Annotated Bibliography On Homeschooling

In the article “Why I Homeschool: The Answers Change Almost as Fast as My Kids Do. But My Commitment to At-Home Learning Remains Strong.” Amy Thornton-Kelly initially home schooled her three children in order to spend more time with them. This was her only reason, or so she thought. Amy Thornton–Kelly explains the many reasons why homeschooling is the best decision she has made. First, she explains that once her husband and her considered homeschooling “the floodgates opened” to the many benefits of homeschooling. It alleviates stress, allows her kids to learn in a healthier environment and allows her to teach her kids in a more profound way. Second, Thornton-Kelly states that homeschooling allows her kids to better master subjects,

Homeschooling a child can drastically affect their lives in the future, and put them in a clouded state of mind for seeing what the world is. Schooling your child from home will hold them back from learning a wide variety of basic skills that can be easily provided in public or private school systems. Although some see homeschooling as a good way to shelter their children from the world they view as harsh, it is not giving them any chance to gain common social skills. Social skills cannot be taught to a child, they are something the child must learn from interaction with his or her peers. Furthermore, homeschool teachers are not required the level of training and experience that a teacher at a public school are required (Hudak). Diversity is something widely portrayed in school systems; however, homeschooling doesn't allow students to bear witness to the diverse nature found in school systems.

One of the major problems with homeschooling is socialization. But what does that even mean you ask? Socialization is basically the act of socializing, but it also means learning how to interpret and use a society’s norms.

Have you ever done something so controversial that it brought extreme criticism to you? This is what happened to David Mills. In “Homeschooling’s Liberalism” by David Mills, we read a story about Mills personal experience when he tells people his children are homeschooled. The story he tells us is more about their reactions and why he feels justified in homeschooling his children, rather than how Mills homeschools his own children. Mills stands by his decision to homeschool his children for several reasons, among them; his belief that the school system isn’t doing the best they can in terms of education. This story is actually eye opening and doesn’t make the idea of homeschooling as crazy as I used to think it was.

Being homeschooled gives you options for yourself and your surroundings. “They’ve had complete control over their bodies, minds and spirits almost all their lives. As a result, they know exactly who they are and what they’re passionate about” (Source B). Homeschooling makes you think outside of the box. Think learning on a new level, you can still

The homeschooling movement has been growing gradually over the past few years. According to About Education, homeschooling is a type of education where children learn outside of a school setting under the supervision of their parents. The family is able to decide what their children learn and how it is to be taught, while corresponding to government regulations that may apply in their state or country. Today, homeschooling is a broadly acknowledge educational alternative to traditional public or private schools, yet some people are not aware of what homeschools are like or the effects it may have on students. In his article, “Revisiting the Common Myths about Homeschooling,” Michael Romanowski, a professor of education in the Middle East, writes about four common myths about homeschooling and explains why the they are not true. On the contrary, Randall Curren and J.C. Blokhuis, the authors of “The Prima Facie Case Against Homeschooling,” believe common schools do a better job than parents of preparing children for public life. They are not specifically asserting that common schools are better than homeschooling, but a common school with professional trained teachers seems better than parents educating their own children. Ultimately, Romanowski’s concrete approach to his article by invalidating the myths proves to be more influential than Curren and Blokhuis.

Years ago, many parents decided to do homeschool with their children because they think that can teach as well as schools do. Parents teach infants the basic behaviors and knowledge as a way to show them how to behave in society. But, in many cases is not right to think that kids can learn everything from home in order to develop all the skills that we have as social creatures. Parents do not have enough knowledge to educate their children. It causes that kids do not receive a correct education to continue their higher education at a university. It means, a child without the same opportunities. Almost 15% of people that received homeschool did not get into a university and becomes criminals because consider they had not the same opportunity as other people had. Obligatory education can decrease the recruitment on early age from a criminal band. Creating an equality and safer

Before presenting both the positive and the negative aspects of homeschooling it is worth mentioning that the deciding factor for parents choosing to homeschool as opposed to public schooling generally falls into a biased opinion of public schooling. As mentioned in an NPR radio interview, “the number one reason parents give is the desire to provide religious or moral instruction and that the second most popular reason, closely followed behind, was a concern about the school environment” Martin, M. (2013). These type of reasoning for home schooling presents some valid question, such as, who determines what the best approach or the best form of education? Is the quality of education

Education in our society is a very important factor in shaping our future. One’s future is depended on the education they receive and everyone is somehow affected by this. Children from the ages of kindergarteners to seniors in high school, college graduates, and stay at home mothers, are all shaped by the education the government provides us. There are many different ways to acquire an education some through private schools, public, charter, and being homeschooled. However, homeschooling is growing more in popularity than it has ever been.

