Homeschooling

[sanantone]

But really, what difference does it make? The majority of people that *are* homeschooling are doing it well as the statistics appear to back. This is where public education totally misses the mark for me (trying to fit everyone under the same umbrella), why does it need to be a homeschooling versus public schooling thing? Why can't it be a some people will receive an excellent education being homeschooled and some people will receive an excellent education being public schooled? Yes, some kids are going to receive a sub par education being homeschooled but so do many public schooled children. This is why I love living in a state that lets me, as the parent, decide what type of education is best for my children.

I only take issue with someone suggesting that homeschooling is better than public school when there are many other factors to consider. I would believe that notion if someone presented a credible study. I never said that homeschooling was inferior because that's not the point. It might work fine for the very stable families who choose to do it, but it might not work for everyone else. Yes, plenty of people receive a good education while being homeschooled. Many people also receive a good education at public schools. I think I received an excellent education at most of the public schools I attended, and my test scores reflect that. If one wanted to say that homeschooling is better than public schooling, then one would have to compare like groups to make a fair comparison. This is the reason why I think everyone should be required to take a statistics course. It's easy to fool anybody with "studies" when people don't even know what you're doing.

The truth is that most of these kids would perform just as well after having attended public schools. The students who attend the most affluent public schools in my metro area perform very well on standardized tests. It's about them coming from middle class to upper class, stable, two-parent homes where the parents are heavily involved in the student's educational progression rather than the method of schooling.