Introduction
Going back in time, the victory of the 13-years old Rebecca Sealfon in the contest Scripps National Spelling Bee in 1997, brought the attention of the country to the phenomenon that is called homeschooling. In an interview when asked about the advantages of homeschooling, Rebecca said, “the main benefits of homeschooling are that it offers more flexibility and freedom to pursue my own interests.” (“Rebecca Sealfon Knows How To Spell ‘Success’,” 1997).
In that regard, the main area of concern for such practice was constantly raised about the social aspect, where the main stereotype of kids being isolated studying, combined with researches of “Professional educators, who don’t fully understand the many styles of homeschooling”(Shaw), put the shadow on homeschooling, stating that “school is the only place children learn socialization skills.” (Shaw). In that regard, this paper provides an overview of the practice of homeschooling, stating that this practice does not affect social development in children and in contrary provides many benefits and advantages compared to traditional schools.
Overview
For the majority of parents children’s education can be considered the most important aspect of their lives for which they are willing to put all their efforts. Accordingly, this aspect implies that parents are constantly seeking the most efficient ways children’s education can be achieved. In that regard, homeschooling as an educational practice is achieving a wide popularity. According to the US department of education, in 1984 there were only 50 thousand children studying at home. In 1992 the number of homeschooled children increased to 300 thousand. The numbers continued to rapidly increase to an estimated between 500-750 thousand in 1995, and 850 thousand in 1999. (Basham, Merrifield, & Hepburn, 2007).
The most recent numbers show that “About 1.1 million students (1,096,000) were being homeschooled in the United States in the spring of 2003.” (“1.1 Million Homeschooled Students in the United States in 2003,” 2004). Additionally, according to Home School Legal Defense Association the numbers might be closer to 2 million (Basham, et al., 2007), possibly due to the fact that not all states require an official notice that the children are being homeschooled. Thus, it can be seen that as a phenomenon homeschooling is currently on the rise in terms of its general acceptance with the public and specifically with the parents.
The Benefits
The first and possibly the main benefit of homeschooling consist in a good mastering of the learning material. The structure of the school lesson is mainly oriented on the average student and vastly differs from individual lessons. In home conditions the level of material understanding raises because there is no need to follow a particular program, pace or structure, where parents have the ability to “customize or individualize the curriculum and learning environment for each child.” (Ray, 2008). If the student could not understand some point, there is a possibility for the material to be repeated, and on the other hand easier material is learned at a faster pace, and thus more information can be learned in a short period.
Other benefits might include limiting the bad influence associated with modern schools through providing “a safer environment for children and youth, because of physical violence, drugs and alcohol, psychological abuse, and improper and unhealthy sexuality associated with institutional schools, and teach and impart a particular set of values, beliefs, and worldview to children and youth.” (Ray, 2008). As stated by the followers of John Holt, an educator who advocated the reform of schools,
What is most important and valuable about the home as a base for children’s growth into the world is not that it is a better school than the schools but that it isn’t school at all. It is not an artificial place, set up to make “learning” happen and in which nothing except “learning” ever happens. It is a natural, organic, central, fundamental human institution, one might easily and rightly say the foundation of all other human institutions. (Lyman, 1998).
Addressing Social Development Claims
The main criticism of homeschooling, in terms of their role in social development, might has come from misconception of the image of homeschooled children. As stated by one of the former homeschooled students, “”Back then, [other students] thought we were religious weirdos who couldn’t cope,” (Morse, 2001).
This partly might have been caused that the homeschooling practice was at some point practiced with the majority being religious conservatives, a part of which had decided to home school their children for religious matters. Nowadays, this conception has changed, where “only 33 percent cited religion as a reason to opt for home schooling” (Basham, et al., 2007), and in that regard “growth in home schooling may be reaching a broader range of… families and values” .(Basham, et al., 2007).
As the criticism of homeschooling as a social aspect was based solely on the misconception, the support for homeschooling, on the other hand was based on a proven researches and conducted surveys, which accordingly put the claims in doubt in terms of their credibility. The researches show that “Home Educated Children are in fact exposed to nearly the same number of social contacts as public educated children” (“Social Behaviors: Public vs. Home Educated Children,”).
Moreover, almost one in five of homeschooled children take lesson in public or private schools, and in regard of extracurricular activities they participate as much as any students, participating in baseball practices, ballet classes(Morse, 2001), “field trips, scouting, 4-H, political drives, church ministry, sports teams, and community volunteer work” (Ray, 2008).
In that regard, the results of researches only confirm, not only the absence of social development hindrance, but also positive influence on their social development, where homeschooled students perform typically “above average, on measures of social, emotional, and psychological development.” (Ray, 2008). The measures of the aforementioned researches included “peer interaction, self-concept, leadership skills, family cohesion, participation in community service, and self-esteem.” (Ray, 2008).
Conclusion
It can be seen that homeschooling is a beneficial practice that compensates for the deficiencies that the parents might face with ordinary schools in general and their children’s academic achievements in particular. The misconception of homeschooling, which was mostly responsible for the claims of homeschooling hindering social development, is no longer applicable. Accordingly, it should not be forgotten that many of the historical figures of the past, who achieved great results, whether scientifically, literary or politically, were homeschooled. The list of the figures includes but is not limited to Thomas Edison, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln.
References
Million Homeschooled Students in the United States in 2003. (2004). National Center for Education Statistics. Web.
Basham, P., Merrifield, J., & Hepburn, C. R. (2007). Home Schooling: From the Extreme to the Mainstream. Studies in Educational Policy. Web.
Lyman, I. (1998). Homeschooling: Back to the Future? CATO Institute. Web.
Morse, J. C. a. J. (2001). Home Sweet School. Time. Web.
Ray, B. D. (2008). RESEARCH FACTS ON HOMESCHOOLING. National Home Education Research Institute. Web.
Rebecca Sealfon Knows How To Spell ‘Success’. (1997). Homeschool World. Web.
Shaw, I. Social Skills and Homeschooling: Myths and Facts. Family Education. Web.
Social Behaviors: Public vs. Home Educated Children. Ontario Home school. Web.