Is homeschooling better than formal education?
I am sure asking this question is like striking a hornets nest, but I’ve never been afraid of getting stung.
I actually found this very debate happening at Helium. You can read my answer to the dangerous question here. Being as this is a homeschool blog I am sure you can guess where my loyalty lies, but if you are interested in the specifics of my answer it could be a controversal read.
Melissa over at The Lilting House stirred up a great conversation in her post “Can We Really Educate Every American Child?” where she shared the US Secretary of Education’s less than clear answer to the question “what would you do, in a perfect world?”
I wanted to share this quote from the Madam Secretary Margaret Spellings.
The other thing is this notion that, I mean, can we really educate every American child? I mean, we’re so far away from doing that, it’s not even funny. Half of our minority kids aren’t getting out of high school on time. Most of the jobs, the things that are going to make this country and them successful, require a couple years of college these days. So we have to close this gap, because—you talk about haves and have nots—
Does any one else cringe at the Secretary of Education saying that we’re so far away from educating every American Child that it is not even funny? Does anyone else find that statement telling of something seriously wrong with the current educational system in the US? What does Ms. Spellings think is the problem?
Low expectations. What the President calls “the soft bigotry of low expectations.”
Low expectations. Some might point towards the “teach to test” method that most US schools use these days. Children are not taught information that they should retain for future use, or even taught how to seek out the information themselves. They are simply taught how to spt back the random facts given to them onto the mandated tests, then forget about them within minutes of leaving the building.
There are also some who point instead to the parents. They claim that we (the majority) are raising a generation of tv-watching zombies. Children incapable of real education because they have been programmed from birth to sit mutely and absorb the information being fed them from the tv shows, the video games, and expensive “educational” toys. Mama Squirrel at Dewey’s Treehouse shares her own experience and thoughts on this in There’s something in that.
So come on, I want your opinions on this. Is homeschooling better than public education? Is there something wrong with the public educational system? Can it be fixed? And who is really to blame for the fact that we are so far away from educating every child in America?
homeschool, formal education, education, children, learning
May 29th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
I mean, does anyone else find it odd that our Secretary of Education can’t, I mean, form coherent sentences?? Ack. Granted, I communicate better in writing than in actual speech… but it seems like Ms. Secretary should have a more solid answer prepared than the one quoted above, especially since it seems pretty basic to, uh, what should be the mission of the Department of Education: educating children.
I’m biased, as well, toward homeschooling, as we’re completing our 5th year of school, and my children have never darkened the door of a public school… Well, as a student, that is.
Most everywhere we go, I actually find it *sad* that people are so complimentary of my children’s behavior and intelligence. Honestly, I do NOT think my kids are amazingly intelligent — they all have their strengths and their weaknesses — and I certainly do not think that they are all that well behaved, frankly. But, the observers are commenting on my children as compared to other children — other publicly schooled children. In comparison to those shuffled through the system, my children seem precocious and polite.
I find that sadly telling about the state of education in the US.
I do not think that every parent is well-suited to homeschool. However, I think that the ones who are not are ill-prepared because of a misunderstanding of what family life should be, and have been ill-educated, themselves. Single parents from backgrounds featuring sub-par education *can* overcome and successfully homeschool their children. But, I think the sort of “families” and “education” that our American culture is churning out is stealing from parents’ ability to successfully school their children. (Hope that makes sense — I’m not knocking single parents, and I’m not knocking the education of anyone in particular; I’m knocking our culture that proclaims that the two-parent family model is optional, and which produces poorly-educated folk.)
May 29th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
Formal education can take so many forms and can be really great, I just do not think that our public education system overall is doing a fabulous job. Just as an example, in our large city we have over 30 elementary schools but only 1 that is for “smart” kids, those who read early or are really good at math. The rest of the kids are left out of those same opportunities. That to me is fundamentally wrong. The numbers seem to work against the whole process, 20 kids and 1 teacher with 1 assistant just doesn’t work as well as 1 or 2 teacher(s) for a family of children. We can individualize to a level unheard of anywhere else as a homeschooling family. I can search out numerous opportunities for each of my kids to suit his/her strengths and to encourage their weaknesses to provide the best for each one. I do not have to teach to the middle of the room and hope that all 20 students get at least the minimum.
