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Home Schooling: FAQ
Please email us with any further questions you may have:
- Q1: What is a Home School?
- Q2: What is the better school: public, private, or home school?
- Q3: Does home schooling really work?
- Q4: Where can we get more information?
- Q5: Coming Soon
Q1: What is a Home School?
A: Simply, a home school is a school, and it meets in the home. It
may or may not be religious in nature. It may or may not include
children outside the nuclear family. It may or may not have
traditional structure, schedule, or curriculum. It may or may not
have a credentialed teacher. It may or may not have the approval of
the local school district. It may or may not operate with an
affidavit. It may or may not be augmented by other schools,
organizations, or home school networks.
Q2: What is the better school:
public,
private, or home school?
A: All reading this have likely concluded which school model is best
for his or her children, grandchildren, or society’s children. If
honest, though, too many come to that conclusion based on emotional
responses, media bias, or one’s own educational process. An educated
person, though, is willing to evaluate all sides of an issue. Let
us, therefore, look at the advantages and disadvantages of each
model:
Advantages:
Younger children housed during daylight hours, permitting a parent
or parents to work without providing childcare. This is a definite
advantage to single parents.
Resources, equipment, and expertise that may be unavailable to one
family.
Witnessing opportunities for stronger Christian young people and
Christian teachers.
Disadvantages:
Absence of parental involvement in teaching and discipline during
school hours [unless parent volunteers in classroom.]
Growing violence. Even kindergartners now seriously assault children
and teachers.
Exposure to situations that young people often are not ready
emotionally or experientially to handle.
The desire of the students becomes acceptance by the larger and more
influential majority in the school: one’s peers.
Absence of God from most individual and classroom discussions. This
trains young people to believe He is not relevant.
Absence of God and historical truths from curriculum used.
A difficulty removing incompetent staff.
Taxation to maintain schools. Bureaucracy too often lavishly
maintained at taxpayer expense.
An inability of many teachers to maintain control of the classroom
lest they be regarded racist, harsh, or thought unable to teach by
superiors.
Placement of unruly, disturbed children in the average classroom,
distracting teachers from teaching.
Bureaucratic decisions based upon pragmatism and not what is best
for children.
Social programs or experimental concepts are regarded as equal or
superior to core subjects.
[Earl Anderson is a public school teacher. He has a high regard for the many good, loving teachers in the system.]
Advantages:
Younger children housed during daylight hours,
permitting a parent or parents to work without providing childcare.
This is a definite advantage to single parents.
Resources, equipment, and expertise that may be unavailable to one
family.
Witnessing opportunities for stronger Christian young people and
Christian teachers.
High academic standards in many.
An ability to choose the student body and to remove incompetent
staff.
High discipline and morality standards in a number, especially if
religious.
Religious private schools may use curriculum and classroom
discussion honoring the Judeo-Christian culture and the civilization
built upon those beliefs.
Religious private schools may recognize that humans are spiritual
beings with a need for the God who created them. They may lead
students to faith in Christ.
Disadvantages:
Absence of parental involvement in teaching and
discipline during school hours [unless parent volunteers in
classroom.].
Growing violence. Violent students too often are removed from public
schools and placed into private schools in the hope that they will
turn around.
Exposure to situations that young people often are not ready
emotionally or experientially to handle.
The desire of the students becomes acceptance by the larger and more
influential majority in the school: one’s peers.
Cost of private schooling may significantly impact a family budget.
It may even mean more hours for parents to be away from the home.
Unknown to parents, private schools could be teaching humanistic
philosophy [since teachers quite possibly were trained within a
humanistic teacher program.]
Possible placement of unruly, disturbed children in the average
classroom, distracting teachers from teaching.
Bureaucratic decisions based upon pragmatism and not upon what is
best for children.
[May the Lord continue to use quality Christian private schools to
train youth in this country and others. We are of the opinion that
the ideal private Christian school, though, would be built upon the
one-room schoolhouse concept with an integration of the ages.
Perhaps, hopefully, the idea will catch on. It worked well in the
beginning of America.]
Advantages:
Closer parental involvement in teaching and
discipline. Awareness of what is being taught.
Greater protection from violence.
