Monday, October 15, 2012

Why don’t more parents homeschool?

My wife and I are strong believers in homeschooling. We see great value that homeschooling provides in areas like the individual attention, the strong family relationships and the better moral environment. At one point I had a list of over fifty reasons why people should homeschool.

Every year there are more and more articles about the problems with public schools in the United States. Many children never graduate from high school and many of those who do graduate are functionally illiterate. Public schools are rarely a positive environment often including gangs, bullying and drugs. These government schools have become hostile to religion and basic Christian values. For a great summary of the dozens of problems with government schools check out Thomas Sowell’s Inside American Education.

With all the problems in public schools why don’t more parents homeschool?

It seems like many parents don’t take the plunge because: It is too hard.

Because homeschooling is unknown many people feel like it is an incredible amount of work. There are a couple issues here. One is a concern over the amount of time needed to homeschool. A second is a belief by many parents that they are unable to homeschool their own children.

I am sure that many parents would be surprised at how easy homeschooling is, maybe even easier than public schools.

Having children in public schools today is a lot of work, from the constant fund raisings, the carpooling, all the late evening homework sessions and so on, having children in government schools takes a lot of time. Most parents would be surprised by how little time it takes to homeschool.

Much of the challenge teachers face in public schools is learning how to control a class of 25 plus students. Parents shouldn’t have this problem. (An out of control child is a bigger problem than education.) There are dozens of ways for parents to get help. There are local support groups. There are online aids. There are blogs and magazines.

Janine and I have blogged for almost seven years now.  One of the reasons we keep going is we want to provide support and encouragement so more parents recognize that they can and should homeschool their children.  Hopefully over the next decade or so more and more parents will come to see the value of homeschooling and save their children from the cesspool of government schools.

5 comments:

Deborah Rocheleau said...

Great post. I've been homeschooled my whole life and I'm really grateful for the opportunities I've had. I think another reason people don't homeschool is they are afraid of the socializing factor. They don't know how their kids will turn out if they homeschool them, if they'll be able to adapt to college, etc. My blog is all about the homeschooling experience from the student's perspective. I hope that, like you, it will encourage some people to give it a try, since I've found it an overall positive experience.

Robert M. Lindsey said...

We just sent our 15-year-old to public school after homeschooling since his 2nd grade. He wanted to play football something fierce and was sure he is NFL quality. We decided he is mature enough to handle it so we let him. You are so right about how much time it takes! And how much time away from the family. He'd rather school at home and then play football.

I really should write a post about it.

Beth said...

I agree! I was a home schooled kid and now, as a home school parent, I hear so many fellow moms say things like "I just don't have the time for that" or "I wish I had time." The sad truth is a lot of people don't want to give up working or "their time" to home educate.

Claudette said...

I agree with the other comments but have another one to add. Many people don't want to go against the grain and do something other than private or public school for their children. Many adults are reluctant and sometimes fearful to oppose the wishes of their parents, in-laws or other relatives or friends. We just have to be sure to always present a favorable image of homeschooling so they others would want to follow our lead.

Douglas Green said...

I have a middle child that I want to home school. Can anyone suggest the best online resources (either free or paid)? You can email me if you like at dgreen@stny.rr.com. Thanks so much.