Homeschool Vs. Public School

In this post, we will discuss the common question of homeschool vs. public school. A recent article reported a number of studies indicating that on average, homeschoolers outperform public schoolers on common assessments like the SAT and ACT. Critics suggested this was due to more favorable demographics like parents’ income, marriage status, and level of education. However, later studies indicated that even where demographic differences were corrected for, homeschoolers still did better. Why is this?

Homeschool Vs. Public School Motivation

Let’s briefly consider the history of public education. Charlemagne was the first person to conceive of anything like a public education system about 800-900 years before its time. Later during the American founding, it showed up again in Puritan New England with the purpose of educating young people to be able to read the Bible. By the 1830s Massachusetts Secretary of Education Horace Mann revised the system after a Prussian model. Its goal was to turn unruly, undisciplined children into reasonable citizens. As time wore on, public education became increasingly influenced by industrialists and politicians.

What do all these people have in common? They knew nothing about child development and, frankly, were not interested to begin with. Their goals were adult-centric ones. If you want to know what’s not working with public education, start there. It’s not and for the most part has never been for children. It’s been for adults with adult-centric ideas of what was good and right for society.

Rudolf Steiner, who created Waldorf Education and who inspires a great many homeschoolers, including Enkindle Academy, had penetrating insights about child development. He crafter a curriculum to harmonize with each stage of the child’s developmental journey. Its goal was to draw out the human being’s full potential, not fit them Prussian-style into an increasingly mechanized, inhuman system of production and consumption. So, when we consider the motivations behind homeschool vs. public school, it’s easy to see why, perhaps, the former do better than the latter.

Freedom to Learn

In public school, children are generally not free to learn. Rather, they learn under coercion with consequences for not making the grade. Such pressure from a young age does not generally result in the feeling, “I am free to learn,” but something more like, “I’d better master this or else.” It sounds a lot like working for someone else who could dock your pay if you’re not up to snuff.

That doesn’t feel very good, and feelings are 100% behind student motivation. In a homeschool environment, by contrast, it’s generally less about performing and more about exploring. Free to learn, students can follow their curiosity. I am astonished by how many extra research projects, experiments and field trips my students take. When I ask them to do homework, they do it and then some. It’s been a major eye opener for me as a teacher. I never remembered myself nor my peers so enthusiastic about doing homework.

When learning is an adventure and not a chore, however, the sky is the limit. It’s fun, and that makes all the difference. Could that be why homeschoolers do better than public schoolers?

But, Homeschool Kids Miss Out, Don’t they?

The article I cited about says, “Going to school also provides many benefits that homeschooling families are not always able to provide, like larger social networks, mixing with people from diverse backgrounds, opportunities to play competitive sports, or performing in a marching band.” I find my homeschooling students don’t have any problems meeting these extracurricular and social needs. I just finished tutoring a friend’s daughter in high school algebra today; tomorrow she and her book club are going to the Met in New York City. She is also an expert accordion player, and she and her homeschooled brother sell the caps their knit.

Now, not every family wants or feels they have the luxury to homeschool. Some students also like going to school, public or private. I’m not here to pontificate. However, I am here to bear witness to the fact that on the whole I find homeschoolers happier, healthier, and more enthusiastic than their public school counterparts. Time and again I’ve been floored by the homeschooled young adults I’ve met. They are the most confident, self-knowing of their kind I’ve ever known.

Therefore, if you are considering homeschool vs. public school, I encourage you to seriously consider the former. As a longtime teacher, I have a crafted a curriculum that gives you the best of both worlds. It’s like having a classroom in your home. Sample Lessons are available for free on our website.