
The National Center For Education Statistics, (NCES, 2005) stated in 2005 that almost 1.1 million children underwent homeschooling in the United States. In the past, homeschooling used to be a radical way to say parents were upset with the current school system. People who declared themselves as Christians decided to remove their children from public schools. They built or opened schools with a Religious background in the 1980s and those schools became legal in every State. The same happened in Canada, although it took longer for homeschooling to become legal all through Canada.
Today, parents of homeschoolers feel the schools are unsafe environments as well as being dissatisfied with the educational values and course materials taught to their children. This is happening in the United States as well as in Canada, raising the question, “Should I homeschool my child?”
Why is homeschooling better? The government school bodies of both the United States and Canada are hearing reports that parents feel the public-school system’s learning techniques are disempowering and superficial. The courses are compulsory, but of little use to the students after they leave the school system and go into the real world. The parents also feel that the schools are unsafe environments for their children.
There are many crimes involving violence such as school shootings, drugs in the schools, damage to personal property, as well as bullying, all negative actions which override the positive aspects of the public schools. (NCES, 2017-2018) A mixed group of people have formed homeschooling factions across North America today, due to do the pros of homeschooling.
According to statistics in the United States, (nheri.org + thinkimpact.com) there were about 3.7 million students homeschooled in 2020-2021 grades K to 12.
I am a grandparent who has 10 grandchildren, two of whom have gone through the school system. 7 of them are still within the Canadian School System, which is not working as it stands now. So, I am able to see why these parents are pulling their children out of the public school systems and reaping the benefits of homeschooling.
As a grandmother with 46 years of experience cooking for others, and walking the talk through 67 years of life, I would like to add more value to the pros of homeschooling by adding basic life skills to the mix.