Benefits of Homeschooling

Homeschool Benefits

As a home-school student I would like to answer some of Alison Farmer’s queries ("Public Schooling Is Best," July 21) about home education.

First, home-schoolers are not isolated. They cooperate in order to provide their children with many "academic possibilities." I have had the privilege of sitting under university accredited parents in multiple classes, including "adequate" science labs and "collaborative" Shakespeare discussions. No home-school parent would claim to be proficient in all subjects, but by each sharing talents and knowledge it becomes achievable.

Second, home schoolers do "lose out on the socialization of a public school environment," but it is not us who lose. My friends tell me stories of how frustrating it is to face the influences that surround them everyday, especially the pressure to become sexually active.

But, I am not "sheltered." I have been taught the consequences of choices, and how to respond in difficult situations. I am confident in my response. As far as being "class president" or "quarterback", few people have that opportunity in a large school. Most home-school families have chances for leadership and responsibility through sibilings.

In a "real world" situation, there are annoying things that other people do. In a home-school setting, you’re living with those people and learning how to deal with them appropriately, which is a "trial of growing up." Home schooling is not "tearing apart the basis of American education," but was the foundation of early American education, and largely influenced the one room school house until the 20th Century.

As a home-schooled junior, I am thankful for my home education, and feel fully prepared to face the future. But before you begin to ban homeschooling, I invite you to dinner so you can see how "sheltered, isolated, and unsocialized" my family is. Chances are, you might be surprised.

Lydia Smith
Harrisonburg