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home study vs. sending to school

This is a great question, and I don't think you'll get the same answer twice from any two people in any country.  As a teacher, I can see the benefit of both.  However, I will tell you that my brightest students have always had a foundation in homeschool settings--at least in elementary grades.

Both public/private and homeschooled kids get the socialization that they need.  I know that is one of the biggies for not homeschooling, but there is a huge network of people in homesechool settings which provide for art, music, sports, and other programs which parents may not be able to teach on their own.  In addition, these kids spend a lot of time in museums, art galleries, plays, musicals, at concerts, and in other places where there are huge possibilities for socializing and making friends.  Plus, they usually get a better education in the arts since, sadly, public schools are guilty of cutting arts programs first when money gets tight.  Kids need the arts--it provides for culture and understanding the human condition in a deeper way than just in-class instruction can ever do.

Homeschoolers go on lots more field trip than students in traditional schools since it's cheaper and not as complicated (parent permission, collecting money, chaperones, arranging transportation, etc.) to take a small group than it is to arrange for the care of entire classes and in some cases, all the students in the fourth grade to go to xyz field trip.  Field trips are essential--most kids learn better when they can see, hear, touch, and manipulate the thing they are learning.  The best field trips bring the subject to life so kids can really get it--reenactments of history, hands-on museums where you can climb the trees in the rainforest and touch and feel the bats, bugs, snakes, and other critters (plastic, of course) that live there or you can be the fireman sliding down the pole or the doctor in surgery.  Planetariums are the best!

That having been said, there are just as many students who do not experience all these wonderful things and who still do very well in traditional school settings.  There are fantastic classroom teachers out there who spend countless hours creating virtual field trips so their students will "go and do" these things in the seat of the classroom of computer lab.  However, when students are not doing their half of the work, it is impossible to do as many fun things in class related to the subject.  Homework is assigned many times to prepare the way for the next step in the learning process.

It boils down to this:  students must take responsibility for their own learning.  Parents must take responsibility for making sure their children are learning what they need to succeed, and if they are not, getting tutors and help to ensure that learning.

A great education can be gained in either setting--traditional classrooms and homeschool classrooms.  It depends on how badly the student wants the knowledge and much he/she is willing to work for it.

If the resources are employed correctly, the right amount of time is dedicated, and the state-wide educational standards are followed, I vote for home schooling.

As a teacher, I have seen parents disenrolling students from school to homeschool them, only to bring them back to school because "they couldn't make it".

Equally, the success stories that have come from home-schooled children are enough to substantiate that it is an effective method.

I am not a home schooler because I know by faith that I do not have the patience to educate my own child, even though I am basically finished with a PhD in Education- ironic, huh?

Yet, seeing how my class ratios are so fluctuating, how the resources in my school are sometimes wasted, and how my son's teachers sometimes are less patient than me, I am in the brink of considering it.

Sending kids to school relieves many burdens and adds to their socialization.  It affords them the ability to take subjects with different professionals, mingle with kids their own age throughout the day, and lets them build lasting school relationships.

It relieves the burden of having parents tutor children in everything though they might be lacking in advanced knowledge in several subjects. And don't forget about that all-important class in phys-ed.

Sending children to school has many advantages which can not be replicated easily in home study. These include socialization, learning to be independent, and wide range of activities in a good school. However, I believe, studies in school cannot completely eliminate the need for home studies.

Even when children go to school, parents and guardians have substantial responsibility for development and learning of children. Children and especially the young ones, don't just learn the subjects taught in the class. They also learn to live in the right way. Home plays a very important part in this type of learning.

Further, even in matters taught in class, it may be necessary to provide additional individual attention at home, which they may not always receive from their teachers who need to pay attention to all the students in the class. The students weak in a subject will benefit a lot if they receive additional help from parents to understand the basic.

Parents also need to guide and help their children in acquiring knowledge and skill that is not part of their curriculum, but in which they are interested - for example, learning to play a musical instrument.

One of the things that factors into homeschooling that I have not seen mentioned yet is the control over the values that the students are explosed to.  In many cases parents do not share the values espoused (verbally or culturally) in public schools, and decide to keep their children home to control these values.  This is a BIG consideration from many homeschoolers in our area.

