For home schoolers there are also certain alternatives to the Ontario curriculum, originally used for public schools, such as having to follow the curriculum of another province, follow a curriculum that is still structured in terms of grade but is faith-based instead of secular and the curriculum is custom made by the family for the child, this can be a benefit for home schoolers but also a negative because in public schools you are given a curriculum to follow so that when the student begins working understands that having to follow authority and direction is a must and the student will learn to deal with being in situations that are outside of their comfort zone which is very important for a students future. An immense influence on the curriculum for home schooling would be the teaching methodes and learning philosophies, when in home school parents chose to hire a teacher that has a learning techniques prefered by the student in which he can understand as opposed to public school where you are given a challenge and taught with many different teachers who specialize with certain subjects which gives you a larger advantage. Public schools have much more of an adavntage with their organized and challenging curriculum that would give a student an easier time in the future, then home schools.
Furthermore, the timetable is very different between public schools and home schools. For home schools, parents or hired teachers can create their own scehdule’s according to the preferences of the family or the student. By establishing a personal agenda, the student gets many perks. They are allowed to sleep later and have more free time. In all, they'll waste less time because school is all about them. They learn things at their speed and can concentrate on their educational weaknesses. Students can also get more individual attention from their parents. Without the crowded schools, the student can have a reduced amount of distractions and avoid peer pressure due to the lack of peer interaction. These are all great benefits, but, they can also be harmful to student’s growth as an adult. Without a structural environment that public schools present, students don't learn how to handle deadlines and rules. This really can cause damage to home schooled students later in life, especially in the business world. Students need to learn how to listen to authority figures, besides their parents. They need to be able to follow someone else's guidelines and work under pressure. Due to the fact there aren’t much deadlines and stress in their home school environment, students have less preparation in handling pressure. This makes students that attended public schools more attractive to businesses. And due to the lack of interaction with their peers, home schooled students would not be able to interact as well as students that have attended public schools because they already learned how to deal with peer pressure and such as opposed to home schooled students who would have to deal with this for the first time. Situations such as those prove that public schools have a much larger advantage then home schools.
Additionally, one of the main things that most home schooled students lack is social interaction, which has an immense influence on their social ability’s. According to a California study by researcher Dr. Brian Ray[3] “92 percent of superintendents believe that home learners are emotionally unstable, deprived of proper social development and too judgmental of the world around them”. Although home schooling does get the student closer with their family and siblings, because the student is at home for most of the day, it limits socialization with people outside of the child’s family which leads to a boundary in their social life meaning having very little or no friends and not going out and interacting with others. For parents that worry about the influences that other students can have on their child, home schooling is a crown choice because most parents do not want their children growing up in an environment that can introduce the child to certain things that parents wouldn’t akin to. Also, with home schooled students not being exposed to different types of people would not know how to interact with anyone as they grow older and find a job, it would also be far more difficult for them to find a partner as opposed to others who have more experience in communicating. For students attending public schools, they not only have a good relationship with their family’s but also create friendships as their social circle grows with the interactions made at school with pairs and they not only focus on their studies but go out and enjoy life to it’s fullest because they are not isolated from the world. Students attending public schools may have much more influences around them depending on who they interact with but this teaches responsibility and let’s the child learn on their own what decisions they should make, to tell good from bad, "Live and let learn,"[4] is what most parents say, which will be great help for future incidents when, as adults, they will be on their own and need to make decisions for themselves. Also, a student attending public school has more chances of finding a job then a student who spent most of her time at home because you are exposed to different types of people and know how to interact with them which gives you a jump start to a good interview and having a lot of social interactions will also make it easier for you to find a partner to build a family with, because you are able to interact with someone from a different sexe that isn’t part of your family. This explains why public schools have a far more of an advantage then do home schools when it comes to social skills.
In conclusion, the curriculum, timetable and social skills are all things to consider before choosing whether to attend either public or home school. Although, public school does have much more of an advantage in all three factors as opposed to public school. Public schools help someone grow to becoming something in life as opposed to someone who is restrained who only knows what happens in the quality of his own home and are not able to reach out or discover what is to offer outside the periphery of his home.
SOURCES
"The Ontario Curriculum." Secondary Curriculum. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. <http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/secondary/>.
"Christian Broadcasting Network." Socialization: Homeschooling vs. Schools. Web. 15 Apr. 2012. <http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/144135.aspx>.
"Curriculum for Home-based Education." OFTP. Web. 16 Apr. 2012. <http://www.ontariohomeschool.org/curriculum.shtml>.
"The Ontario Ministry of Education's Policy/Program Memorandum #131." Policy/Program Memorandum #131 and OFTP's Response. Web. 16 Apr. 2012. <http://www.ontariohomeschool.org/ppm131.html>.
[1] http://www.ontariohomeschool.org/curriculum.shtml
[2] http://www.ontariohomeschool.org/ppm131.html
[3] http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/144135.aspx
[4] http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/144135.aspx
by
bieberbbyxo (student)
