As someone who teaches in a very good public school I am, not surprisingly, a fan. Specifically I can only get excited for the job if I think I have a chance to advocate for, inspire and guide kids whose home environment may not be equipped to do that as well. I like the feeling of being in it together as a community, not just promoting the best interests of me and mine in a dog eat dog world. For that reason I would never teach in a private school or a charter school where skimming allows the better off to hog resources.
I see a lot in what we do which would be hard to duplicate for a single family, but then, I don't deny that a very good one-on-one experience with the right adult which caters only to junior probably does have the capacity to enable him to advance academically more than he might otherwise. The social dimension probably doesn't have to be worse at home, but without making the effort it doesn't seem as rich in possibility. Of course, at some schools that possibility includes gang activity so an ineffective school may be a bigger negative socially than at home. Avoiding a gang infested school would always be a good reason to home school for the qualified, but I would always prefer to bring my advocacy as a parent to a public school that serves the entire community.
People in my family who home school do so to control their kids non-church contacts. I don't think that motivation can ever be a positive for the kid, though the control freak parents obviously like it fine.
I see a lot in what we do which would be hard to duplicate for a single family, but then, I don't deny that a very good one-on-one experience with the right adult which caters only to junior probably does have the capacity to enable him to advance academically more than he might otherwise. The social dimension probably doesn't have to be worse at home, but without making the effort it doesn't seem as rich in possibility. Of course, at some schools that possibility includes gang activity so an ineffective school may be a bigger negative socially than at home. Avoiding a gang infested school would always be a good reason to home school for the qualified, but I would always prefer to bring my advocacy as a parent to a public school that serves the entire community.
People in my family who home school do so to control their kids non-church contacts. I don't think that motivation can ever be a positive for the kid, though the control freak parents obviously like it fine.
