Best Ways to Educate Our Children

How Best To Educate Our Children

Introduction

Is traditional education is the best way to educate children? Many would argue it is the best way; traditional teachers in the standard public educational system to many American are the accepted standard for education in the United States. For many past generations, American families have sent their children to the local public schools, however today there are an increasing percentage of families who are choosing to teach their children at home. This rise in the home school program may be attributed to the dissatisfaction or frustration with traditional public education. The question or problem being focused upon, what is the best way to teach our children, would seem to be a fairly straightforward question. The uncertainty in this question comes from the word "best". What defines best is ambiguous and the word best can stand for a multiplicity of responses. The American Heritage Dictionary (2009) defines the word best as, "one that surpasses all others, surpassing all others in excellence, achievement, or quality". For you to determine what the best way to teach children, you would need to determine what subject or curriculum should be taught and then proceed with defining the best way to teach the specific material for each subject.

Uncertainties or Ambiguities

The term educate, allows for many interpretations. Defining what material should be taught is necessary to conclude how best to educate our children for each specific topic. A teacher may declare the question is how we can best teach core education such as reading, writing, and arithmetic. One the other hand, a parent may have a different perspective on educating children and declare the question is, how best to educate our children in social skills preparing them to face the world as adults.

The undertaking of educating children encompasses many characteristics and in determining the best way, you must examine all aspects of children's educational requirements.

Children learn in a variety of ways, according to America's Career Resource Network (2009), the three most common types of learning are visual, auditory and kinesthetic. The best way to learn is dependant upon your individual learning style. The environment or setting for learning may not be the only contributing factor. If the student is not taught with the learning style that best supports their individual learning method, the word best is different for each student. The high school graduate should ideally be prepared to enter college or the work force and function successfully within the community. Therefore the socialization of students should also be considered in reviewing the best way to educate our students. Does the home school environment provide adequate development of social skills? Is the development of social skills a consideration when discussing education, or is education solely an academic undertaking? The measurement of a students success is how well prepared they are to take the skills learned in school and apply them towards a successful adult life.

Reasoning and Contributing Factors

Determining what subjects and/or life skills should be taught to be successful at work, in relationships and as a contributing member of society must be considered. Is the best way to teach our children in reference to only academic subjects or are the social aspects to be considered. Does the qualifications of the person un-taking the process of education need to be considered? If the focus of the best way to educate our children is solely an academic pursuit do we risk creating a society of people who are book smart but socially unskilled?

Evidence

Research supporting claims both for and against home schooling must be evaluated. The way in which the information is gathered must be examined as well as the results of claims from the evidence. Questioning of the evidence is essential to establishing validity of statistics. Why is this information true, what proof is there supporting any claims for or against home school.

Supporting Evidence

The article, Home school students Excel in National Competition, cites numerous successes of home schooled students. The Ruth DeYoung Kohler Scholarship was won by a home school student (A. Neal, 2007). In addition, the 2005 National Geographic Bee was won by a student who was home schooled. The top three contestants in the 2000 National Spelling Bee were also home schooled. Evie Hudak (1999) serves on the National Association of State Boards of Education, as well as several additional educational public education boards claims public schools are held to a higher standard of accountability and are therefore the best option for education. Additionally she is concerned home schooling is cheating our children of social lessons offered in the public educational system. Students need to interact with peers to develop the social skills require to perform in society.

Katherine Pleger (1998) is also not in agreement with the reported success of the Home Schooled program. Katherine sites concerns from Carol Kennedy, a public school principal, who believes home schooling, may not be all it is reported to be. The National Home Education Research Institute reports home school children rank higher on national tests. This reports claims home schooled students are ranked in the 80th to the 87th percentile as compared to public education students who rank in the 50th percentile.

This report may be flawed due to the limited testing conducted, results of home school students nationwide are compared to students in only the state of Virginia.

Katherine Pleger (1998) in an effort to research the home school environment conducted an interview of a mother who home schools her child. During the interview the mother was distracted by a crying baby, there was commotion in the background and the situation at home seemed chaotic in comparison to traditional viewpoints of a good learning environment.

Weakness

A single interview conducted of the mother participating in the home school program is insufficient information to make a determination of the program as a whole. The outcome of the interview was concerning to Katherine and as a result her viewpoint was negative of the home schooling environment and the program. How many awards and scholarships are available and what is the ratio of home schooled verses public school students who win these competitions and scholarships? Is this the question society should be asking, certain there are successes from home schooling. I propose the weakness of the home school program