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Can you imagine that you stay at home and your parents become your teachers? Well, that is homeschooling, a popular studying measure aimed at teaching kids at home rather than sending them to typical schools. Tipton claimed (1991, as cited in Brian D. Ray, 1995) that the reason why parents teach their kids at home is to model their behaviors and values. When children are not mature, they are easily affected by their peers and the outside world. In traditional schools, children are significantly affected by their classmates, and their interests and habits are altered from time to time, resulting from immature values. To model their behaviors and values, we should support homeschooling rather than traditional learning.

Compared with traditional schools, the educational quality is better in homeschooling. According to Brian D. Ray, Ph.D. (2023), “The home-educated typically score 15 to 25 percentile points above public-school students on standardized academic achievement tests”. Since it is one-on-one teaching, parents can notice children’s learning problems at once. However, in traditional schools, the number of students is so huge that the teachers cannot focus on every student’s learning situation and that they are unable to instantly cope with students’ problems. At the same time, the teachers had to keep order in their classrooms. Furthermore, the courses can be arranged in accordance with kids’ requests, personalities and learning progress. Some are suitable for visual learning, others are applicable to auditory learning, others are appropriate for tactile learning, and still others are proper for kinesthetic learning. According to Sampath (2017), “They show more interests in studies, which are more customized than the routine-based courses in schools.” The development of children's areas of expertise can be accelerated while areas where they are not yet proficient can be dealt with additional emphasis and practice. Hence, homeschooling provides a higher quality of education.

Another advantage of homeschooling is boosting children’s self-confidence. Peer pressure, academic competition, and school bullying are parts of ordinary school day. The children who are exposed to this kind of environment are liable to resist going to school. On the contrary, homeschooling provides a safer and stress-free environment. Home-schooled kids act what they want, dress what they like, and think what they believe without feeling any pressure and the fear of being mocked. In addition, the children with emotional freedom have higher confidence. Taylor (1986, as cited in Brian D. Ray, 1995) used Piers-Harris Self-Concept Scale to measure children’s self-concept, and he found that home-schooled children had considerably higher degree of self-concept than traditional school students. What’s more, the kids are more willing to ask questions to their parents owing to shyness. Once the children have clear and understandable cognition, they become more confident. Accordingly, the merits of homeschooling can support children to build self- confidence.

While homeschooling provides a lot of advantages, some people may argue that children lack communication with people. Moreover, those who oppose homeschooling further submits that children will be excluded from a group or society once they enter the workforce. Yes, it is true that those children study at home have fewer opportunities to interact with classmates, but it does not mean that they will develop a siege mentality. Montgomery (1989, as cited in Brian D. Ray, 1995) claimed, “there is evidence that most home-schooled children engage in frequent group and community activities.” Montgomery discovered that home schooled adolescents were not ostracized by their peer groups nor rejected participation in social groups. Even though children study at home, parents can still arrange for their kids to take part in a variety of group activities, such as sports teams, scouts, clubs, and so forth. According to Wales (2020), whose children are home-schooled, he stated that he took the initiative to arrange for children's social activities and cultivate their interests. He did not need to worry about their interactions with peers and the outside world since they have regular Play Dates with group members and other home-schooled kids. Thus, home-schooled children can have normal interaction with others, and they are able to adapt to real-life interaction.

In conclusion, homeschooling offers a high-quality education and assists the children to build self-esteem while social communication will not be an obstacle for the kids. A study conducted by Knowles (as cited by Ray, 1992) showed that the home-schooled kids who had accepted this education for at least six years before seventeenth years old were grateful to their parents for having no negative opinions of living in diverse society. There are 78.88 billion population in the world, and everyone has different thinking and expertise. Not all of the people are suitable to the traditional training; thus, homeschooling may be a better choice for both parents and children.

References

1. Tipton, Mark. (1991). An analysis of home-schooled children’s Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills Results and demographic characteristics of their families.

Retrieved from:

https://www.nheri.org/home-school-researcher-home-schoolers-self-esteem-and- socialization/

2. Brian D. Ray, Ph.D. (2023). HOMESCHOOLING: THE RESEARCH

Retrieved from:

https://www.nheri.org/research-facts-on-homeschooling/

3. Shantanu Sampath. (2017). Why Is Homeschooling Better Than Traditional Schooling

Retrieved from:

https://www.toppr.com/bytes/homeschooling-traditional-schooling/

4. Taylor, John W. (1986). Self-concept in home-schooling children. Home School Researcher, 2(2), 1-8.

Retrieved from:

https://www.nheri.org/research-facts-on-homeschooling/

5. Montgomery, Linda. (1989). The effect of home schooling on the leadership skills of home schooled students. Home School Researcher, 5(1), 1-10.