Youth Are Awesome, commonly referred to as YAA, is a blog written by youth for youth.
YAA provides the youth of Calgary a place to amplify their voices and perspectives on what is happening around them.
Youth Are Awesome is a program of Youth Central.
Any views or opinions expressed on this blog belong solely to the author and do not represent those of people or organizations that the blog may be associated with, unless explicitly stated. All content is for informational purposes only.
In Canada, there are around 70,000 children who are home-schooled. But why do some parents choose to teach their children at home, rather than expose them to the public school system?
Homeschooling Better than Public School System?
After all, home-schooling can be exhausting for the parents, and activities easily at hand in school like music programs and sports are much less convenient. Parents are not experts in every subject, so there is always the worry of gaps in knowledge. Not to mention, there has always been the notion of “not socialized kids” under the mentoring of their parents. To home-school, or not to home-school?
Statistically, children taught at home do just as well or even better than publicly schooled kids, on average. Youth have the opportunity to interact in real world atmospheres beyond that of schools. And because home-schooling allows for a parent-controlled environment, children aren’t acquainted with delinquents and are not susceptible to bullying, peer pressure, or negative encounters with peers. As well, the child’s education can be molded towards their interests and learning styles, which definitely enriches the learning experience. Not only are all those advantages present in home-schooling, but schedules are extremely flexible, allowing for many field trips, breaks, and vacations! Home-schooling suddenly sounds a lot more inviting, doesn’t it?
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However, the home-schooling experience is definitely NOT for everyone. Most significantly, home-schooling takes a copious amount of time! The parent has to cater their schedules towards their child’s education, all while managing the home, maybe even a job. Also, some children would prefer the school environment and learning styles there, so investing time in home-schooling would be a waste. Either way, home-schooling is still quite an interesting learning experience!
The problem that I’ve seen mentioned with homeschooling in the past is two-fold:
a) Lack of social interaction with other children can have adverse effects on social skills later in life.
b) “Protection from the elements”, so to speak, can often do more harm than good. Sometimes you have to fall flat on your face a few times if you want to move forward.
Just my thoughts
I did some research, many parents vehemently claimed that their children had “plenty of social interactions, especially with other children”, and that protecting their children was constantly for the best. But yes, I agree completely with your points. After all, those opinions were voiced by the parents, not the child; and the child’s thoughts are what’s really important.
Oh yes, there’s definitely merits to being home schooled. The “learn at your own pace” thing is probably the most appealing to me. I don’t know about anyone else, but sometimes it feels as though I only pay attention for the first 10 minutes of class and drone out the rest because everything important was already mentioned.
My cousins are homeschooled but they have lots of friends from church and they do have good social skills and whatnot. And there are other places where your kid could meet people.
I heard about some homeschooled kids who entered the 2010 Sanofi Aventis Biotalent challenge and apparently they swiped the awards. I guess they do have the advantage of learning at their set pace and seeing as how they performed very well in the challenge, in which a presentation is required, they must not be as antisocial as we think. I don’t think it’s right to assume that homeschooling directly implies lack of social skills.
The problem that I’ve seen mentioned with homeschooling in the past is two-fold:
a) Lack of social interaction with other children can have adverse effects on social skills later in life.
b) “Protection from the elements”, so to speak, can often do more harm than good. Sometimes you have to fall flat on your face a few times if you want to move forward.
Just my thoughts
I did some research, many parents vehemently claimed that their children had “plenty of social interactions, especially with other children”, and that protecting their children was constantly for the best. But yes, I agree completely with your points. After all, those opinions were voiced by the parents, not the child; and the child’s thoughts are what’s really important.
Oh yes, there’s definitely merits to being home schooled. The “learn at your own pace” thing is probably the most appealing to me. I don’t know about anyone else, but sometimes it feels as though I only pay attention for the first 10 minutes of class and drone out the rest because everything important was already mentioned.
My cousins are homeschooled but they have lots of friends from church and they do have good social skills and whatnot. And there are other places where your kid could meet people.
I heard about some homeschooled kids who entered the 2010 Sanofi Aventis Biotalent challenge and apparently they swiped the awards. I guess they do have the advantage of learning at their set pace and seeing as how they performed very well in the challenge, in which a presentation is required, they must not be as antisocial as we think. I don’t think it’s right to assume that homeschooling directly implies lack of social skills.