Is Homeschooling Better Than Public Schools?

Is homeschooling better than public schools?

Regular schools in the real world seem to breed particular behaviors and feelings. I know many adults who still have the immature behavior that is learned all throughout highschool. Success in life has nothing to do with success in highschool. The type of competition taught in most highschools is detrimental to the cooperative teamwork that is needed for real success in life beyond highschool. It breeds "followers" who cannot take a step out on their own. Homeschooling is a form of education that occurs in an out of school setting. I suppose it is based of the belief that parents understand what is best for their children. A parent can make the decisions regarding philosophy, approach, learning style, content, and appropriate experiences. Homeschooling is daunting and demanding, but it can be an incredibly rewarding experience. An average of eighty percent of homeschooling families are decidedly Christian or strongly religious. Christians believe that their children will learn morals, and set strandards for themselves much easier at home, away from the disturbed world patterns of sex, drugs, and violence. Examples of these mindsets are found several places in the Bible. In Proverbs 13:20, the writer states that "He who walks with the wise grow wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm." Agreeably, 1 Corinthians 15:33 says " Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character." I was homeschooled for eleven years of my life - from kindergarten through my sophmore year of highschool. I believe it is a wonderful thing. Homeschooling opens a student up to new ideas, cultures, beliefs, and ethics that a student wouldn't find in a public school. Many people have a paradigm that homeschooling is merely a way for parents to keep their children from the world and everyday things public schooled students have to deal with. I feel that homeschoolers have an extremely special relationship with their parents that most public schoolers never have a chance to experience. For homeschoolers, it's easier to talk about things that public schoolers wouldn't think about discussing with their parents, or didn't know they could. Also, being homeschooled, you deal with peer pressure much less. Homeschoolers are (at least in my experiences with each) less likely to experiment with drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes. I feel they have a better perspective of the difference of right and wrong, what's ethical and what isn't. Homeschoolers typically don't give in to what's "cool" and are more likely to be individuals than public schoolers. One question many people asked me was "Do you have any friends?" Of course, being homeschooled, I had less opportunity to talk to a large variety of people. I did have friends. I developed (so far) lifetime friendships with people, because I had an opportunity to get to know them more than I would have in a crowded school setting. At the same time though, I believe that in schools, kids give up their education - that foundation that shapes their lives - just for a chance at becoming popular. Popularity means nothing if you can't succeed in life. If you learn how to do that, your true friends with follow you. There is also a huge variety of curriculum to choose from. I had access to any kind of text book you could have ever imagined. I was very prepared for tests, because I was my teachers only student, so I really had no other choice but to learn. I couldn't just fly under the radar like in schools. There are many differences between homeschooling and public schooling. I'm not saying that every public schooled student and all public schools are bad, after all, I did graduate from one. I'm just saying that a majority of homeschoolers are less stressed and distracted by trends, friends, and unimportant things. Education tends to be the main priority, as it should be.