Homeschooling

I mentioned my views on a particular situation in regards to homeschooling in my most recent post. I figure that I should elaborate.

I am not against homeschooling in every single instance, and I'm certainly not for legislating against homeschooling. People in this country should have the right to choose to educate their children themselves. I am, however, against homeschooling in most cases where I've seen it applied.

While working at one's own pace might seem ideal, homeschooling often does more (or much less) than that. Although I haven't done much research into the legal side of the issue, I understand that (depending upon which state one is speaking of) there are more or less legal restrictions into homeschooling. But there are sometimes ways around these legal restrictions or--as I fear is too often the case--they are not strict enough.

If used properly, homeschooling could allow a child to move leagues and miles ahead of his peers, exploring the topics and subjects that most interest him while making sure the basics are covered in other areas.

Unfortunately, there are often side effects to homeschooling. Such as under-developed social skills. Or even a fundamental lack of knowledge about certain subjects.

(While I understand that anecdotes do not equal truths, I only have anecdotal evidence to present.) Of the fully homeschooled children I have met (at least a dozen), only two have been well adapted to "normal" social interactions. Some of the homeschooled children I've met were homeschooled only for a few years. They seemed to be much better adapted to "normal" social interactions than those who were completely homeschooled.

My main problem with homeschooling, if the reader has not yet guessed it, is that it forces children out of the microcosm created within the public school and surrounds them only with biased adults. These adults do not treat the child or children as they will later be treated by their peers because these adults are their parents.

As a boy scout and as a boy scout leader, I've witnessed no fewer than eight different homeschooled children over the last decade. The children did not fit in with their peers within the scout troop and often suffered because of it. There was never any outright bullying and certainly never any hazing, but there didn't have to be. Children can shun. Children can cast-out. And until those homeschooled children learned how to play by The Group's social rules (the group being the scout troop), they were not accepted as members.

As I mentioned before, not all homeschooling is bad. Sometimes, it works. I know two peers who were both homeschooled and get along great. They lead very active social lives, and they are rather popular at my current school. I believe that their parents forced them frequently (for twenty or more hours per week) into a social situation that was not entirely under control.

I hope this makes clear what I'm trying to say; I'm not sure that it did, and I am sure that I'll be returning to this subject again.