Top 5 Myths About Homeschooling Debunked!
Even though homeschooling has grown so popular it’s almost mainstream, there are still many lingering stereotypes about homeschooling. You might hear these myths from concerned relatives, friends, or even complete strangers
1. “What about socialization? Homeschooled children miss the valuable social life that public school children experience.”
Those who oppose homeschooling maintain that homeschoolen don’t have the skills necessary to interact with others in the “real world”.
Homeschooled children actually have more interaction with people of all ages than most public-schooled children. They’re out in the “real world” every day, not confined to a classroom with a group of children their own age. Groups a re forming for homeschoolers to have their own school trips, sports teams, classes, and even job opportunities.
2. “All homeschooling parents are religious fanatics trying to brainwash their children.”
Some people think that the only people who homeschool are the extreme religious zealots who oppose their children learning about evolution and other controversial topics.
In truth, this depends on the homeschooling family. Plenty of families teach their children alternative ways of thinking or provide them with different points of view and let the child decide for himself. Homeschoolers come from all different religions, as well as atheism. The religious homeschoolers form groups and join in events and activities that often include public-schooled children too, broadening their horizons like other families.
3. “Parents without educational credentials can’t teach children properly.”
You will encounter people who believe that only trained and licensed teachers are capable of providing a thorough, quality education to children.
Research has shown that the parent’s level of education does not impact the quality of the child’s education. Even those parents who have dropped out of high school are capable of teaching their children well, and filling in gaps in their own knowledge at the same time. Also, homeschool curricula are written for parents without a background in education. Children who still struggle with a subject that a parent can’t help with can seek tutoring like public-schooled children.
4. “Homeschoolers are destroying or threatening the public school system.” Anti-homeschoolers, particularly those involved in the school system, blame failings of public schools on the lack of income caused by parents not paying tuition to public schools every year.
If you stop to think about this, the lack of expenses caused by these “missing” students makes up the money that is lost from enrollment fees. Also, homeschooling parents still have to pay taxes that go towards supporting the school system that they don’t use.
5. “Only rich families can afford to homeschool.”
This myth is surprisingly common given the times we live in. Some people believe that it’s too expensive to homeschool their children. Most homeschooling families survive on one income, with the help of the numerous free resources on the internet, many curricula aimed at people with low budgets, and the “reusability factor”. For families with multiple children, homeschooling can be particularly affordable, since they can reuse materials and teach children of different grade levels with the same materials.
These common myths about homeschooling have little or no basis in the reality of millions of homeschooling families worldwide. As more people choose to homeschool each year, the evidence of homeschooling success is overpowering these myths.
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