Luffman, J. (1998) stated that Home Schooling occurs when a child participates in his or her education at home rather than attending a public, private, or other type of school. Parents or guardians take the responsibility of their children education and may develop their own curriculum guidelines. Most of 80% people agree that homeschooling is better than public school in some reasons. I do agree with that because home schooling has many advantages more than public school. Lack of violence, better social development, more effective learning, better education, and flexible are several advantages that support people to choose homeschooling rather than public school.
Homeschooling is lack of violence based on a survey in Mary Pride’s book that stated four to ten children feared violence at elementary school. There are many kinds of violence that can be done by some students in public school such as physical and verbal abuse, turf lines, drug use, and others. The most common types of violence are bullying and fighting that sometimes happen because of verbal abuse or family background. This type of behavior is common among the children who have a habit to annoy or dominate other kids. Some students in public school said that they are getting stress when they have to go to school if they already got bullying from their friends. It will make the students lose their self-esteem. It also can affect the psychology of the child itself. If the children always get bully with another, it will make them become a criminal or sometimes out of mind. Some children who always get bullied from their friend can do something bad for themselves and for everyone around him because they want to take vengeance on everything. Meanwhile, homeschooler suffered the violence fewer than public school students so they have a better self-esteem which is help them to reach their successful.
To reach the successful, children also should have a better social development that will help them to interact with each other. The most reason people choose to send their children to public school is because the children needs school for social development although, the best social development for children is learning from the adults, who love them, not from another children that have the same age with them. In that age, children have an ability to imitate someone’s behavior, so it will be easy for the child to pick up the bad habit from another children or adult around them. It is also easy to influence children with some bad things or consumption such as drugs, fast food, cigarettes, bullying, fighting, and so on. There is a shocking statistic that shows the social results of the public school system that said over 40% of males are arrested by age 23. It happens because the parents of those children did not really care or understand about their children’s behavior at school. So, that child can learn many things from their classmates who like to watch movie or imitate some bad habits such as smoking, lying, and consuming drugs at school. Joining the homeschooling also good for children in learning manners and building their characters because, the children only spending their time with their parents and some people that their parents’ approve of. That is why doing home schooling is the best choice for children social development because they get more attention from their parents at home and also far from that kind of students at schools.
Home schooling is not only lack of violence and have better social development, but also gives an effective learning process. In public schools, there are so many crowded classrooms because of the big size or amount of the students. It is not effective for the children to learn many things because they will hard to ask the question and master the material. It happens because the teacher must focus on twenty to thirty students in that big class. Some children who do not like school or study also can give a big impact for the other students because they like to disturb their friends to make a joke or to get attention in the middle of learning process. Besides that, some students are also scared to be bullied if they do not understand the material, so they are afraid to ask the teacher about what they do not understand. In fact, with more personal attention in homeschooling, children will understand more about the materials quickly instead of lagging behind because they do not understand. The children also have more time and chance to ask many thing that they want to ask to the teacher or parents, because the teacher only focuses on him or her at that time. at homeschooling, the teacher also focuses on the students’ need and intelligences. So, the child will get Individualized Education Plan or usually called as IEP. It lays out the students’ strengths and weaknesses and proposes ways to help the student accomplish the necessary task. It is hard to apply in public school because there are so many students with different characteristic and intelligences that need to be conducted by the IEP itself.
The best or effective learning process given by homeschooling has a big impact for the academic result. According to a report published by the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) and funded by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, homeschooler achievement test scores were exceptionally high. Students who had been homeschooled their entire academic life had higher scholastic achievement test scores than students who had attended other educational programs.Homeschooler get a better education not only from the learning process itself, but also from the curriculum, the materials, and the goals that can be set by them which fit to the students need and intelligences. Homeschoolers can set their goals together with their parents which are implied from their own experiences. Homeschooler also have option to use an all-in-one curriculum, buy individual texts and workbooks from one or more publishers, or use picture books, nonfiction, and reference volumes instead, or alternative resources such as novels, videos, music, and hands-on- activities. Public school students can get hands-on experiences when they have a free time after school, but homeschooler can do many things as the part of the learning process everyday and every time. They can study biology in the field and get some fossils as they authentic materials, they can build their own robots, and they also can learn from the real actor or educator every time because of the curriculum and standard are already set to make them learn many things not only about education but also about their real life.
Homeschooling canthe best choice for some parents who are really busy in doing their business or did not have enough time for accompanying their children at home. Because homeschooling is flexible, parents can arrange the time for the children to learn together with them and also the teacher. Homeschooling also gives the flexibility for parents and children to take time off for a trip or a family emergency without the fear of missing anything. Besides that, in some public schools of some countries, they have summer holiday which takes three months for the students not go to school. It will makes the students forget about everything that they have learned at school, but it will not happen to the homeschooler because they can arrange the time to learn at least one hour thirty minutes per day depends on the situation and the condition of the students. So, the children can keep doing a little work over the holiday.
In conclusion, homeschooling is better than public school for some aspects. The children and parents who join homeschooling feel that they get some advantages for their future. It is not only about the education that given by homeschooling teacher, but also about the social interaction, and the flexibility of time. In fact, some homeschoolers are ready and accepted to go to college by 11 years old. It will not happen for the public school students because they have to study for six years at elementary school, three years at middle school, and also three years in senior high school. Yet, it is an exception for students who get acceleration. Homeschooling not only help the child in their learning process, but also help parents to accompany their children in some work because of the flexibility of time. Everyone can arrange their time to learn depends on their situation and condition whether for week days, weekend, or holidays. The homeschooler also feel more confident than public school students, because they can ask and do many things without getting bully from others. It will make them learn well and enjoy the lesson. Join homeschooling also good for children’s characteristic because they only spending their time with parents and people that their parents’ approve of. So that, some people are agree that homeschooling is better than public school with all of the fact that have been shown.
References:
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