Homeschool Myth #3
by Lyn Lomasi, Staff Writer
Image © Lyn Lomasi; All Rights Reserved
As the concept of homeschooling continues to ease back into the mainstream, where it began, more and more questions and myths seem to follow. Some people tend to believe that a child who schools at home is too lazy to attend a "regular" school. While browsing various websites, blogs, and forums online, I noticed something very sad. Many homeschooled children were complaining that their friends in public or private school thought they were lazy and couldn't handle "real" schoolwork.
Some of the home schooled children recalled being in public school and compared it to what they do in homeschool. Most of the ones I came across that mentioned this stated they had more schoolwork in their home school, but many still preferred it because there was also more time to concentrate on work.
Sometimes people assume that because you're at home, you have the freedom to lax on your schoolwork. However, for many homeschooling families, that isn't even a consideration. School time is still school time. Just because the classes might be held at home or in another location besides a public or private school, that doesn't make them less important.
Another topic where laziness came up was during homework time. Some homeschooled children do not have homework. I have found that when this is the case, it's generally because there is a great deal of school work completed during the day. To give homework afterward would be overwhelming for the child in that case.
In my observations and experience, a homeschooled child might actually have less room to be lazy with their schoolwork. Generally the parents will be more observant of a child's schoolwork when it is being done at home. Rather than asking a child about their work, the parent has the unique opportunity of being present while it is completed. Because of more parental involvement, this sometimes sets higher standards for the child to perform.
I have also found that many homeschooled children will score at one or more levels above their grade level, which means they may be working twice as hard in less time. The HSLDA has posted information on a study relating to that. The HSLDA has more information on the scores and performance of homeschooled children.
While being lazy could very well apply to some children in home school, it could probably be applied to some children in public school as well. Those same children would likely be lax in performing their studies, no matter which type of school they attended. Someone who is lazy will generally be lazy, no matter their environment.
Things to Remember:
Some of the home schooled children recalled being in public school and compared it to what they do in homeschool. Most of the ones I came across that mentioned this stated they had more schoolwork in their home school, but many still preferred it because there was also more time to concentrate on work.
Sometimes people assume that because you're at home, you have the freedom to lax on your schoolwork. However, for many homeschooling families, that isn't even a consideration. School time is still school time. Just because the classes might be held at home or in another location besides a public or private school, that doesn't make them less important.
Another topic where laziness came up was during homework time. Some homeschooled children do not have homework. I have found that when this is the case, it's generally because there is a great deal of school work completed during the day. To give homework afterward would be overwhelming for the child in that case.
In my observations and experience, a homeschooled child might actually have less room to be lazy with their schoolwork. Generally the parents will be more observant of a child's schoolwork when it is being done at home. Rather than asking a child about their work, the parent has the unique opportunity of being present while it is completed. Because of more parental involvement, this sometimes sets higher standards for the child to perform.
I have also found that many homeschooled children will score at one or more levels above their grade level, which means they may be working twice as hard in less time. The HSLDA has posted information on a study relating to that. The HSLDA has more information on the scores and performance of homeschooled children.
While being lazy could very well apply to some children in home school, it could probably be applied to some children in public school as well. Those same children would likely be lax in performing their studies, no matter which type of school they attended. Someone who is lazy will generally be lazy, no matter their environment.
Things to Remember:
- Some kids who attend home school have more schoolwork than those who don't.
- When homeschooled kids don't get homework, it could be due to large amounts of daily work.
- Because of more parental involvement, this sometimes sets higher standards for the child to perform.
- Many homeschooled children score one or more grade levels higher than their requirements.
*I originally published this via Yahoo Contributor Network
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