And I have always wondered about the socialization problem.   When I was in school, I (we) had two sets of friends:  our school friends and our home friends.  Sometimes they were the same, but, especially as we moved into high school, the often weren't.  I was never short of opportunities to socialize, but in school and outside of school.  Of course homeschooling did not exist when I was in school, so I can't speak from experience, but I don't think I depended on school for socialization when I was younger.

I think a reasoned and thorough research project examining why parents select home schooling would be very interesting.

The determiner of a child's success in either home-schooling or traditional schools is in the parents and the child him/herself.  For the bright, creative child, public school with its "No Child Left Behind" can often disengage this student, leaving him or her unchallenged and bored.  Since a creative child usually comes from a parent of the same ilk, this parent can foster the spirit and desires of his/her child better than can public education, for instance.  In addition, a parent of this kind will ensure that the student participate in the creative experiences available for home-schoolers that Ms. Lepore has so thoroughly mentioned.

For others, the parent may be ill-equipped to home school, or the child is not motivated enough to work on his/her own and needs to be in a competitive environment in order to develop.  Nowadays, however, many parents with children who are not motivated are disappointed in the public schools that are also non-competitive, having lowered standards to accommodate "everyone."  If these parents could send their children to a good private school, they might opt for this choice, instead.

I guess I think it depends on the motives of the parents. If the parent is committed to teaching the child to the best of their ability, and to get the best resources they can to teach, then it can work quite well. Unfortunately, it seems the motive is, in some cases, to shield the child from ideas the parent doesn't understand or agree with.

I find myself agreeing with #8. If a child is home schooled by a parent who is dedicated and self-disciplined and who works hard in that role, surely the results can be good. However, if those factors are not in place, then not so much. In a public school setting, a student may experience a less-than-stellar instructor, but that teacher will be only one of many in whose hands the child's education rests. In a home school setting, the child's education rests in the hands of one person with one point of view and one set of talents. It is, by its nature, limiting.

We frequently hear and may experience the successes of home schooled students when they come into our own classrooms. I have. However, I have seen some of the not-so-favorable results. One of my home schooled students was so shy and insecure in class (a friendly class) that she could not bear to speak--literally. She talked to me only in writing. When I talked to her, always privately, she listened, her eyes averted. She was a wonderful girl who was scared to death. She had never developed the social skills to find her place among others and to realize that she had much to offer in any group. No doubt she is an exception, but a real one. Another of my home schooled students was argumentative, hostile to any idea that deviated from his own strict set of beliefs. For a mind to be so closed at the age of fifteen was disconcerting for me. Should these examples indict the principles and practices of home schooling in general? Of course not. But they show, I think, that not every student thrives in home schooling, just as not every student thrives in a public school. There is no system that is "the answer" in education.

There is no excuse--ever--for public schools that fail our students academically or that allow conditions that threaten or endanger students' well being. That said, public education built this country and will have to save it. I, for one, haven't given up on our public schools.

Today it is great that parents have an option: homeschool or sending off to school.  Homeshooling has come to play an important factor available to those parents who have children that need a different stule of education.  Many children with Attention Deficit Disorder due well in a homeschool situation due to the fact that it is usually more hands-on.  Their are many oportunities for field trips, science adventures, and breaks.  The student with ADHD benefits from all this and is in a setting with more flexibility. The parents that homeschool are committed to their child, they have thought it through, they have prayed and the decided this is the right thing to do for their child.The public schools today are so score oriented that they are not flexible; due to budget cuts have eliminated field trips, and science projects and experiments are put on by a group of parent volunteers. Techers this year will see larger classes, less monetary support, and probably not one field trip.School need to adjust to the ever changing population of students that are from generation "ME".  These children cannot sit still, are constantly texting, and know way too much for their own good. Parents are too busy trying to make a living and get home too late to supervise homework or just sit and talk.  I have been at Back to School Nights and have seen parents grunt when the teacher talks about homework.  They are looking at each other and saying, "Who has time for homework?"