Today, bullying is a common occurrence in most public schools. While not all children are affected, it is a reality for many, and the consequences can be devastating. Not only is it emotionally harmful, but it also makes it difficult for some children to receive a good education and learn effectively. Unfortunately, drugs and gangs are also present in the public school system. Homeschooling offers an alternative to these potentially harmful influences.
Other negative influences that homeschooling avoids include peer pressure, competition, and issues with low self-esteem. During the high school years, most girls struggle to maintain a high level of self-esteem. Studies show that girls who learn at home have higher self-esteem that remains intact during their high school years. Children who learn at home also don't have to worry about the whole “fitting in” issue that affects almost every child in the public school system. I believe that the truth is that students who study at home are not well socialized.
I hate to tell you this, but there's nothing normal about our children. Your homeschooled child is different from the schooled population because they haven't experienced continuous school-based socialization and standardization. Long-term studies suggest that the psychological effects of homeschooling later in life are generally positive. Homeschooling students are doing well and are certainly no worse off than their public school classmates. While some people may talk about homeschooling neglect and abuse, the statistics don't indicate anything like it, far from it. My experience and the studies that I have read for many years, which are recorded in my book, show that the opposite is true and that children who learn at home are happy and well-adjusted people.
Parents who choose homeschooling assume substantial responsibility, often without the help of guidance or support from the state. For parents who are thinking about homeschooling their children, below is a list of pros and cons to consider. This lack of meaningful oversight of homeschooling also creates a problem for public schools, as it creates a channel by which children who suffer from chronic absenteeism due to family instability can, when pressured, completely disappear. Families that homeschool their children are no longer limited by the daily, weekly and monthly schedule imposed by the public school system. Several studies have found that college students who homeschooled during high school are less likely than other students to specialize in STEM fields, probably as a result of a math gap in homeschooling. Some conservative Christian leaders who study at home support “biblical patriarchy” and encourage parents to raise their daughters to be homemakers rather than careers. Another problem that creates stress in many homeschools is when homeschooling is established as a lifestyle.
The existence of a gap between the math and reading performance of students learning at home is perhaps the most proven finding in relation to homeschooling to date. The life experience and perspective of a child studying at home are very different from those of a mind that has been shaped and shaped by the social conditioning of the school. I have also pointed out the advantage that students who study at home have because, instead of being socialized interacting with the same 30 children in a classroom, who are exactly the same age, they follow exactly the same academic trajectory, from the same geographical and socioeconomic area, students who study at home can interact with people of different types. ages, abilities, ethnicities and everyday socio-economic diversity in the real world. When people ask me to summarize my experience, I say that studying at home was like stepping out of a dark and sad box into a warm, sunny flower field. Homeschooling is a big responsibility; in some cases, parents feel overwhelmed and let things go.
Some homeschooling parents forget to give their children diplomas or transcripts when they reach adulthood, making it difficult for their children to apply for college or seek other opportunities. Sometimes homeschooling children find it difficult to motivate themselves at home, especially if they have too much busy work in their curriculum or if the curriculum doesn't suit them for other reasons. Camille, a homeschooling graduate, spoke fondly about her homeschooling experience and said: “We always had a lot of opportunities to socialize during extracurricular activities, such as swimming classes, musical ensembles, youth groups, etc.”.
