If you are dissatisfied with the public school system, you may be considering a Christian home schooling solution. Perhaps you are wondering how students who are home schooled compare academically to students who receive a more traditional public school education.
Did you know that on average students with a home school education outperform public school students in all subjects? In fact, a study of over 5,000 home school students showed that they average 30–37 percentile points higher than their public school peers.
These results are not surprising when you think about the potential academic benefits of having a home school education.
Individualized Instruction
In a regular classroom, each teacher is working with at least eighteen students at the same time. The teacher’s time is mainly spent giving the same instruction to the whole class as a group. There is very little time for them to go around and help each child individually. In a 30-minute work period, each child would likely get less than two minutes of one-on-one help from the teacher.
The World is Your Classroom
Students in a traditional school setting are inside the same classroom around seven hours a day. Most content is learned through listening to a lecture or reading a textbook. If they are lucky, they may get an hour a week in a science lab once they get older.
Home school education can be much more hands-on and flexible. For example, if you are studying the phases of the moon, you can actually go outside each night and observe them. If you are studying leaves, you can go on a nature walk and spend time together gathering and examining the real thing.
These experiences outside the classroom with hands-on experiences allow for a deeper understanding and better learning than anything a class lecture, textbook reading, or mundane worksheet could offer.
The Choice is Up to You
With home school, your child is never left behind or held back because of a cookie-cutter curriculum that doesn't fit his or her individual needs needs. As a parent, you are the most qualified to choose a curriculum that is at the right level in each subject for your child. Your child may be struggling in math, but advanced in reading. In that case, you can choose a math course at a lower grade level, but let them move ahead in reading.
When you home school your children, the instruction they receive can be completely individualized. If they understand something, you can move ahead quickly. When they need more time on a concept, you can stop and practice as long as they need. Even if you are home schooling more than one child, you are still better able to individualize their instruction than a teacher in a traditional classroom. No one knows your child's academic needs better than you do.
Another key thing you can consider when you are the one choosing curriculum is worldview. A public school is required to use the same secular curriculum as all of the other public schools in the county. Parents do not make the decision about the perspective from which their child will be taught. It may be important to you to have a curriculum that is written from a Christian perspective. Home schooling allows you the freedom to choose a textbook that teaches science, and other subjects, in way that supports your beliefs.
Learning Style
As a parent, you are the one most qualified to discern the way your children learn. When home schooling your kids, you can choose a curriculum that meets your children's unique learning styles and needs. For example, if your children learn best by using hands-on materials and manipulatives, you can look for a curriculum that offers those things. If your children are great with computers, you may want to incorporate online learning into your school day.
With the technology available to nearly every household, online home school can easily accommodate the learning style of an online learner. Enlightium Academy provides a fully accredited online Christian curriculum, complete with lesson plans and full teacher support, if needed. This provides the flexibility for students to learn at their own pace whenever and wherever it is convenient. There are not many children who wouldn’t benefit from this type of learning.
The academic benefits of home school are many. It is clear that providing your child with an individualized education, in a classroom with no limits, choosing the curriculum that’s right for you, and accommodating their individual learning styles will give your child a leg up in this world. As you go about making the important decisions about your child’s education, don’t forget to consider online home school with Enlightium Academy!