Homeschooling

Another old piece I wrote for my English class. I am currently writing another essay on the same subject but now as an adult planning on homeschooling her own children.

Homeschooling

Homeschooling is one of the many controversial issues facing us these days. Everyone seems to have an opinion about it, but most don’t really know that much about it. Its not easy trying to get facts about something that can be drastically different from family to family. As a result, the general public seems to hold some popular misconceptions about homeschooling and homeschoolers in general. Many people see homeschoolers as irresponsible, lazy people who use homeschooling as an excuse to get out of school. They picture homeschooled kids as getting up somewhere around nine in the morning-or later- eating breakfast while doing school before they got out of their pajamas, finishing school in one or two hours, and then goofing off till the next day. Another misconception is the idea that dresses all homeschoolers in 17th century outfits, speaking with “thee’s” and “thou’s,” opposing all technology, and arranging marriages for their children.
The debates about homeschooling rage on, but there is one noticeable missing component in the arguments. Where are the adults who were homeschooled as children to settle the controversy once and for all by stating and proving whether homeschool or traditional education is more effective for raising responsible, intelligent, well-learned, and moral adults? The answer: they are out there, and they are adding their voices to the controversy, but right now there are so few of them they are hard to hear. Homeschooling is a relatively new trend. I, as a senior in high school and having been homeschooled almost thirteen years now, am part of the second generation of homeschoolers getting ready to enter the “adult world.” The first generation was small, just a few people scattered across the nation. They were the pioneers. Now there are many more homeschoolers all across the nation. This second generation of homeschoolers has become so large and so widespread that people, schools, colleges, and the government are forced to take notice.
My mom heard about homeschooling when I was four years old. I learned to read at age three, and when a lady at our church noticed this, she asked mom if she was homeschooling me. Mom had never heard of homeschooling, but she began researching it. She soon decided that, yes, she was homeschooling me. I have been homeschooled for thirteen years now, from kindergarten to twelfth grade, from which I am going to graduate this year.
Even though I have been homeschooled all the way through school, I have been in a “real school” before. I was enrolled in a private Christian pre-kindergarten class when I was four. Mom took me out before the first semester was over. She had several problems with the school. First, I was being held back by the other kids in the class who were still learning the alphabet. Second, the teacher was not good. She used humiliation as punishment, and would frequently cut a kid down in front of the entire class. Despite it being a “Christian” school, they taught evolution instead of creationism. They also celebrated Halloween, Santa Claus, and the Easter Bunny, all of which mom disagreed with. Mom decided that she could do as well herself, and decided to try. At that time, she only planned on homeschooling me through the early grades, and certainly not into high school!
Since then, my family has had ample opportunities to reconsider why we homeschool, and why we will continue to homeschool till both my sister and I are graduated from high school. The reasons we originally started are still valid, but no longer adequate. So after considering, praying, and talking about our reasons at great length, this is what we have come up with.
1) My parents wanted to instill in my sister and me higher standards and morals than what a student would ordinarily get at a public or private school.
2) My parents wanted to give us the superior education only individual attention could provide.
3) They believed it was their God-given duty to train and raise us up “in the way we should go.”
4) They wanted to teach us how to recognize and rebuff other, non-Christian worldviews.
5) My parents were concerned about negative peer pressure, and homeschooling gave them greater control over our outside influences.
6) Both my parents were concerned about teaching us to not only know facts and information, but also to know how to think clearly and reasonably, to be able to use logic and not just emotion.
7) My parents wanted to develop a stronger family in a world where broken families were the norm.
8) Last but certainly not least, they wanted my education to be based on God’s character and truth.
Everyone seems to agree that these goals are good, but they always come back with other arguments. There’s the big question: what about socialization? And then there’s also homeschoolers don’t know how to relate to others, they won’t know how to behave in a classroom, homeschoolers don’t have as many opportunities, the learning quality isn’t as good without a certified teacher, and homeschoolers won’t be able to get into a college.