Another reason that people may think homeschooling is not good for kids, is that they don’t get a well rounded education. In the article “Homeschooling Curricula Do Not Meet Academic Standards,” it talks about how a mother or father can teach their kids when they, the parents, haven’t been to college (Shives). The teachers that teach in public, private, and charter schools have gone to college to learn how to teach their students. These teacher take years of college to be able to teach kids what they need to know. The teachers take specialized classes for specific grade levels as well. These classes are all tailored to help kids learn in each stage of their lives. In my personal experience when I’ve had Algebra homework and needed help, my

Homeschooling, down to its essence, is just school done in the comfort of your home. Compared to regular schooling, there is far more interaction and one on one time with the teacher, and more dedication on the homeschooled and the homeschooled alone. This is great for those who cannot learn with others, be it that they cannot keep up with the rest of the group or they simply cannot focus on what is going on with a number of others doing the same.

Rachel Gathercole, the author of The Well-Adjusted Child: The Social Benefits of Homeschooling says “Whatever the teaching methods used in school or homeschool, it is ultimately the social environment itself that distinguishes homeschooling from conventional school.” When it comes to being socialized there is a difference between being homeschooled and being a homeschooler. A homeschooler is the image that society has planted in many people’s minds to be an anti-social, long skirt wearing, and religious children. But, being homeschooled is simply a child that is doing school at home. While doing school at home students are being challenged in social norms, they have more time for extra curricular activities, most are learning skills that are not being taught in a regular classroom setting, it has been found by Rockney Randall, author of The Home Schooling Debate: Why Some Parents Choose It, Others Oppose It gathered, “When speaking to a student that has grown up in a household that participates in the homeschool traditions I found that 9 times out of 10 the homeschooled student makes better eye contact, uses better grammar when speaking, and can carry a better conversation.”

“This political resistance to schooling at home came from those who saw, and see, this movement as detrimental to the “common good” and to the equity and quality of education for all” (Cooper & Sureau, 2007). To further complicate things, many homeschooling families, private school families and families without children are resistant to the need for them to pay taxes through yearly property taxes. On one hand, many will argue that citizens do not have a say in what the government utilizes their tax dollars for. In the end, all citizens paying taxes do so because they live in a community and that money is being used for the better of the community. On the other hand, homeschoolers, private school patrons and families without children are requesting a tax credits or changes to the tax laws that would allow them to opt out. “Under a properly structured tax credit program, the tuition money never goes to the government. Rather, that money is retained by taxpayers who opt into the program for use on education in the private market” (LaFerrara, 2011). Structured tax credit programs would then provide homeschooling and private school parents with funds to finance the education of their children outside of government run schools. Ultimately, politicians can not deny the popularity of homeschooling and provide adequate tax credits to them. Homeschooling cannot be stereotyped anymore as the

For the first 230 years of our history, parents, not the government, were in charge. Competence in reading, writing, and arithmetic was nearly universal at the time of the American Revolution. But by the mid-nineteenth century, a band of reformers led by Horace Mann of Massachusetts replaced our founding, free-market education system with a system of state-run education, with compulsory attendance and standardized curriculum. (Forstmann, 2001) Homeschooling has been around for a long time and is not going anywhere. It continues to increase as the year's pass, and it’s not slowing down. Many pioneers have fought for homeschooling, and new ones continue to surface. While the public education continues to downplay homeschooling, home educators continue to flourish in many ways by performing academically and becoming professionals in their field of study. The reasons parents chose to homeschool for religious reasons, low standard in public schools, academic advancement, and a safer environment. From my own experience with homeschooling, its beneficial for a variety of reasons. One reason would be one on one teaching according to the child’s learning style. When you compare this method to the public sector, children are receiving constant tutorial help from their parents. Receiving tutorial help doesn’t mean that the child will not know how to perform without assistance but prepares the child to study on their own and master the scope and sequence of studying. A child will have

Postlewaite, Charlotte C. "The Home School Debate. (Cover Story)." State Government News 47.2 (2004): 18-20. Academic Search Complete. Web.