by Linda L Kinyon

Created on: December 31, 2009   Last Updated: February 23, 2010

As long as there is education, there will be a comparison of homeschooling vs. traditional education. Everyone has an opinion and everyone seems to believe that their opinion is the only true and correct opinion. This is a true controversy that will last decades if not centuries. What is right for one family is not necessarily right for another. Many families homeschool one child while the other child attends public school.

Pigeonholing children into formal education is the traditional way of education. When children are around 5 years of age, depending upon the school district, they begin kindergarten. They advance through the classes and gain a grade each year until they ultimately graduate from high school presumably knowing how to read, write and do arithmetic.

Education begins at home. Children are born and we as parents begin to teach them our values and beliefs from birth. So in reality, all children are homeschooled. Consider the time you spend reading to your children or helping them learn to count. You are teaching them thus they are being homeschooled from the day they are born.

Looking at education in that context gives an entirely new spin on education. So what then is the true dilemma?

Homeschooling affords many luxuries that traditional education does not. Parents are free to pick and choose their child's curriculum and educate their children in their value system. Parents are also free to set the hours their children attend a homeschool whereas if the children are public or traditionally educated then the hours are already set by the school district along with the curriculum.

While traditional education may offer more choices such as foreign languages and sciences, homeschooling does not preclude such choices, it only requires appropriate research to locate similar programming either online, or via correspondence methods.

While some children are more than ready to read by age 3, others may not be ready until age 7 or 8. Teaching children in a relaxed atmosphere and not requiring them to “follow the crowd” can often go far in developing a sense of individuality and giving children an opportunity to explore the world on their own terms.

In a traditional public education system, a child that doesn't learn how to read before the age of 7 or 8 would be considered behind in his or her classes. In reality, that child may be very learned in another subject and simply learning at his or her own pace.

Homeschooling may not be for everyone, even children of the same household may have different educational needs. It may work perfectly to homeschool one child while yet another may simply thrive in a more structured environment of a traditional public education.

There will never truly be an absolute on this subject. Keeping an open mind and being flexible will go far in helping you to decide what is ultimately the best for your children.

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