Education is arguably the most important investment we make in our lives. Education is so important that most countries in the world make it mandatory for children to be schooled at academic institutions, often free of charge up to high school. Schools may have become the benchmark when it comes to providing formal education to our children; there are also those who claim homeschooling is a superior alternative to an education in a formal academic setting. Homeschooling may offer certain benefits but overall the benefits of an education in a formal academic setting far exceed it. Students don’t only get formal education in a school setting but also learn other valuable skills that prepare them for life in the real world.
Children learn valuable social skills in schools through contact with others from their age groups (Freeman) that they won’t be able to learn at home. Granted children may have siblings in the same age group but social skills are more developed through interaction with strangers than they are through interaction with those one already knows. Similarly, children may also learn other important skills such as communication and cross-cultural skills. Communication and cross-cultural skills are increasingly in demand now because not only the U.S. is becoming even more diverse place but it is true for the rest of the world, too.
Children should go to school instead of being homeschooled because homeschooling may result in narrower thinking horizon as compared to education at school. Kierstyn King knows this from experience as homeschooling later created problems for both her and her future husband who had also been homeschooled (Goldberg). It is not difficult to understand why homeschooling may result in a narrower view of the world. Parents have absolute control over what their children are taught and it is only natural for them to transfer their own views to their children. In contrast, children are taught by a wide number of teachers at school who have both academic and professional experiences in the field of education and understand the importance of promoting objective and critical thinking skills.
Homeschooling is also inferior to school education because learning resources available to homeschoolers pale in comparison to what schools can provide them. For example, it is almost unimaginable to have physics and chemistry labs in a home setting. Similarly, schools are up-to-date with the latest learning technologies in a way that parents cannot match. In addition to learning resources, schools can also provide valuable recreational activity resources such as sports facilities that homeschoolers may not have access to (MiddleSchool.net). The most ironic fact is that children have access to greater learning resources at a lower cost in school setting than home setting, due to the simple fact that public education is free in the U.S. and many other countries.
It is clear that homeschooling is inferior to education in a formal academic setting. First of all, schools teach children valuable soft skills such as socialization, communication, and cross-cultural skills that homeschoolers may find more challenging to develop. Schools also introduce children to diverse perspectives and teach them critical thinking skills that homeschoolers may not be taught by their parents. Last but not least, schools provide children with greater learning and recreational activity resources than what may be available to homeschoolers and that, too at lower costs. Thus, children should not be homeschooled because it will inadequately prepare them for the real world and will have material lifelong implications for them, mostly negative.
- Freeman, Richard. From the archive, 13 February 1970: Home schooling is a bad idea, says expert. 13 February 2014. 17 November 2014
- Goldberg, Michelle. Homeschooled Kids, Now Grown, Blog Against the Past. 11 April 2014. 17 November 2014
- MiddleSchool.net. The Negative Effects and Aspects of Homeschooling. 17 November 2014
