HOMESCHOOL ALTERNATIVE
Joann Ferrell
AAGY1B3WY6
APRIL 6, 2014
KATHRINE O'NEIL

HOMESCHOOL ALTERNATIVE

What do these people have in common? Serena/Venus Williams, Alex Haley, Agatha Christie and four judges on the United States Supreme Court---they have been homeschooled. The National Home Education Research Institute is an organization who does research in homeschooling. A according to the research between 2007 and 2008 there were 2 million children in homeschool. It is said that the growth in homeschooling is at the rate of 5-12 percent annually, of those numbers 15 percent are nonwhite. It is also reported that homeschoolers have a higher standardized test scores by at least 25-30 percent compare to their peers. The fact that homeschooler do so well has nothing to do with parents of level of education, teacher certification, amount of money, level of government oversight, gender, or race. Public education has raised a few eyebrows on where and what kind of environment a parent is sending their children. It is a case of concern when the first thing that our children are greeted with going to school is a metal detector. Although most parents send their children to public education, homeschooling maybe an alternative for children who need more attention. Needing more attention could be medical issues, or a student who is having a hard time keeping up with the class, this is where homeschooling may be a better fit for the child. Children health could be a factor in deciding whether a child should go to public or be home schooled. Public school nurse have many issues to deal with and it can be something as small as a cut, to a chronic condition. The ratio for student to teacher can be like 30 to 1. I would like to take a look at the school nurse to student ratio. Chesterfield County Public Schools ratio is well below the nurse-to-students ratio recommended by the National Association of School Nurses and Healthy People 2010 guidelines of about 1:750 (well students) or 1:225 (student population that may require some daily school nursing services) or 1:125 (students with complex health care needs),(2012, “School Nurse-to-Student Ratios” section, para. 4). What about the student who may have a special need or a chronic issues? This is where the public education and home schooling are different on handling a medical issues. A child with ongoing therapy or medical appointments have a few advantages in home schooling rather than public. Homeschooling the parent can work therapy and school around each other. Homeschool lessons are not missed and child receives services they need, no lessons missed because therapy and other services are schedule before or after class. The substantial benefit to the child would be the child does not feel behind or playing catch up with his/her peers. Public school a student has to stay in class until they are needed for services. Therapy comes and the student is removed from class, class does not halt until the child comes back. The child misses lessons, but is still accountable to learn what was missed. Distractions in the public school room has become chronic, which can make it a challenge for any child to stay focus in the classroom. Home schooling offer more of a parent control environment compare to the public school. Technology has come up with tools that gives the student a multi learning experience inside the classroom. At the same time, students with different learning styles, or learning disabilities stimulation from external visual and auditory input can be a challenge. For example, public classroom have to deal with getting the students settled, students with questions have to be answered, bathroom and lunch breaks, student going from class to class, or a teacher may have a student that have behavior problems inside the classroom. With these distractions in the public school room, at the least 10 hours of the 40 hours contact learning time is lost to non-learning activities. So what control does a homeschooler have that the public does not have. Homeschoolers may have anywhere between 1 to 4 homeschool students compare to public classroom where there is 1:30 teacher to student ratio. Also, the place Stakes 40 hours in public education, on the average for homeschoolers it is 29 hours for achieving learning objectives. So not only is this a relief for the home educator, but it can be a big hurdle that is conquered with a child who have a learning disability. Finally, an ideal learning environment would be one that has consistency and safety at the center. Will you find this in public education or homeschooling? When I was reading the article by Katie Murphy my reaction was laughter. Katie stated, “Hard, wooden desks in public school are designed for one purpose---to keep students uncomfortable and to stay awake. Now the reason behind the sore behind has been put out there. Eight hours is a long time for any student whether they have a learning disability or not. Some students need to move around, stand, or maybe a student need to sit on the floor. This can be disruptive to other students as well as the teacher in the public classroom. Homeschool offers the way and means to accommodate individuals who may need a little bit more in the way of comfort. Along with comfort, there is a concern for safety. Bullying is still alive and well even today. Lack of understanding gives way to children who can be cruel to their peers. The public teacher can’t be everywhere all the time. The public school student may not feel safe to come to anyone in authority with what maybe an on-going threat. Today with cyber bullying on the increase, it makes one wonder where does education come in at. Homeschool students do not have to put up with any kind of stigma, at least not face to face. Home educator can better monitor their homeschooler and the Internet, as well as the children they may or may not associate with outside the class. Parents cannot help but be impressed with the list of famous people who have been homeschooled. Public education has failed in some ways to educate our children, starting with metal detector, the ratio of teachers to students, and low standard test scores. Homeschooling has been on the rise and it should be meticulous looked at for an alternative in educating one children/child. There are benefits to homeschooling and it might be what student(s) need to enhance their learning.