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The advantages of homeschooling far outweigh formal education.

I was home-schooled from 1st through 12th grade. My parents were on the forefront of the homeschooling revolution. Like any new system it takes a while to get a firm foot hold. During that time I was able to observe the dramatic changes that occurred in homeschooling as an educational system and homeschoolers themselves.

Later on, in graduate school I studied the system further for a grad project. Here are the encapsulated results of a lifetime of findings.

1. Every educator will assent to the fact that one-on-one education is categorically superior to a one-teacher-to-twenty ratio. The lessons will take place at the student's speed of learning. It also gives the educator an advantage to work with only one child because they get to know the child's preferred learning style. Maybe this is why people pay so much for private tutors.

2. Statistically, homeschooled students perform far above their public and private school counterparts. This is an obvious outcome of the aforementioned point. The parent also has the ability to choose their own curriculum. When chosen correctly, parents can obtain the best materials available.

3. Negative peer pressure is nonexistent. Take an impressionable youngster and insert them into an atmosphere chock-full of other impressionable youngsters. Sure, there are adults around . . . but what child cares more about their teacher's acceptance than their peer's? The problem grows out of the fact that the student's friends are generally going to pressure them to do the wrong thing. Before you know it you have a school full of carbon copies, and most of the time their similarities are not positive attributes.

4. A common critique of homeschooling is the child will not be properly "socialized." Though there is a small chance of this occurring, the facts swing dramatically in the other direction. A best case scenario would be for the parent to involve their child in activities where they develop friendships and are able to interact with kids their age. Take note that the advantage of peers is not "socialization," but to simply develop friendships. On top of going to church twice a week my parents enrolled me in the martial arts. I also played baseball on a team comprised on homeschoolers. Such activities provided multiple opportunities for interaction with kids my age. A worst case scenario would find the homeschooled child's interaction limited to their parents and the parents' peers. But is this so bad? Assuming the parents (and their friends) are capable adults, the child spends the whole day interacting on an adult level. Statistically, homeschooled children are far more mature when it comes to their conversational abilities, vocabulary, and ability to socialize with adults. Childhood shyness fades quicker in homeschooled children as well. If "socialization" is to be defined as "the ability to fit into the cookie-cutter mold of counterparts formed by the negative peer pressure of the public school system" then it's true that homeschoolers are lacking. But if "socialization" is to be defined as "the ability to interact with children and adults alike in a mature and independent manner" then homeschoolers generally do quite well.

If homeschoolers have historically been able to achieved better grades, become more socialized, and gain larger boosts of independence, then imagine what will happen as parents become better prepared than their counterparts of yesteryear? The same thing that's occurring now . . . more and more families will turn to homeschooling.

Learn more about this author, Kevin Olsen.
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