According to our text, homeschooling has been a go-to option for more than one and half million parents for their students in the United States. This is approximately 2.9% of U.S. students and is a constant subject of legal debate. Homeschooling was originally a kind of underground practice that was done in rural areas in the U.S. starting in the 1970’s. (Wikipedia)
I think the main reason that parents choose to home-school their children is due to the sometimes harsh environment of public and private schools. There is ample room for all kinds of problems that they would want to take their children away from. These problems could include overwhelming peer pressure, use of drugs in the area, and a general distaste for the curriculum or form of teaching at schools that they look into for their child. A lot of parents probably think that they could provide a better, one on one focused education if they teach their child at home. They could base lessons off of their particular views and not touchy subjects that some schools go into such as evolution, different forms of philosophy and more.
For these reasons, I don’t see any problem with homeschooling being a viable and available option to public schools as well private and parochial schools. A lot of homeschooling programs require standardized state testing on subjects such as Math and English just like a conventional school would. I would still advise the parents to weigh their options, especially if they only have one child, because the child could be missing out on socialization with others his or her own age. I personally would only homeschool my child if I knew for a fact the schools around the area I was living weren’t fit for what I thought was best for them. I think it’s good for kids to have the whole physical school experience, and to be in clubs and extracurricular activities. If a parent makes sure the kid is involved in activities within their community like little league baseball, softball, or basketball camps this shouldn’t be a problem.
I wasn’t homeschooled, but my parents considered the option. They first were going to let me go to a private school for K-12 but some of the faculty had gotten in trouble for things they shouldn’t have been doing. They decided to put me in public schools instead, and it couldn’t have been a better choice. That is where I met friends that I occasionally still talk to today, and I feel that I received a