Education choice disadvantages

More buzz.

The Disadvantages of Home Schooling, Parenting Ideas .org

“Home Schooling ? Look Before You Leap”

To return the favor of the blog author’s concern about homeschooling, I rewrote the article. I’m sure we want all parents to thoughtfully consider the education choices they make for their children.

The Disadvantages of Public Schooling

Are you considering enrolling your children in public school? While you may have focused on the advantages of public education, take a moment to think about its disadvantages and demands before you take the plunge.

Answer the following questions with “yes” or “no” to see where you stand on readiness to send your children to public school.

1.) I will:

• volunteer at school
• attend PTA/PTO meetings
• commit many hours to instructing my child in the evenings and on weekends
• make sense of standardized test results
• comply with school security procedures
• be ready to adjust my schedule to accommodate days off because of bad weather, any illnesses my child catches, and in-service days for teachers

2.) I have effective communication skills and can counsel my child about bullies, cliques, intimidation, about how life is sometimes unfair, and about how friends are sometimes fickle.

3.) In addition to paying taxes, and volunteering, I am willing to either send my child out in the neighborhood to sell items to the neighbors for fund-raising, or to take the catalogues to work, and ask all my co-workers to buy from me.

4.) I understand the academic needs and abilities of my child and can tell if each grade’s curriculum meets those needs as they change.

5.) I have enough money for my child to participate in activities that work on their socialization skills since classroom time is for learning, not for my child to visit with his neighbors.

6.) I believe in public schooling but I understand that it is my responsibility to show up when asked, but stay away otherwise.

If you answered “yes” to all these questions then you have tackled the major disadvantages of public schooling. These disadvantages vary in intensity based on individual circumstances, but can be overcome through frequent parent-teacher meetings, or visits to the principal’s office.

The need for expertise in communication and skill in the art of compromise are among the biggest disadvantages of public schooling. Although homeschooling parents can adjust to change as needed, a parent of a child in public school understands that the needs of the group outweigh those of any one child.

Homeschooling parents are committed to their children in ways that fulfill their children’s individual needs. For a public school child, it is not possible for the parent to attend as closely to the child’s needs throughout the day. Therefore, the parent must be honest with herself and pay close attention to filling in the gap when the school’s procedures meet needs other than those of the child.

Time is another factor. Although public schooling schedules are routine, the academic work can overflow into family times as if six hours per day is insufficient for schoolwork completion. It is up to you as the parent to keep Other People’s Priorities from overwhelming your child and family.

Lastly, you will need to deal with parents who view public schooling as Someone Else’s Job and fail to raise their own children to respect the rights of others. You will need to stick by your choice and feel confident that you are doing what is best for your child.

Public schooling can be rewarding for some and a nightmare for others. Should you use public schools? Before deciding, read articles on school violence, test anxiety, school bullying, and cheating teachers.

posted by Valerie

Tags: Add new tag, homeschooling, public school

This entry was posted on August 16, 2007 at 6:33 pm and is filed under Articles About Homeschooling, Reasons to Homeschool, Weblogs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.