Home Schooling Programs Online Are Victims Of Prejudice
Life isn't fair. There are times when I'm tempted to believe otherwise, but every now and then something so glaringly unjust smacks that optimism right out of my head. Like the case of home schooling programs online for example.
Despite home education gaining back some credibility in recent years and a number of home schooling programs online fielding success stories left and right, home schooling is still not given nearly enough due.
A big reason for that is that home schooling is said to be “unconventional” – something that goes beyond what society has established as its norm. Which is really funny, considering that though home schooling programs online in particular are comparatively new as they followed the wave of information technology, home schooling in general has been around far longer than “traditional” academic institutions, otherwise known as public and private schools.
Home schooling was the primary means of education long before the first school and university was even established. Even the founding fathers of the United States of America were educated in the comfort of their own homes, as were some of history's greatest minds.
In those days, home schooling was the norm, and practically a rite of passage. By taking it, you were conforming to the norm of society at the time. So if the basis of the argument against home schooling is it's tendency to unconformity, then the argument is pointless.
What about the contention against home schooling's effectiveness then? Or its credibility? Fallacies, both of them. The mere fact that home-schooled kids consistently perform at a higher level than public or private schooled kids in every single subject speaks volumes about how people judge too quickly, without proper cause.
Regardless of the widespread contention against the effectiveness of home education, there is no conclusive evidence that supports the idea that public and private schools offer better learning than the many home schooling programs online.
On the contrary, there are several benefits of home schooling to enjoy and take advantage of – among them a distraction-free working environment and the teacher's utmost attention – which allow students to flourish and increase their efficiency and productivity. Students are even allowed the opportunity to pace themselves, ensuring they will not lag behind or advance well before they are ready.
These benefits of home schooling can't be offered by public or private schools, yet are readily available in every home schooling program online. The decisive advantage in effectiveness of method, then, belongs to home schooling.
Home schooling's credibility, too, is only questioned because of society's flawed values and distorted viewpoint. Many still believe that home schooling lacks credibility since it isn't conventional and that the “traditional” school system's approach to teaching and learning is better than that of home education's.
Home schooling may have been pushed aside back in the day because it still had a ways to go before it was deemed effective and reliable enough for everyone to benefit from.
But these are no longer issues today thanks to the advent of home schooling programs online. These online programs give everyone easy access to quality education from credible sources, giving no justification for society's bias against them.
Society may not favor home schooling programs online for all the wrong reasons, but though this prejudice can't help but harbor a hint of resentment in home-schoolers, it shouldn't spawn a trace of doubt in their credibility.