When the current course of home education isn’t at its peak, homeschoolers sometimes fall back on the dangerous logical fallacy of “homeschooling is better than public schooling, therefor any amount of homeschooling is better than public schooling” when attempting to justify or rationalize any lapse in their intended output. You may recognize the related mantras: “A homeschooled child learns more before lunch than a public schooled child does all day” and “The worst day homeschooling is better than the best day in public school.”
In other words, as long as they can convince themselves that a day spent playing Club Penguin or watching videos on YouTube surpasses the quality and quantity of education in the average public school day, they don’t have to feel guilty about having let their children play Club Penguin or watch videos on YouTube all day. At least the kids aren’t in public school!
I absolutely agree that, overall, the quality and quantity of education received in the average public school is greatly exceeded by the quality and quantity of education received during the same period of time spent homeschooling. That doesn’t mean there is something inherently superior about homeschooling, though. Very little is brought to the table by location alone (academically speaking — mentally/emotionally/socially, being at home has an important impact). Done right, your child is receiving significantly more education than in a public school. Done wrong, your child might be receiving significantly less education than in a public school. Homeschooling parents seem to want to make it about location, but they’re missing the point — a great big fat point. It’s not the fact that you’re schooling at home, but that you’re putting in time, effort, individual attention, creativity, and love. Location is one of the less significant factors in education, coming far behind materials, methodology, and investment in the child’s success.
It’s not fair or accurate to selectively compare homeschooling and public schooling day by day, and certainly not hour by hour or minute by minute. To say “a day of homeschooling is superior to a day of public school” is disingenuous. Which day? Which homeschool? Sure, a public schooled child isn’t learning much on CRCT day, on class party day, on school assembly day. A homeschooled child isn’t learning much on mom’s pneumonia day, on “first I have to run all these errands” day, or on YouTube watching day, either. None of these days would be a fair day to choose for comparison as an adequate example of education, yet I’ve seen many examples of homeschoolers use class parties or school assemblies as examples of how public schools don’t educate, but just waste time. As a former public school room mom, I can assure you that our school system allowed for exactly two class parties a year and they had assemblies once per grading period.
We have had days when we accomplish more work and cover more materials than my son covered in a week in public school. We’ve also had weeks where we struggle to cover the amount of material that they covered in a day of public schooling. It fluctuates. No, every day of homeschooling is not going to cover more material in greater depth, simply by virtue of being homeschooling. Location doesn’t make the materials better — they have to actually be better materials. Location doesn’t make you roll out of bed in the morning and teach — that’s your own motivation. Location doesn’t cause ideal lesson plans to spring up or those lesson plans to be adhered to — you, the parent, have to make sure that happens. That video you watch at home has no more or less inherent academic value than the video watched at school unless you make it relevant, make it part of something bigger. If you plunk your kid on his butt in front of a video without finding a way to engage him in the materials or contextualize them, he’s not learning any more than he would being plunked on his butt in front of a television in public school. Location doesn’t equal education.
Public schools do have certain academic standards to uphold. Yes, many schools are failing, but most schools at least attempt to educate the children attending them. Are these standards as rigorous as my personal standards? Not by a long shot. Do I think kids are sitting there being taught nothing? No, I do not. Public school classrooms cover a wide range of materials. They even cover some of it well. It’s possible to have a sound, thorough education from public school, though a lot of that depends on student commitment, parental involvement, and the quality of the individual school(s) and teacher(s). A good public school teacher will engage the students, find ways to make information accessible, and will impart a love of learning. Dismissing public education out of hand simply because it’s not at home is just as bad as dismissing homeschooling out of hand because it is at home. Location doesn’t equal education. Déjà vu!
Not every homeschooler is done by lunch. Not every homeschooler is learning in a half day what public school kids are learning all day. Don’t make it about day-for-day, hour-for-hour. Don’t make it about there vs. here. Look at the big picture. An hour of half-assed homeschooling isn’t better, academically, than an hour of public schooling with a competent, engaged teacher. Stop telling yourself that to make yourself feel better. Public schools have some really good days, days that are doing to be better than your worst days, and that’s ok. You’ll have good days that are way better than their best days, because you can give your child the personal attention to make a good day great. You, as the parent-teacher, not homeschooling as a concept. You don’t have to tear public schooling down to make yourself feel better about an off day. You don’t have to blow smoke up your own denim jumper. If you’re making an effort 75% of the time and teach your children with love and a vision for the future success, you don’t have to excuse your worst day by trying to compare it to public school. Not only is it not accurate (Really, have you ever had kids in public school? It’s certainly less than ideal, but it’s not exactly day care, and some of them are doing a good job), but it’s not necessary.
It’s not the location that makes homeschooling better. It’s you. You are invested in your child. You want your child to learn. You want her to love what she’s learning. You want him to engage with his curriculum. You make education happen. Keep your eyes on the big picture and the important part you play in it. It’ll keep you motivated through those weeks when “a homeschooled day watching science videos on YouTube is better than a public school day of science labs” seems like a really nice lie to tell yourself.
