Home schooling verses Public schooling | Students In Public Vs. Homeschooling System

This debate has been going on for years, home schooling versus public schooling. There are extremes on both sides of the equation. Who is right? Is one really bad for children or is there a middle ground? When we compare public education vs. home schools is one really better than the other? Here is an overview of this debate.

Homeschool

out perform their traditionally schooled

A very interesting fact about homeschooled children is that unlike their traditionally schooled peers; race, religion and socio-economic status does not influence standardized test scores. This is something that requires some investigation. Home education vs. public education, test scores show homeschoolers do better.

Why is that? The main reason is student – teacher ratio. Even if you have an extremely large family with 12 children and 1 parent teaching (yes this situation exists) you still have a 12 to 1 student teacher ratio. The average classroom size in the US is between 25-30 children to 1 teacher.

That is a huge difference. Homeschool children are not under the same time constraints as public and private schools are. At home if you need more time to learn a math concept, you take it. In a traditional classroom, you must move on to another subject after a certain amount of time.

Is there a down side to homeschooling? Yes, everything has its negative side. When we compare home school vs. public school it shows that public schools offer more interaction with peers. That is not always a good thing but it can be.

Public schools usually have better equipped science labs than the average homeschool. Some colleges are still not as open to homeschoolers although this is rapidly changing. Furthermore, there are certain standardized tests like the Terra Nova from CAT and the North Carolina End of Grade Test that homeschooler are not allowed to take.

What about public school vs. home school. Are public schools ever a better choice? Yes, they can be. Homeschooling takes a lot of time and energy even for 1 child. Also, home school usually requires a parent to stay home or the rearranging of work schedules so that one parent is always there to teach.

This can have a huge impact on the family, both financially and emotionally. If both parents must work or if the time required to properly homeschool is not available, then public school is a good alternative.

There have been many studies done on public schools vs. home schools in order to decide if homeschooling verses public schooling is better or not.What you have are two sides, whose common ground is really the same, what is best for the children.

In the case of how best to school your child, the choice should and always remain with the parent. It would be a sad day in the US if the government dictated how we teach our children.