May 29th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
I am at the end of my 13th homeschool year.
I have tried every form of education for my kids- public school, private school, and home school. I like home school the best. My oldest son did get kicked out of homeschool at age 16 because he wouldn’t do the work I required (which was VERY reasonable…I don’t believe in busy work!).
He went to a trade school and got his GED.
My oldest daughter went to our local high school in 9th grade, and is about to graduate, but that was ok for her, not all of them.
The other 5 are homeschooled, and I plan to continue.
May 29th, 2007 at 8:59 pm
I think we’ve gotten this notion into our heads that “more school or schoolwork = smarter kids”. Maybe this is because we look at other countries where kids go to school for longer days or more months of the year, or just seem to work ‘harder’ than our kids. So ‘our’ kids get mountains of homework and standardized testing and a huge focus on ‘results, results, results’. Pair that with our country’s obsession with team sports (or other results-oriented activity) and kids are juggling way too much to be absorbing it all.
Of course, then there are the ‘have nots’ for whom school can be just about survival; whose futures are so bleak, there seems to be little use for school.
I also blame the unions, the administrators and the parents for not promoting more radical change.
Homeschooling is definitely not for everyone and there are bound to be some children who do not thrive. For us, though, homeschooling is—so far—working out to be better than we imagined.
May 30th, 2007 at 11:05 am
As a public school teacher, I have to weigh in on the side of schools.
No, we can’t educate every child to the goals of NCLB. It’s a nice idea, but it won’t happen.
Why not?
I’d argue that we have several major issues in play.
1-A class, not racial, gap.
I’ve taught inner city and I’ve taught suburban. I’ve taught middle class and I’ve taught lower class. You know what the real live evidence in front of me showed me? The racial gap is about class, not race.
A black child of middle class parents will tend to score in the same range as the white middle class kids. A white kids in a title 1 school will tend to score in the same range as the black kids in their class.
What’s the difference? Middle class parents tend to
-Wait until they’re older to have kids. This means they’ve accumlated life experiences, are comfortable with the notion that they’re the adult in the parent/child
relationship, and generally have fewer kids.
-Be educated. As such, they value education in their homes and demonstrate that to their children by reading to them, taking them to museums, etc. This gives their kids an early start on reading and math, and a wider circle of experiences from which they can draw.
-Be invested in their kids education. Middle class parents come to parent/teacher meetings. Middle class parents can afford tutors or tutor their kids themselves. Middle class parents ground their kid when they bring home F’s.
Inner city parents are generally
-Young. The average mom age in my class is low 30’s, somewhere in the my age-5 years older than me range. My husband and I are contemplating having our first in two years. Their youth works against them in a few ways. They tend to want to be their kid’s friend, rather than the parents, which leads to a lack of discipline. They’re less educated, which means I have kids who literally have ZERO books in their house show up time to time. They tend to have more kids, which leads to less attention for each and a very stressed mother.
-Less educated. I once said to a mom that her 3rd grader should read to his younger sister every night. She asked me why. Not “why is it beneficial for Kid A to read to Kid B” but rather why would I ruin their tv time, or why would her younger one enjoy that. They buy video games and sneakers for their kids, but not books. They don’t get worked up over a C, or a D, and often shrug off an F. They don’t sweat retaining a kid in the same grade, calling their kid “dumb” and dismissing it.
-Less involved. This is due to working more jobs, longer hours, and having more kids. I have gone entire school years without getting a mom to come in and meet, or even just call me back. They don’t set bedtimes for their kids, or enforce discipline.
None of this makes parents “bad” or “good”—but it does send a formative message. I can talk about the importance of education all freaking day every freaking day, but if they go home and mom & dad say it’s not important, I lose.
