Facts About Home Schooling

by Colin Jones

If a survey by the National Center For Education Statistics is to be believed, roughly 1.1 million children underwent home schooling in 2005 alone. That is a great deal of children. Not so long ago, homeschooling used to be an extreme statement - something like a declaration of independence.

It was the conservative Christians who pushed for homeschooling in the 1980's and legalized it in every State. But nowadays the typical homeschooling pupil is not religiously motivated.

Later surveys indicate that parents are really fed up with the public school system where a lot of the learning is superficial and compulsory. They are also concerned about the negative environment in school, ranging from drugs and abuse to negative peer pressure.

Because of this, we have a surprising mixture of people who form the homeschooling world of today. They cut across all religious creeds and all regional borders. Their chief goal is providing meaningful and productive education through a means that strengthens the bond between the various members of the family.

These families all have one major thing in common - a long standing commitment to the sanctity of childhood. The children of these families are given a primary position. Many believe, and, probably, rightly so, that home schooling allows parents to bring up their kids in a more natural and nurturing environment.

Public schools can make a child nervous, subservient and downright mean. Children who receive their education at home are protected from these damaging, negative influences until they attain an age where they can withstand them.

Home-schooling draws the whole family into the quasi religious task of teaching. Everyone has a role to play. Both the parents together form a bond with the children. Any experience can be turned into an educational experience. Both the parents are aware of exactly what is going on in their child's head.

Parents also have a greater say over the kind of religious and moral values that the child is taught. Even watching a film together can become a learning experience. Trips to the libraries, zoos, museums and other places become educational experiences as well as recreational ones.

A home-schooling family is usually dependent on the income of one earning member. That means that often outgoings have to be curtailed and proper planning of expenditure is necessary. This helps to bring the family members together and everybody becomes involved in the process of saving money.

Just having a parent at home to supervise, to nurture and to care for the children brings with it a lot of love and caring. Even the husband chips in and there is just no room for boredom.

All right, problems do crop up, and there will be many misgivings in your mind, but when you know that your children can always count on you, and your kids know it too, then homeschooling becomes a richly rewarding experience.

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