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Copyright 2006 The Buffalo News
Buffalo News (New York)

HEADLINE: Home schooling offers many advantages

BYLINE: By Chris Stucchio

June 30, 2006 Friday
FINAL EDITION

Those who regularly follow the news are probably aware of the debate that rages between traditional public school and charter school advocates. Vouchers, test scores and academic standards are just a few of the many issues that ignite the passions on both sides. Parents who still haven't formed an undying allegiance to either option might want to consider home schooling their children.

Several years ago, I did a research paper in graduate school that touched on home schooling. One of the sources I consulted stated that the standard test scores for the 1.5 million to 2 million home schooled children in this country are, on average, higher than traditional schooled children. That fact left an indelible impression with me.

Recently, I picked up Sherri Linsenbach's "The Everything Homeschooling Book" from a branch of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. It quotes a university professor with a Ph.D. in nuclear chemistry as saying, "By far the best students that I had were the home schooled ones. They were serious about learning, they could teach themselves and they were far more likely to be able to think critically than any of their counterparts."

Concerns that home schooling might put a child at a long-term educational disadvantage appear to be unfounded. When discussing home schooling, the question of socialization invariably arises. Because of their flexible schedules, home schooled students often have more of a chance to regularly interact with people of all ages through various intellectual, athletic and cultural pursuits.

In fact, one professor cited research that indicated home schooled children "are usually superior to their school-attending peers in social skills, social maturity, emotional stability, academic achievement, personal confidence, communication skills and other aspects."

Another advantage to home schooling is it gives parents the option of establishing a curriculum and schedule that best suits their children's learning needs. One mother profiled by Linsenbach was running a more conventional, regimented home schooling program for her 9-year-old son. English from 9 until 9:30, math from 9:30 until 10:00, and so on.

On a superficial level, they were accomplishing something, but the time limitations for lessons that often required extra attention were proving stressful to her son. Eventually she stopped using a set schedule. If they spent extra time on a science experiment one day and missed a social studies lesson -- no problem. More emphasis could be placed on that subject the next day. This flexibility enabled her son to relax, and his learning sessions became far more productive.

One needn't hold a doctorate or a master's degree to start a successful home school. How much a person cares and tries will most likely determine whether it succeeds. As former U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley said, "All parents, indeed any adult, regardless of his or her station in life or even their level of education, has the capacity and obligation to teach their children a love of learning."

For many, home schooling is the best way to do that.