Middle class and upper middle class schools tend to be “better” schools. It’s not just because they can afford nifty stuff like a rock climbing wall in the gym, it’s the parents and the investment they have in their kids. Middle class and upper middle class values tend to result in children who value school and are committed to getting into college.
2-Testing strangles good instruction
Whoever says we don’t teach to a test is lying. LYING. My curriculum started getting the life sucked out of it because I was teaching my students to think like historians rather than drilling them on the name of George Washington’s horse.
3-Districts embrace “new” methods too quickly
The current trends in education make me want to hurl. I loathe reform math as anything other than a supplemental aid or a curriculum for a struggling student. The whole workshop model of a class (minilesson, independent work, share) has made literacy instruction in the lower grades a disaster.
Everyone wants a cure all.
Some new method or program comes out, and a salesmand does a good enough job to sell the superintendent. Next thing you know, the disctrict has embraced the new method with a religious zeal that is truly frightening to behold.
I’m not saying standards or even that district wide curriculum is bad. However, consulting teachers would be nice.
4-Money
I have a master’s degree. My husband has a master’s degree. I make arugably 30/hr. My husband makes 75-80/hr. He has $0 in college loans. I have close to 100K.
Look, I know it’s a dead horse, but seriously, teachers don’t make enough money. Even when you adjust for the 180 day a year work schedule, we make significantly less than others who have the same amount of education. When 1/2 of all new teachers leave the profession in the first 5 years, some amount are doing it because we could make significantly more money elsewhere.
Schools don’t get enough money. If they did, class size would be around 15 kids, we’d all have smart boards and the rest of the current nifty technology that’s out there, and we wouldn’t worry about whether or not the heat was going to work in the midle of february. We also wouldn’t worry about all the dust, cockroach/rat feces, and other allergins in the air. More books in our libraries.
More money to train teachers in the new technology (the older teachers who can’t check their email just kill me). Money to train new teachers in the school’s curriculum. Mentoring.
Money doesn’t solve every problem, but I’ve never heard of a district that said “Oh…this is too much money-we couldn’t possibly spend it all”
5-Teachers.
Yes, I was going to get around to that. No, not every teacher is a good teacher. But that doesn’t mean that we should make certification more difficult to achieve than a holy grail. I passed all of my tests on the first try and my certification still represented a $5-700 expenditure out of my pocket AFTER student teaching (and paying my school for the privledge of not getting paid) for 4 months (choosing to do only 1/2 a year instead of a full year).
My former district had two boxes on the evaluation form. Does not meet standards and Meets/Exceeds. Well, did I meet or did I exceed? What’s the motivation to exceed if I don’t get any credit for it. That mind set becomes pervasive and poisonious.
There are teachers who refuse to change and who can’t be fired because of tenure. But tenure also provides me with a job to return to after I take a year off for maternity leave.
Conclusions…
These problems are challenging. But it doesn’t mean we should give up on public schools.
I will send my kids to public school. But we’ll make sure we’re in a top district. As upper middle class people who are married and are having children later in life, our kids are statistically likely to excel anywhere, but we’d rather give them the opportunities a good public school can provide.
Besides-our house doesn’t have a rock climbing wall.
May 30th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Ultimately, the education of a child is his or her parent’s responsibility. If your child is in a crappy school then get involved. If you don’t know how to help your child then ask for help. If children aren’t getting a good education it’s their parent’s job to fix that. I don’t care how poor you are you can take your child to the library. If you don’t know how to read then go to a literacy class. Until parents take ownership of their own children’s education all of the gov’t action in the world isn’t going to solve the problems. Ultimately, homeschooling is the best form of education there is but not every family is equipped to homeschool.
May 30th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
I definitely believe homeschooling is better, though I do admire the hard work today’s public school teachers do in an often-hostile environment, and realize, as well, that not everyone has the opportunity or ability to homeschool.
My youngest son, now eighteen, was homeschooled his entire life–never set foot in public (or private) school–and grew up well-informed, creative, well-socialized, responsible, and caring. He now has a job, where he deals with the public on a daily basis, and most people who meet him are very impressed with his intelligence, initiative, talent, social skills, and conversational ability.
