Added: 09/14/2005 |
You Can School At HomeParents that find themselves frustrated with their school district are turning to home educational programs for their children. Many parents become disenchanted with their school's academic programs and culture for a variety of reasons. Common reasons to school at home include the elimination of art and music programs, religion not being allowed in public schools, peer pressure and harassment as well as not providing a challenging environment for gifted students.
Parents thinking about a home school education are often confronted with two questions. The first is how will their children be socialized and second, do they have a teaching degree. These two questions can be answered easily. Children do not need to attend a traditional school to be socialized. Socialization simply means that a person should learn to behave in an acceptable manner according to his or her society's customs. Children who school at home are often exposed to more opportunities to socialize with people of different cultures and age groups than their peers at the traditional schools. The teaching question can be answered easily as well. Anyone with a high school diploma or GED can teach his or her children at home. One of the best things about a home school education is that both the children and adults will study the necessary subjects together.
One of the first things that parents, considering a home school education program for their children, are to check, is what their state regulations are. There are four different levels of state involvement. The states with the lowest involvement do not need any notification from parents that they will school at home. The next level includes states that require notification that the parents intend to school their child at home. The second highest level requires that parents notify their local district that they are going to home school as well as provide professional evaluations of the child's progress and test scores. The highest regulated states require notification of intent to home school. The local school district will provide parents with the required subject outlines and will also require that parents allow home visits from state education officials. If a child in these states does not meet minimum progress standards they will be placed on probation. If they show no improvement after 90 days the state can require that the parents return a child to the local public school or enroll them in a private school.
There are many famous persons that have succeeded with a home school education. The list includes Leann Rimes, Thomas Edison, William F. Buckley, Jr., Abraham Lincoln and many others. Thomas Edison's teacher thought that he was unruly and mentally retarded. His mother believed otherwise and took it upon herself to school at home. These famous individuals were fortunate to have parents that valued their education. To school at home means that a child will receive individualized curriculum plans and one-on-one attention from their teacher.
The statistical results of home school education indicate that an average child in a traditional school scores in the fiftieth percentile on state mandated tests whereas home school children score in the eightieth percentile. The end result appears to be that children in a home educational program are receiving a better education than their traditionally schooled counterparts.
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