Comments on: Q&A- Public Education, Private Schools, or Home Schooling?

By: Nicole

Nicole — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 23:52:20 +0000

Thank you for the blog and interesting points. I am a mother of 3, the oldest recently turning 5, making her eligible for kindergarten this year. The dilemma has been significant of where to send her but it actually started two years ago when all of our friends were putting their 3 year olds in what is now termed Pre K 3. Then they progress to Pre K 4. I am amazed at how early some parents are willing to put their kids in a full day, 5 day a week program. Coming from a “western public school” background where mothers cared for and taught their kids at home until half day kindergarten eased them into first grade, it has been quite a shock to be out “east” where the pressure to put your kids in expensive private schools is great, even going into more debt than I ever did to pay for college tuition, so that your child is started in the proper school.I was fairly neutral when it comes to public education vs private or homeschooling but after this plethora of options was presented I realized that we all have to make the best decision for our family and the individual child. I personally want to keep my children close for as long as possible during the first 5 formative years and am more comfortable with the way I was raised in part time kindergarten public school method. It seems though like public schools, at least out east/south, are being affected by those withdrawing for private schools, leaving the rest who may not want to be there to have constant discipline instead of learning. This seems to force a parent to strongly consider the other options, especially if going into debt for preschool is the mainstream. I opted to “homeschool” preschool for our kids and am now determining if I can give them the right amount of attention if they are all at home and home schooled. If you think about it, who knows your children and how they learn better than a parent, and one on three is much more time than one on thirty like a school room setting. It is a tough decision and I appreciate everyone’s insights and encouragement to do what is best for the family, regardless of the stigmas associated with either option.

By: Lili

Lili — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:39:57 +0000

Thanks, Betty, for the information about the Colorado school. It’s always great to hear about those kinds of successes.

And thanks, Henry, for sharing a bit of your experience as a home school parent. I appreciate your comments about the social dimension. I must agree that there are some significant opportunities for a home school setting to work to the advantage of a child’s sense of self. I would still say there are–as in so many situations–trade-offs, but I have been impressed with what is happening in many home school families.

By: Henry Cate

Henry Cate — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:00:15 +0000

My wife and I have been homeschooling for eight or nine years now. I’ve lost track.

I will address two of your cons about homeschooling:

“Enormous investment and responsibility for (usually) the mother.”

True, there is an increased responsibility. But there really isn’t a big difference in the amount of time a mother needs to spend. When we compare the amount of time we spending with our friends with children in public schools, my wife and I don’t see a dramatic difference. Because it is so normal, many people forget about the carpooling, the helping with the homework, the Parent Teacher meetings, helping children sell candy to raise funds for the school and other things.

“Loss of regular social interaction—this can be fairly significant, may be mitigated somewhat by participating in an extended home school group.”

When homeschooling first started becoming popular back in the 70s and 80s the big concern was would the children learn anything, for clearly mere parents were not able to teach like the professionals. Now thirty years later few even mention this because homeschooled children, as a group, do much better academically at college.

The big boogieman now is “socialization.” But what does this really mean? Whenever there are two or more people, there is a social situation. The important thing is: “Are our children learning appropriate ways to act in social situations?” I believe that schools do a poor job of teaching good social responses. Most of the time children are subjected to a low grade Lord of the Flies situation, where they learn how to deal with peer pressure and bullies.

My wife and I are the primary teachers to our children of correct social responses. As a result my daughters have very little need to follow the crowd.

Susannah Sheffer, wrote “A Sense of Self” which talked about how most girls in public schools have struggles with their self esteem, but in interviewing 55 homeschooled girls she found these girls didn’t have the same problems.

Many homeschoolers decide to homeschool precisely for the reason that they want good “socialization” for their children.

By: Betty

Betty — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:17:42 +0000

This is a very interesting article. The question you ask is, where do our kids get the best education? There are allot of variable that effect this answer. I've been reading a book called "Lives of Passion, School of Hope" by author Rick Posner. The book tells how a progressive public school in Colorado has transformed the lives of its students. It is about what happens to children and adults when they are encouraged to follow their bliss. Personal empowerment and the development of confidence, curiosity, and compassion can be accomplished in our public schools. It's an amazing story.