Homeschool Education - Is it a Radical Or Right Choice?

Is it really a radical choice for parents to decide toparents can no longer control the other factors
homeschool? Or should we applaud these parentssuch friends, schoolmates and school environment.
for making the right choice about their children'sThese are external factors that can influence the
education?children either positively or negatively.
Some parents nowadays areOftentimes children acquire attitudes from their
thinking-out-of-the-box to make sure that theirfriends at school. Children are vulnerable to
children don't have only the best education butadapting certain manners or attitudes which are
possess also the right values, principles andrelative to the kind of friends or clique they mingle
attitude toward life. There is an apparent increaseand hang out with. On some occasions, they are
in the number of homeschooled students.negatively influence because of peer pressure. For
According to U.S. Department of Education, therethe child to be part of the group or to be labeled
are approximately 1,096,000 students who were'cool' at school, sometimes they do things out of
educated at home in spring of 2003. It is a bigtheir way.
leap (approximately 29% increase) compared toParents of homeschoolers prefer to train and
spring of 1999 which has only an estimatedraise their children the way they would have
850,000 homeschoolers.wanted them to be. They believe that they are
Let us delve as to why more parents are nowmore effective in instilling moral and religious
taking the radical choice of opting for homeschoolvalues.
education for their children.24/7. This is the best advantage of homeschool.
Away from school bullying. This is one of theParents are with their children 24 hours a day 7
primary reasons cited by parents whodays a week.
homeschooled their children. School bullying is veryExperience parents always encourage new
prevalent nowadays. The National Youth Violenceparents to spend as much time as they can with
Prevention stated that there are over 5.7 milliontheir children especially in their growing years. This
youth who are bullied at school. It is about 30%is the stage where children are still dependent to
of total youth population in the United States.their parents. Once they reach puberty, they now
It is a disturbing situation with a negative impactprefer to spend time with their peers and once
to children being bullied at school. Bullied studentsthey reach adulthood, they will spend more time
live a stressful life as they become fearful withwith colleagues, friends and at work.
possible bullying incidents again. They are scaredStrong bond. As parents and children spend more
to be alone like being in the bathroom or in thetime together than the average parents whose
hallway. Victims will have less interest in attendingchildren are attending a regular school, the
school also and even the task of riding a busopportunity to develop profound bond and
becomes a terrifying activity.strengthened relationship is inevitable.
This results in depression, low self-esteem,Homeschool reinforces the value of family.
physical illness, loneliness and in worst cases,Flexibility. There are parents who are always
suicidal thoughts.mobile because of work related issue. Some
Most bullied children also find it difficult to learn atparents find homeschool very convenient because
school as they struggle coping with their fear andit allows them to travel without much constraint.
anxiety. They can hardly focus in the classroom.Travelling can be planned anytime as there are no
Other Safety Concerns. Homeschooler parentsworries of missing the classes or interrupting
are worried about the safety of their children inschool activities.
the traditional school. Safety concerns includeIt indeed gives more flexibility to parents and
drugs, negative peer pressure and accidents.children to travel.
Some isolated cases include children being gunnedWithout doubt, homeschool education offers
down or murdered at school. Children's safety atmany benefits to your children and to you as
school is unpredictably at stake.parents though critics always question the
Some homeschooler parents perceived thatsocialization life of the homeschool children. Are
homeschooled children are safer compared tothey really being deprived of their socialization
children attending a regular school.skills?
Quality Learning. Parents are the primary teacherHomeschool curriculum nowadays have
and models of the children. A ratio of one teachersupplement activities like pottery classes, museum
to two or three students makes a hugevisits, karate classes and so on. There are many
difference in the quality of education delivered toinstitutions also that offer and organize different
a teacher handling 30 to 40 children in a regularactivities for homeschool children. If you can just
classroom.do a little research and get connected with the
Also, the fact that it is their children, education isright network or community of homeschoolers,
more personalized and the result is far better.you will be amazed with the available socialization
Schedules for homeschool are flexible also soopportunities for homeschool children.
children are not forced to wake up early to catchSocialization is not limited at school only. There are
the school bus and options for what the childrenso many venues that children can develop their
want to learn for the day are possible.socialization skills.
Better Person. Parents always want to instill goodSo, is it really a radical or right choice to
values to their children. It is one of their intentionhomeschool? Parents know their children better
and hope that their children become a betterthan anyone else and so does the answer to this
person but when children attend a regular school,question.