Which is Right For Your Children? Home School vs Public School

  This is a question that needs to be looked at from many different angles. My first area of concern is how is each child doing academically. Are they ranking in the top 15% on their SAT scores? Just looking at the individual grades on report cards does not give you a satisfactory guideline for how the student is doing in any given subject. Does the teacher grade on a curve? If so then your student could be scoring very high but not getting the information they need. Home school statistics point out that their students rank significantly higher on SAT scores. These students are learning the necessary things to further their education!

  What is the public school environment in your area and how are your children interacting with it? Is there a lot of bullying or gang activity? Is the peer pressure encouraging your children to engage in activities that they normally wouldn’t? In talking to a retired teacher I discovered that 5 different teachers had been transferred from the school where she worked for inappropriate sexual contact. Notice I said transferred not fired. Is the moral and ethical climate of the public school not in line with your beliefs and the beliefs you are trying to instill in your children?  Don’t get me wrong,there are many great public schools and the administrators and teachers at those schools should be applauded!

  Do your children have special needs that are not being met at the public school level? ADHD drugs are sometimes given without the knowledge of the parent and this is of real concern because of the long lasting side effects being discovered. Is this really how you want to handle the problem? Sometimes just changing how the student is presented with subjects calms the problem and the progress forward at an excellent rate. Children who can not sit still can be taught to read while walking around and soon progress above where their peers are reading. Hands on teaching is another aspect that public school lags behind on. They do not have the resources or teachers to help this type of student.

One of the hardest decisions to make is which educational system is best for each child involved. When there are multiple children in the home each one should be evaluated on their own needs and bases. Child number 1 may do well in the public school system and be able to ignore all of the stresses that come from that environment, while Child number 2 falls behind and is continuously depressed at the idea of going to school. Public school does have many advantages. There is more peer contact. Children learn to get along with others who may be different from who they are use to. Sometimes the change of routine from home to school is exactly what the child needs to be emotionally balanced and happy.

So many factors need to be considered. I let my children be part of the decision making process. Some years they chose public school and some years they chose home school. The experience of doing both has empowered them to become awesome adults who are well educated and able to make decisions for themselves.