My children will not be homeschooled. I don't really want them to go to private school either, so I'm going to be aiming to live in an area where there are high quality public schools that offer good advanced curricula, such as NYC.
It's great that you have that choice. But somehow you miss the point that not everyone does or can live in an area where there are "high quality public schools that offer advanced curricula..." If all American had equal access to a "high quality public education" why then do we have "No Child Left Behind" and citizen initiatives for vouchers (which, by the way, the government opposes. So much for the idea that the government education links provided earlier are "unbiased." The governement has proven itself to be VERY biased when it comes to education.)
One reason homeschoolers like myself homeschool is because they want their children to get a "high quality education" and they are more likely to get that at home.
I think that education is obviously a large part of the point of primary/secondary school, but that socialization and the ability to interact with others is a crucial skill as well. Learning how to deal with bullies, become confident in yourself, interact with members of the opposite (or same, however you roll) sex, and deal with both fair and unfair grading systems is absolutely essential. For all its flaws, I don't think there is a better place to learn these skills than public school.
Granted. The ability to interact
appropriately with others is a crucial skill. But I contest that public school is the best place to learn those skills.
Public school, unless it is part of an IEP, does not provide direct instruction in "social skills" beyond Kindergarten. The whole purpose of Kindergarten is to teach children how to behave in school...sit quietly while teacher talks, don't run in the hall, line up to go to library, line up to go to music, line up to go to the bus, ask permission to use the bathroom.
Nowhere since I have graduated from highschool have I had to use any of these "skills." This was socialization specifically to the public school environment. Can a person be successful in life without ever having had to line up for the bus? Yes.
But the "social skills" you all are so hot on...handling social interaction...are not directly taught in school anyway. "When somebody waves a greeting at you, it is socially proper to wave back." My kids must attend public school to learn that? "Use a fork to eat your green beans, but it's okay to use your fingers to eat the chicken nuggets." Which class must my child take to receive this instruction? And what if my child insists on eating his nuggets with a fork and his greenbeans with his fingers? Will someone correct him? If so, who...the cafeteria moniter who is refereeing a disgreement acroos the room?
The homeschoolers I know do not object to that kind of "social" instruction anyway...but would make the point that public school is not the only or most appropriate setting for such instruction. It's the peer interaction that has us most concerned and which you (you=people who oppose homeschooling because it leads to socially backward adults) insist is one of the great benefits of public school.
To say that "there is no better place to learn how to deal with bullies, become confident in yourself, interact with members of the opposite (or same, however you roll) sex, and deal with both fair and unfair grading systems" assumes several things:
1.
"Becom[ing] confident in yourself" is a social skill. It's not...it's an emotional skill and follows a series of successful experiences. Not everyone can be successful in public school, and if you've read anything at all about learning theories (
The Way They Learn by Cynthia Tobias;
One Mind at a Time by Dr. Mel Levine;
Better Late Than Early by Dr. Raymond Moore) it is clear that only a very small percentage of the population can be successful in Public School. So if self-confidence is based on success, and only a small portion of the population experiences success in school, then it seems that public school is the least likely environment for a child to develop self-confidence.
2.
Public School is a naturally occuring environment. It's not. At no other time or place in life do you interact with 30 people your exact age for six hours a day. At home, at work, at the beach, at the grocery store...you must interact with people of all ages, experiences, socio-economic backgrounds etc. Not so in school. The demographics of a school are determined very much by location, and often by the tax base that support it. A child in public school will interact with children his exact age, developmental level, and similar life experience. There is limited contact with older and younger students, so the opportunities for watching how older students behave and being the model for younger students is lost.
3.
Public Schools provide instruction for negotiating social situations that is unavailable anywhere else. Except for the recent interest in social instruction regarding harrassment, this is untrue. How
does the school teach about boy/girl interaction? Is there someone standing by teaching a young man how to properly ask a girl out on a date (other than his geeky friends who prove nine times out of ten to be no help at all). Is there someone to guide the girl on how to properly turn down the young man when she is not interested (other than her air-head friends who prove nine times out of ten to be no help at all). Who will debrief them when the whole social situation goes bad?
In the past, the school's attempt to teach children proper social responses (Just Say No, D.A.R.E.) have proven largely unsuccessful. Kids still use drugs/start smoking/drink and drive/have unprotected sex. You wanted statstics about how successfully socialized public school kids are compared to homeschool kids? That's where you'll find them...if socialization is the learning of the acceptable behaviors of a society, find out how many kids use drugs public school vs. homeschool. How many unplanned teen pregnancies are there public school vs. homeschool. How many kids get expelled from college public school vs. homeschool. How many kids end up in jail public school vs. homeschool. I don't have the statistics, but I'd wager that generally speaking, homeschool kids ARE successfully socialized because they understand the rules of society and obey them.
