The Case for Care via Video-Telephony, Essay Example

Introduction

In recent years, homeschooling has gained popularity. The number of children being homeschooled has increased tremendously with an estimated 1.6 million students being homeschooled (Collom, 2005). Yet, there are many concerns about the adequacy of the education that those children are receiving. Many educators, policy makers, and other stake holders in the educational system express that they are unsure that parents, who are not certified teachers, are capable of providing an effective education to their children. Others conclude that the materials being used for the instruction is inadequate. The most common concern was the fact that homeschooling does not allow children the full range of curriculum and social experiences. The homeschooling experience does not provide proper educational rigor, students do not obtain necessary social skills, and parents often lack proper materials needed.

Background to Homeschooling

Homeschooling has been surfacing and dissipating for some time. There was a great increase in the number of homeschooled students’ right after the World War I, when government enacted compulsory school laws. After the 1870s, it dissipated for a while, but became popular in the 1960s again. Around this time, John Holt and Raymond Moore, popular forerunners of education, began encouraging parents to school their children at home. Moore believed that it was every Christian family duty to educate their children themselves, while Holt was more concerned with the curriculum and pedagogy being taught in the public school system. Because Moore had worked for the Department of Education, he made the concept of homeschooling very popular. The two put their ideas together and came up with a formalized instruction, with a Christian grounding, that laid the foundation for education of students between the ages of 8 and 12 years old (Beato, 2005). Today, homeschooling is considered an alternative form of education for parents who would rather not enroll their children into a public or private facility because they have little faith in the educational reform system.

Educational Rigor

The educational rigor of any homeschool depends upon the education of the parent teaching the curriculum. Sadly, many parents are just not properly educated to teach their children with concentrated rigor and strategy. Many studies have been conducted to determine the academic success of homeschooled students and have determined that students who come from better educated, richer families perform better on standardized testing than students from less educated families. As a result of these factors, there should be standards in place to guide homeschoolers in their educational endeavors. Also, parents that have more than one child often have older children giving instruction to smaller siblings. This tactic causes older children to neglect their studies. There are thirty-nine states that do not have parent education requirements and parents who do not have a high school diploma can homeschool their children. Some states have no subject requirements, hours of instruction mandates, or records to be maintained.  Another 25 states have no academic progress or assessment requirements (Cooper & Sureau, 2007).

Social Skills

Homeschooled children are often hindered by lack of socialization skills when they enter the world outside of homeschooling. Socialization helps students learn social skills that help them to interact with others by abiding by social rules and behaviors (Arora, 2006). Peer interaction is a great part of general education. In public and private educational settings, students have the opportunity to work with other students and learn how to compromise and work out differences through the experiences they have in school. This is often unlikely in the homeschool setting because the parent is the mediator and solves problems that the siblings may encounter. In a school setting, students have the opportunity to interact with other students from various age groups; whereas, the homeschooled child only interacts with the parent or few siblings. Nevertheless, some homeschoolers have a great network of friends and social outings with other homeschooled children. They may be involved in field trips, recitals, and even dual-enrollment with local community colleges. However, many do not interact with other students and lack the required social skills to adapt to the outside world. One study found that only 13 percent of homeschooled students interacted with other students and were involved in activities. Many home schooled students reported feeling lonely and isolated from the outside world. The same study reported that adults between the ages of 24-39 who were homeschooled reported having suffered from depression, anxiety, and social phobias due to cultural alienation (Arora, 2006).

Materials

Most homes are just not equipped to become classrooms. Some classes require labs for experiments and other hands on activities. It can be very difficult for parents to acquire the necessary materials and chemicals to conduct experiments at home.  Homeschooling can prove to be very costly, too. Teaching tools, books, and computer software can add up very quickly. Some parents choose to buy homeschooling computer programs. It can be difficult for teachers to keep up with the latest trends in education, so for a parent at home the task can be even more daunting.  With Common Core on the forefront, homeschoolers are affected as well (Cooper & Sureau, 2007). Homeschoolers feel they have the right to choose their curriculum, but do they really. With Common Core being adopted by all fifty states, homeschoolers are bound to run into Common Core standards when the leave the home school realm.

Conclusion

Homeschooling is an option that many parents are taking. Yet, some children are falling behind because their parents lack the necessary education needed to adequately educate their children. Often parents are unable to provide the necessary rigor to challenge students. Students also lack the social skills needed because of the limited access they have to other kids their age. Finally, parents are often teaching without the necessary materials and facilities, which in turns short changes the students in hands on experiences.

References

Arora, T. (C.M.J.) (2006). Elective home education and special educational needs. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 6(1), 55-66.

Beato, G. (2005). Homeschooling alone. Reason, 36(11), 32-40.

Collom, E. (2005). The ins and outs of homeschooling: The determinants of parental motivations and student achievement. Education and Urban Society, 37(3), 307- 335.

Cooper, B. S., & Sureau, J. (2007). The politics of homeschooling: New developments, new challenges. Educational Policy, 21(1), 110-131.