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There is a ton of info on home schooling and its effectiveness. I would
like to make a few points that may be of interest:
1. Children need moms and dads. The role and responsibility of a
parent is demanding and the parents are the single most important
influence on the development of the child. To add to this role and
responsibility that of teacher (the SECOND most critical and demanding
role an adult can play in the life of a child) seems to me to be beyond
the ability of (almost) all parents. This is true even if the parent is
trained in curriculum and pedagogy. Kal v'chomer if untrained in these
areas. Would we home care in the area of medicine?? In addition, the
roles sometimes conflict--e.g. the discipline of the parent and that of
the teacher come from different perspectives and while both depend upon
respect and consistency, they differ in many critical ways.
2. Children need to learn how to interact with children of different
needs, abilities and backgrounds. A school situation with its rich mix
of fellow students (some brighter, some not as bright; some more
athletic, some less; some.....well, you get the idea) is important for
the full development of the child.
3. Children need to learn how to interact with adults with different
approaches to life, different characteristics, different ways of making
known their expectations, etc. No matter how creative the parent is, no
matter how extended the circle of family and friends, their relationship
to the child is ordered around the child as a unique individual loved in
the way only family and close friends can. Please G-d every child will
experience this love and circle of care, but they also need to learn to
relate to others whose caring is on a less personal and less intense
basis.
4. The need to learn how to behave in social situations with rules
which apply to large numbers of people; situations in which the student
is only one of many, can only be successfully met in social situations.
School with its unique blend of caring and formality is well suited to
bridging the gap between learning to act within the family and learning
to act in the 'outside' world.
5. No matter how wise, learned and aware the parent may be, the child
has a right to be exposed to the greater accumulated wisdom, learning and
awareness of others. Home schooling exposes children to only the values
and knowledge of one or at most two parents. Even though home schooling
can involve visits to museums, workshops, etc., those are chosen from the
values and interests of only one or two parents. As an administrator I
am constantly amazed at my 'blind' areas when a teacher or other
colleague points out areas of interest to which we can and should expose
the children.
Bottom line: children need parents more than teachers and only parents
can fill that need--don't confuse the roles; and children deserve more
exposure to a rich and varied world than any one home can give them. I
guess I'm a fan of Yeshiva education for Jewish kids (or public education
for that matter for non-Jewish kids) rather than home schooling. But not
to worry! In point of fact, parents are still the most important
educators in a child's life! Their examples and their teachings are the
most influential of any to which their children will be exposed. If
parents fulfill their role well and then find a good school setting for
their children, they will have done their jobs. May we all be zocheh to
do so.</HTML>