I’ll answer the big one first. Socialization is not a problem. Homeschoolers are generally very involved in their church, and many are part of a homeschooling group in their area that has activities for the kids. I just moved from Atlanta, Georgia, a few years ago where I was very involved in both my church and my youth group. When I left my list of people I wanted to keep in touch with was a hundred and four people. That doesn’t include those whom I saw and spoke with often but didn’t consider good friends. If you don’t think that the church and homeschooling group is enough, there are many clubs and organizations that students can join, such as Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts. I have spoken to many, many homeschoolers and not one has ever said that they had a problem socializing.
We also don’t have a relating to people. It doesn’t take a school to teach kids how to relate to other people, it takes life. Homeschooling does not keep a child from life. In fact, in some ways homeschooling can help kids relate, because it forces them to interact with more than just their own age group. Homeschooling is not nearly as grade oriented as the public and private schools. I can hold a conversation comfortably with a sixty-year-old or a three year old, largely because of the great variety of people that homeschooling has introduced me to. I have also found that even if I am talking to someone I have difficulty relating to, homeschooling is a great conversation piece!
Many people are worried about whether or not homeschooled kids would be able to adjust to life in a classroom. First thing I’ll say to that is just because we are homeschooled, doesn’t mean we haven’t been in a class. I have taken dance class, drama class, Spanish class, tennis lessons, swimming lessons, and more, and these were all classes just for homeschoolers, provided by adults who wanted to give homeschoolers the opportunity to learn some subjects that their parents may not be able to teach. Last summer I took a college class at a local college for extra credit, and this semester I am taking two more. I have had no problem adjusting to the classroom, and neither have the other homeschoolers I know in the classes.
A question I am asked frequently is, “Do homeschoolers have as many opportunities as other kids?” The answer is yes. The homeschooling groups often go on field trips, just like public and private schools. There are also classes that homeschoolers can take that their parents may not be able to teach. I mentioned some of them before, and there are also homeschool choruses, music lessons, language tutoring, even math and science help available to homeschoolers. Many of these classes are designed specifically for homeschoolers; many are available to just anyone who needs them. Many homeschooling groups have their own sport teams, too, the homeschooling group here in Memphis has Varsity and Jr. Varsity basketball teams for both boys and girls, softball teams, bowling leagues, swim teams, and even cheerleaders! If there isn’t a homeschool team, very often there is a church team that would be happy to have you, even if you don’t go to that church. Lately many homeschool families have been getting their kids into school teams, too. As I mentioned earlier, I and some other homeschoolers I know are taking college classes at a local college for extra credit. I have taken Biology, and am taking College Algebra and English Comp. I have friends who are taking other classes like Speech and even Chemistry! Homeschoolers may have to work a little harder to find the opportunities out there for them, but they are out there and the work is worth it!
Studies have shown that on the national achievement tests the homeschoolers average is higher than students in institutional schools. A homeschooler for seven years, seventeen-year-old Kirk Johnson received a 1600 on his SAT , a perfect score. The learning quality homeschoolers receive has not been hurt by the lack of teacher certification for the parents. Homeschoolers are not only “keeping up” with our public and private school peers, but in many ways are rising to the top levels of academic, artistic, and athletic achievements in the country. Homeschooler Melanie Hadley was honored as a Presidential Scholar in the Arts last year. Out of millions of high schoolers in the United States, only 141 were honored as presidential scholars that year. Out of that 141, only twenty were honored as Presidential Scholars in the Arts. In the 1996 National Geographic Geography Bee and the Scripps-Howard Spelling Bee, several homeschoolers made it to the national level. Jay Marshall, another homeschooler, was given the Academic All-American award at the USA Gymnastics national competition in the class one division, the highest division for USA Gymnastics. A little closer to home, for me at least, is one of my good friends, Chad Wetherill, graduated last year the valedictorian of the homeschooling class, with an ACT score of 34. I good sign of how homeschoolers are measuring up to the other students, is the colleges’ response to homeschoolers. Many colleges are offering scholarships to students just because they are homeschooled, including Harvard. So as you can see, getting into a college is not difficult for us, in fact, colleges are actively seeking out and providing for homeschoolers!
I expect that homeschooling will continue to grow and spread across the nation, and I know that soon the United States will find homeschoolers in leadership positions everywhere and that we will help shape the future of this nation.