Greater protection from situations that young people are not ready
emotionally or experientially to handle.
Greater protection from unhealthy peer influences.
High academic standards. Nationalized tests of homeschoolers
consistently show this. Consistent one-on-one tutoring is efficient
if not superior.
Parents better know the academic strengths and weaknesses of their
children and can better design the curriculum to fill the holes.
Also, to design coursework to challenge the child based on natural
talents and interests.
A greater ability [with consistence] to provide healthy adult role
models.
More likely, the child is not competing for attention given to
problem students.
High moral standards can be taught, appreciated, modeled, and
expected.
May use curriculum and classroom discussion honoring the
Judeo-Christian culture and the civilization built upon those
beliefs.
May recognize that humans are spiritual beings with a need for the
God who created them. More opportunities for parents to encourage
the child to surrender to Christ.
Usually, less bureaucratic entanglements.
No cost to other taxpayers. Relieves pressure upon an overly
burdened public education system.
Develops a love for learning, which fosters learning.
Bypasses many adolescent problems as the child strains toward
adulthood and adult responsibility. Home-schooled children often
jump directly into college or vocations at young ages.
Family unit is often more cohesive due to parental modeling of a
servant’s heart.
Parents are stretched to become greater servants, to grow
educationally, and to develop character.
A child can continue schooling despite illness. This is a big plus
for children who have major health woes or exhibit stress symptoms
[stomachaches, etc.] in a traditional school setting.
Better isolation from the dating realm in order to concentrate the
child’s energies on education, maturity, and character.
Curriculum can include subjects and experiences far afield from a
traditional classroom.
Child involvement with all ages, unlike traditional schools where
the primary emphasis is upon those of the child’s age.
A greatly reduced clothing and accessory bill.
The parent can adjust the child’s educational times to the child’s
bio-clock. [I.E. The cheerful early riser can begin early; whereas
the slow starter might do better work mid-morning or afternoon.
Disadvantages:
Possible stress to parents having children in the
home day and night [if unable to arrange outside activities and
support.]
Possible financial strain due to having a parent or relative daily
in the home instead of providing an income. Further, educational
resources and equipment may eat into an already fragile budget.
Possible isolation from others who could provide perspective,
balance, or witnessing opportunities. Possible parental weakness,
character flaws, and shortsightedness might prove a major problem
unless the child is regularly exposed to others without those
weaknesses.
Possible persecution. Possible serious persecution from intrusive
governmental bodies. [Home School Legal Defense Association
insurance is highly recommended.]
Possible serious stress upon the perfectionist or the fearful
parent. The parent that strives to recreate a traditional classroom
in the home may especially have trouble.
Distractions in the home due to other siblings or outside problems.
A grave mistake can be for the supervising parent to run a full home
business during school hours. Few can do both well. A definite
exception is when the parent teaches educational and character
skills through a child’s involvement in that business.
[The Andersons are willing to publish other helpful advantages and disadvantages beneficial to this site. Credit will be given, if requested.]
Q3: Does home schooling really work?
A: Evidence indicates that the forerunners of the home-schooling movement,
now young adults, are developing well. The movement is still young,
and more research is needed. Thus far, though, the indications are
that young adults formerly home educated are tomorrow’s leaders and
thinkers. Perhaps more exciting for a Christian is that we have in
our ranks a growing number who choose God’s ways above man’s despite
opposition. Virtually all studies done reveal that homeschoolers are
better educated and socialized than all but graduates of the most
elite private schools.
Q4: Where can we get more information?
A: Entire industries are built around the home education movement and the
dissemination of information on home education. There is no point in
reduplicating their efforts. Much information is available in
bookstores, magazines, home-schooling networks, and on-line.
One such place to start to look for more information is the National
Home Education Network (NHEN.) Its web-address is:
http://www.nhen.org.
To choose home education for one's children or grandchildren is no
light decision. For the Christian, the education of our children
should be a matter of prayer. Christians need understand, though,
that they are ultimately responsible before the Lord for the
education--accumulation of knowledge, vocational training, and
character training--of their children. The job may be delegated to
others, but the outcome rests in the parents' hands.
Q5: Coming Soon
A: Coming Soon
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