Homeschooling Silences Detractors

The concept of homeschool has fast been catching up with the local population. Since it is a relatively new model of education, it is bound to be embroiled in controversy. There have been certain accounts and statements written in the media that have been meant to tarnish the image of homeschool, so that the public schools continue to receive government funding and private schools maintain their profits. However, things do not remain the same when people aspire to change, and homeschool is a sign of a new revolution in the world of education.

One should not forget the fact that homeschool is a reputable organization that has boldly been able to break the shackles of dependence and neglect that are rampant in local schools. A recent study sought to divide homeschooling into two groups: believers and inclusives. Believers tend to put homeschool parents on a pedestal, and the mother specifically is given a high status. Inclusives follow the children's lead in learning. In other words, the former group is parent-centric while the later one is homeschool child-centric. In reality, this is a misrepresentation of the concept of homeschool, because one cannot divide a family that believes in unity in functioning.

It is also another wrong conception that people choose to homeschool their children only if they have had a bad experience with a public or private school. This is not entirely true. A parent may choose to homeschool not because of a bad experience with a public school, but because he or she believes that homeschool is the best way to give wings to his or her child's overall academic and extra-curricular development. It does not matter if the public school is bad or good; it is a question of choice rather than circumstance.

Homeschool is known to spread positive feelings among families. Not only are religious values instilled in homeschool children, they also become socially conscious and contribute to the betterment of the family. There are many elements in the freedom that homeschool provides. The most important component of the freedom of homeschool stems from parental rights and the spirit of private education. The second component is the ability and the enthusiasm of homeschool children and their parents to work cohesively as a team. The third is the way in which people are, by and large, accepting the fact that the concept of homeschool is the welcome change in which education is imparted and knowledge shared. There are, and always will be, mouths which may keep on rattling about the perils of homeschool education, and the only way they can be silenced is to experience for themselves the winning crusade for education-the homeschool!

Mimi Rothschild