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| Yes | 48% | 91 votes | Total: 191 votes | |
| No | 52% | 100 votes |
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Add to FavoritesHomeschooling is often the topic of heated debate, and it's easy to understand how both sides can be supported passionately. Most people against homeschooling tend to focus on the socialization aspects, arguing that homeschooled individuals lack social skills necessary to succeed later on in life. However, as with any argument about schooling methodology, the education a child is receiving should remain forefront in people's minds. And it is with this in mind that I say, yes, students going through public school are better prepared for college.
Even in a small college, class sizes can be upwards of 200 students. Especially during freshman year, when you are taking mostly introductory level courses that fulfill the school's general education requirements, the prominent teaching style is lecture-based. This means that each student must take the initiative to: a) show up to class, b) stay focused during the lecture, c) be able to distinguish important facts to write down in notes, and d) be able to study and otherwise prepare for their classes largely without help from the professors. These are all huge adjustments for anyone starting out in college, but it proves especially difficult for those accustomed to having the personal, one-on-one interactions homeschooling provides. The discipline required to maintain academic integrity in these classes is difficult, and at the very least, those going through public, or even private, schools are better equipped to handle these obstacles due to a similar (albeit scaled-down) setup in a high school classroom.
And, yes, socialization is also important in a college setting. Coming from someone who had a horrendous roommate freshman year (she purposely locked me out of the room while I was in the middle of writing a term paper), the importance of being able to deal with a roommate or classmate you don't get along with can sometimes be just as integral to a successful college education as is academic integrity. Public schools, for better or worse, offer students a diverse population and the opportunity to learn how to work with other people, regardless of how well/horribly you get along with those group members. While proponents of homeschooling claim that those homeschooled gain the same experience through activities such as sports and boy/girl scouts and the like, there is simply no comparison between these activities and assignments that your grades (and therefore future) depend on.
Of course, this argument cannot be applied to every single homeschooled individual or every student going through public school, but it is my firm belief that, no matter how many benefits supporters of homeschooling claim it offers, public school lends a greater sense of what the "real world" is like, and therefore gives them more experience to utilize while in college.
Learn more about this author, Kimberly Harjes.
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No
What does college offer students today? A well-grounded education and preparation for life. What does it demand in return? Personal responsibility and the ability to focus on individual study.
Individual study is the key and often the downfall for public school children who proceed to college. Coming from classes that contain anywhere from twenty-five to forty students, they have seldom experienced or been encouraged to participate in independent study. The schools do say that they offer opportunities for this type of education but, in fact, the simple number of students involved with one teacher demand a rigorous and set curriculum. A room with thirty children would soon descend into anarchy if they were allowed to each go their own way. By comparison, students who are schooled at home often create their own schedules and curriculum based on their interests and abilities.
There is a great deal of wasted time involved in moving thirty or forty children between classes, too. Given a forty-five minute class, the first five and last five are spent organizing papers and books and settling down. Then the teacher must pass around handouts or get all the students on the same page of the same book, another five minutes wasted. A good one third of the time of each class is thus spent on organization and behavior. The focus of the child schooled at home is on the work. His schedule isn't dictated by bells or time spans mandated by a board of education.
Socialization is often seen as the main difference in the two types of education, however, group interaction is not the primary focus of a college education. The time home-schooled children spend in independent study prepares them for the demands of college academics. Since they are more used to studying and functioning as individuals, rather than members of a group, they are better able to deal with the loneliness and challenges of living apart from family and friends than the public school students who were part of larger groups.
Many public school children come from working families. Their parents are away or exhausted when they finally see their children. Teaching ethics such as personal responsibility requires time and attention that is often lacking in both classes and home environments. Parents who home-school have made the choice to be involved with their children daily in a positive and deep relationship. The attention they can give their children is intense and can include ethical training. In fact, the teaching of ethics such as personal responsibility is often one of the deciding factors in home education.
So, who is better able to find success in college? I believe that a home-schooled child who has studied independently for years, is far better prepared to attend and succeed in college. Our public schools are failing in many ways and this is one of the most serious. It's time public school started encouraging independence and individuality in America's students. It's crucial if this country expects to compete in the future.
Learn more about this author, Gail Dennehy.
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