Homeschooling is becoming a popular alternative to the deteriorating public government schools.
Raymond Moore, president of the Hewitt Research Center estimates that 1/4 to 1/2 million children are being homeschooled today and predicts that this number will grow to 1 million in the near future.
In the past, only hippies, religious fanatics and anti-social sects homeschooled their children. Today homeschooling crosses all demographics, income levels, age levels, and religious beliefs. These parents all have one common thread: they feel that they can educate their children better than the government.
The purpose of home schooling is to give the child the best education possible and create a successful learning environment for your child. Home schooling is a lot more than doing "school work" at home. It takes research, planning, a knowledge of your child's abilities and interests, and a desire to instill in them an insatiable desire for knowledge.
The decision to homeschool should not be taken lightly. It takes time, focus, and commitment of the whole homeschooling family. It requires total commitment to your child's education.
The primary reasons for homeschooling are security, morality and quality of education.
• Safety: When you look at public schools, very few cues convey that they are a place of education. Commonly they are surrounded by barbed wire fences, have police on campus, metal detectors at the entrance, "lock-down" drills, and tolerate unchecked intimidation by out-of-control kids represented by gangs and antisocial thugs.
• Morality: Homeschooling parents can structure and teach subjects that are in line with their own morals, values and tradition. They are able to model desirable behavior and correct undesirable behavior on a continual basis.
• Quality: The primary goal is to create an environment that is flexible enough to adjust to the natural ebb and flow of learning for the particular child. The flexibility of the curriculum can promote and encourage an intrinsic love of learning. The parents are not just lectures. They expand, explain, and encourage their children to be inquisitive and explore areas that interest them. Learning never stops in the homeschooling environment.
You only have to examine the quality of the curriculum along with the politically correct environment to see why the public schools are failing on every level.
Homeschooling is a great option today where public education is far from ideal. Prospective homeschooling parents have to consider how important their children's education is and how much they are willing to sacrifice.
Pam Connolly is a professional educator with the San Diego School District. She
has been teaching kids how to type for over 11 years. To teach your child typing,
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