My three older children were homeschooled for only one or two years each and spent the rest of their school years in public school. However, my oldest, despite the fact that we had to put him back into public school before the end of his fourth grade year due to lack of motivation, excelled beyond our wildest dreams in Reading Comprehension and Language Expression on the CTBS test given to him by the Public School system at the end of that year.
In comparison to his CTBS test results at the end of the previous year (while he was still in public school), his test results indicated that, during the less-than one academic year that he was homeschooled, his Reading Comprehension score had improved by a whopping three years and his Language Expression score by an incredible 5-1/2 years!
The previous year, he’d been below grade level, and after an abbreviated school year at home, during which he didn’t even try very hard, he scored well, well above grade level.
As they say, “You do the math.”
Homeschooling is a great deal of work and requires real commitment, but it is more than worth it! (And, if you should need to send your child or children back to public school for whatever reason, you may do so with the confidence that, whatever time you were able to devote to homeschooling them, will have helped them academically, if not in a number of other ways, as well.)
May 31st, 2007 at 11:48 am
We homeschool, but I tend to think the question is an apples and oranges construction, and the answer will be different for each family
We farm in a small rural community in western Canada. The nearest town has a grand total two schools — not even two districts, and neither has a climbing wall (though there is one at the local college which has a monthly homeschool gym day): a public school and a separate (Catholic) school; the latter has basically the same ps curriculum except for science and the addition of religious instruction. So when school wasn’t working out for our eldest in first grade (she was a year ahead of her classmates and the main suggestion from teacher and principal was that we “let the other kids catch up to her”. Er, no.), our only real choice was home education.
And while homeschooling has become about so much more than academics for our family, I have to say that if Marva Collins or someone similar — including the marvelous retired teachers who were trained with the Normal School system and taught in one-room schoolhouses — opened a school in town (or revamped the provincial curriculum), I’d definitely be curious
May 31st, 2007 at 11:50 am
Oh gosh, I didn’t mean for those wretched yellow smiley faces, just the colon and parentheses. Aack… Any way to edit those out?
June 6th, 2007 at 10:26 am
I was brought here by your gather account. I find this topic extremely interesting. I have been homeschooling for 4 years now. My two daughters are completely different, and both need extremely different parenting and teaching approaches. This, I think is where the buck falls short. Statistically, children in public school get the equivalent of 2-3 hours of teaching per week, and 20-30 minutes face time with the teacher per week. These statistics aren’t really that hard to believe once I think back on my time in school. I often wondered to myself, how on earth did we have time to pass notes, have crushes, doodle, etc… while we were supposed to be learning, now I know. I don’t remember much about the things I learned in school, I more so remember the boys I had crushes on, the clubs me and my girlfriends invented, and the fieldtrip days where we went and learned things that never pertained to my future or school work. I often wonder to myself though, will I miss something as a teacher. Will I leave out something altogether and forget to teach my child some important step they will need in life? Then I think of all the useless information that my brain retains. Why did I learn all of that stuff? It will never do me one bit of good. Hopefully, I can teach my children what they need to know for their futures.
So, my vote is for homeschool if the mother can stay sane while doing so. It does take a lot of patience and tolerance. I know some girlfriends who would literally rip their hair out before they would be good at homeschooling. Mostly my vote is because of social reasons and safety issues. I do need to know that my children are safe all day long, call my overbearing….I don’t care, I am what I am. And I don’t want my children acting like ignorant, spoiled, rotten brats. Sorry to some of the mothers out there, but when moms say to me “I can’t believe how well behaved your children are,” I want to smack you. My children are normal, they are normal according to the standards we grew up with. Just because your children run around cussing, knocking down elderly people, and being heathens in general doesn’t mean my kids are angels….it means your kids aren’t getting disciplined. Sorry if I have offended anyone, just stating my opinion. Thanks for the outlet.
October 8th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
[...] know I’ve taken on the “is homeschooling better?” debate before, but there was another article this weekend that really made a point for me. One of [...]