Many people argue against homeschooling because they are unclear about the purpose of school and the benefits of homeschooling. When I tell people that I was homeschooled for four years,  and that my husband and I may homeschool my daughter, I am often criticized as being a religious and overbearing fanatic.  The purpose of this article is to clarify some of the most common misconceptions about homeschooling.

Homeschooling hinders the social development of children.
School should NOT be the primary method of socialization.  I hate when people say that children should socialize at school.  School is not about socializing.  It is a structured environment meant for learning.  Because so many parents think that students should socialize in school, emphasis has been taken off academics and placed on social skills.  Social skills are taught at home, in the community, and through activities outside the classroom.  Think about it, when was the last time you had to raise your hand to speak to your friends? The key to homeschooling your child is to find as many extracurricular activities as possible for your child.

Children cannot learn everything that they need to know in a homechool.
Home schooling can be better for a child because it is individualized learning. Children learn better when they receive one-on-one instruction.  The number one problem with schools is overcrowding.  If you take that factor away, students will naturally do better.  They get more attention and the learning is tailored for their needs.  In traditional schools, children spend 45-50 minutes a day in a subject class.  This is by no means enough time to learn everything.  Parents should be supplementing this learning with in-home learning to help children become skilled in the academics subjects.  The responsibility of the teacher is to present knowledge in a basic level so that the child understands it, but parents have to ensure that the children practice it.  The time between the end of school and the start of school the next day is enough time to forget.  If this time is used wisely, it can enable kids to become masters of a skill.  In the homeschool setting, you do not have these problems (time constraints) because if you notice that “Suzie” needs more time on writing, you can give it to her without interrupting the day or ignoring the others.

Only college-educated parents are qualified to homeschool.
Parents do not have to be college educated, but do have to be resourceful.  This is true in both the home school environment and the non-home school environment.  If you are home schooling, it helps to have graduated high school as you do need a basic working knowledge of the subjects, but when you do decide to home school, there are SO many resources available for you.  You just have to be willing to look for them and use them.  Many times, you can connect with your neighborhood school and use their curriculum.  Alternatively, you can go online to find ready-set-go bundles.  If you are not home schooling, you still need to be active in your child’s education so being resourceful helps.  You may need to provide your child with extra materials in order to ensure academic success.

Traditional school teach competition and street smarts.
Homeschooling gets rid of the competition factor in schools.  Yes, competition is good later on, but young children need to learn to have faith in themselves.  They need a solid level of self-esteem before they can deal with the pressures of peer-competition.  In fact, homeschooling can prevent kids from falling into the dangers of peer pressure because they have learned to form their own identities.As for street smarts, you do not learn these things in school.  Again, school is a structured community; the streets are not.  You learn these things from life experience.

A personal look at homeschooling.
I was home schooled and had to take all NYC Standardized exams.  I always scored in the 90th percentile. Yes, I test well, butI was also able to learn at my own pace.  My learning was very independent.  I had assignments where she would take me the library and give me a list of things to do and no help.  I learned to do things for myself and that gave me a hand up.

I already mentioned the socializing, but let me reiterate, I had many friends; I had family.  I took dance classes, piano lessons, voice lessons, and art classes.  I went to summer campI, played sports at my community center and traveled a lot.  I am a very social person but I also like to be alone. I am never lonely because I learned to keep myself occupied.

The downside was that in 6th grade I went to public school and was very bored.  I had done everything that they were doing and I was annoyed.  Therefore, I would correct my teacher and make them all mad at me.  My mom decided that the next year I would be going to private chool.

Private School was a tough school academically.  However, I was ready for it because I had such a solid background.  I did well.  College was the same way and I flourished there because I was very independent.  I admit that the traditional classroom has always (and still does) bored me.  I would rather be given a list of assignments and their due dates and be left alone. However, as a high school English teacher is a large public school, I see what happens when kids get lost in the crowds. Often times they do not learn because they do not receive the attention that they need.

Resources for Secular Homeschooling

http://www.oakmeadow.com/Information/FAQ.htm

http://www.independent-learning.com/

http://www.nhen.org/forum/default.asp

Yahoo Group

Find other Homeschoolers in your area

New York Homeschooling Links (links to other states too)