Public Education Vs Home Education Essay

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I cannot tell you how many times I have been in a conversation, telling someone about my home education, and the person I was talking to used the phrase “regular school” in reference to public school. Most American’s are unaware of the fact that public schools have only been the common means of education in the U.S. for a short time, less than 200 years. In that time the school system has gone through many changes and reformations; one of the results being compulsory education laws that required parents to send their children to a public school. In the 20th century, some parents began to fight for their rights to educate their children at home. Some cases even went to the superior and supreme courts including: People v. Levisen, State v. …show more content…
First, the class sizes in American public schools are overloaded. The average class size in American primary schools is 23 students and 24 students in secondary school. This does not give a teacher much ability to build a relationship with each student in order that the teacher might understand how to best teach each child. Second, these students who share a classroom are all individuals who act and think very different from one another. There are seven different learning types, or ways people learn. Why is it assumed that the kids can all learn based on a generic lesson plan? Home education gives parents the ability to teach a child in a way they will learn and understand, rather than the child learning little or getting bad grades because he or she has difficulty learning in a classroom setting. Third, six to ten year-olds have short attention spans. Sitting quietly in a classroom for so many hours may require a child 's full concentration. At home children have freedom. Move about. Get a snack. Do school outside in the sunshine! In my opinion, this develops personal responsibility for school work and independent study habits at a younger …show more content…
When I told my college writing class that I was considering doing a paper on the topic of home education, one of my classmates immediately responded by stating that homeschoolers are socially awkward. Our teacher was the only one in the room that knew I was thinking about that topic because I myself had been educated at home. Most people assume that because one is not in a public school they are receiving no social interaction. There are really no studies about whether or not homeschool students are socially awkward. The best I can do is to go off of my experiences. I fail to understand how public school is considered social when kids are in class most of the day and then go home to work on homework. Some days I would be done with school before noon, giving me freedom to spend the rest of the day however I wished! I was involved in private music lessons, choir, several Missoula Children’s Theater plays, youth group and sports. Needless to say, I did not miss out on learning social

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