he would answer his friends.

That homeschooling vs public schools decision can be very difficult when friends are involved. But keep in mind, he is not going to public school to make friends, but to get an education. There are ways of finding and making friends: joining 4-H, the YMCA, Youth Club at church, a local band or volunteering, etc. Use your imagination, the options are endless. And I think you’ll both be much happier for it.

Do you have a topic you would like to see covered regarding homeschooling vs public schools? Please let me know. We’d love to hear from you!

The homeschooling vs public schools topic is a very delicate one to say the least. It's only fair to take a peek at the flip side:

Discover five reasons not to homeschool.

Learn the negative effects of homeschooling from a parental point of view.

Share your own pros and cons of homeschooling OR public school.

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