The Benefit Of Home Schooling

Many people have chosen to take over their children’s education by home schooling. These people have found that there are many benefits in home schooling children.

The evidence that home schooled students do well is more than special interest beseeching. Departments of education in such states as Tennessee, Alaska, and Washington have conducted studies that found the typical home schooled student comes out ahead on virtually every significant capacity.

Public education is something that many people feel strongly about. Some people believe it is the responsibility of society and the government to provide every child with a basic education. Because of this belief the public school system was developed and has become a major part of taxpayer’s expense and a major issue for elected officials. In recent years people have begun to see the problems with the public school system and have become dissatisfied with the teaching that is done in the schools. 

Home schooled students, whether there are 850,000 or 2,000,000 of them, save the taxpaying public billions of dollars a year by withdrawing from the public schools. Using $9,000 per pupil as a rough approximation of current annual spending on public schools, home schooled students save the taxpaying public between $7.65 and $18 billion a year. It has been estimated that home schooling parents spend about $800 of their own money annually to educate each child.

More than 200 colleges, including such prestigious institutions as Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, actively seek to attract home schooled students not only because of their high SAT scores, but for their advanced social skills as well.

Home schoolers placed first, second, and third in the 2000 National Spelling Bee; Patrick Henry College in Virginia was founded for such students. Former U.S. Secretary of Education Bill Bennett has suggested, probably only partly tongue-in-cheek, that Maybe we should subcontract all of public education to home schoolers.

Individualized Learning Is A Huge Benefit Of Home Schooling

Another benefit to home schooling is that a child can have a curriculum that is geared to their learning abilities and needs. For children who are very bright the courses can be more advanced allowing the child to excel beyond what they would be able to in the public school systems. For children who may have learning deficits the parents can spend more time on subjects which are troublesome. Children can have one on one instruction that is impossible in the public school sector. 

The Benefit Of Religious Home School Curriculums 

For people with strong moral and religious convictions home schooling allows a choice of a curriculum that maintains teaching that is consistent with their beliefs. Many conservative Christians, people of the Jewish faith and other conservative beliefs have found that the public school system is all too ready to adopt secular and liberal views and to emphasize these views in the standard curriculum. Home schooling is beneficial in these cases because the parents can teach views that are consistent with their religious beliefs.

The Parent Child Relationship

A great benefit to home schooling is that the parents can have a closer relationship with their children. Children who attend public schools spend many hours each day in the school and away from their parents. When the children and working parents get home in the evening they are all worn out from the day’s activities and very little quality time is spent together. Home schooled children are able to spend many hours each day in close relationship to their parents allowing for a stronger bond to develop. 

Taxpayer Benefits To Home Schooling

For the public as a whole the benefit to home schooling is that there is no cost to the taxpayer. Home school parents pay for the curriculum and materials out of their own pocket. There is also a reduction in the number of children in the public school classroom which can enable the teacher to spend more time with each student. Home schooling benefits not only the home schooled child but the children in the public school system as well. 

The evidence to date makes it clear the success rate is much higher for home schoolers while the actual cost is lower--as little as zero for taxpayers. In conclusion, although no one should be compelled to undertake the unusual dedication required to home school their children, those who wish do to so should not have government place bureaucratic roadblocks in their way. The results benefit students, parents, family, and society.

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