by Colin Jones
According to the National Center For Education Statistics, roughly 1.1 million children underwent home schooling in 2005 alone. That's a lot of children. Once upon a time, homeschooling used to be an extreme statement - something like a declaration of independence.
It was the (right-wing|conservative Christians who pushed for homeschooling in the 1980's and legalized it in every State. But the typical homeschooler of today is not religiously motivated.
More recent surveys show that parents are quite fed up with the public school system where a lot of the learning is superficial and compulsory. They are also concerned about the negative environment in school, which ranges from drugs and abuse to negative peer pressure.
Because of this, we have a surprising mixture of people who form the homeschooling world of today. They cut across all religious creeds and all regional borders. Their chief goal is providing meaningful and productive education through a method that strengthens the bond between all the members of the family.
All these families have one main thing in common - a long enduring commitment to the sanctity of childhood. The children in these families are accorded a primary position. Many believe, and, I think, rightly so, that home schooling allows parents to bring up their kids in a more natural and caring environment.
Public schools can make a child anxious, subservient and thoroughly nasty. Children who receive their education at home are protected from these damaging, negative influences until they attain an age where they can withstand them.
Home-schooling draws the whole family into the quasi religious task of teaching. Everyone has a role to play. Both the parents together form a bond with the children. Any experience can be turned into a learning experience. Both the parents are aware of exactly what is going into their child's education.
Parents also have a greater control over the kind of religious and moral values that the child is learning. Even watching a film together can become a learning experience. Trips to the libraries, zoos, museums and other places become educational as well as recreational.
A home-schooling family is usually dependent on the income of one earning member. That means that often spending has to be curtailed and proper planning of expenditure is necessary. This helps to bring the family members together and everybody gets involved in the task of saving money.
Just having a parent at home to look after, to nurture and to care for the children brings with it a lot of love and caring. Even the husband chips in and there is just no room for boredom.
All right, problems do occur, and there will be a lot of misgivings in your mind, but when you know that your children can always count on you, and your kids know it too, then homeschooling becomes a richly rewarding experience.
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