Homeschooling
Why Are There So Many Anti-Homeschoolers?
If you spend any amount of time talking about homeschooling online, you have probably noticed something interesting: there are a lot of people who are strongly against homeschooling who have never homeschooled a child.
I was reminded of this recently after posting a TikTok about homeschooling. The post brought out quite a few comments from people who do not homeschool and had very strong opinions about how homeschool families should educate their children.
It got me thinking: Why does someone else’s educational choice bother people so much?
I’m Not on Team Homeschool or Team Public School
I’m on the side of families.
I have taught in public schools, private schools, charter schools, international schools, alternative programs, and online education. I have also homeschooled.
My experience has taught me that there is no single educational setting that works perfectly for every child.
Some children thrive in traditional schools. Some struggle there and thrive at home. Some families choose homeschooling because of academics. Others value flexibility, travel, religion, athletics, special interests, family time, or simply the ability to create an educational experience that looks different from a traditional school day.
@teacherjadesacademy_ I usually don’t respond to people in my comments when they aren’t even my audience. I have degrees. I have a teaching license. I’ve taught in public, private, charter, and international schools. I’ve taught online, in traditional classrooms, and I’ve even taught in a prison. But I would never tell someone, “You need to teach in a prison to understand education.” Though I could make some correlations between both institutions. So the idea that public school is somehow the only “real” form of education is wild to me. Maybe I should go back to school and study this odd behavior of commenting under posts that aren’t for 🫵 I advocate for children receiving the best education for THEM and for families making the educational choices that work best for THEIR children. That might be public school. That might be private school. That might be charter school. That might be homeschooling. That might be something completely different. I would never do jump under someone’s post loud and misinformed, as if education is a one-size-fits-all.
♬ original sound - Teacher Jade’s Writing Academy
None of those choices automatically makes one family better than another.
The question should be:
Is this educational approach working for your child and your family?
A Quick History of Education in America
Here’s an interesting piece of context that often gets lost in these conversations: the American education system has not always looked the way it does today.
Compulsory school attendance laws developed across the United States primarily during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Before that, American children experienced a wide variety of educational arrangements, including home education, apprenticeships, private schools, church schools, and local community schooling.
The modern American public school system is relatively young when you look at the entire history of education.
That doesn’t make public schools bad.
It simply reminds us that the way we educate children has always changed.
So why do we sometimes act as though there is only one legitimate way to educate a child?
You Don’t Have to Homeschool to Support Homeschoolers
You don’t have to choose homeschooling for your family.
You don’t have to agree with every homeschooling philosophy.
You don’t even have to understand why another family made the decision they did.
But you can still respect their right to make that decision.
Homeschool families don’t need to prove that homeschooling is better than public school, private school, charter school, or anything else.
They need to figure out what works for their own children.
And that is what I will continue to advocate for.
Not homeschooling at all costs.
Not traditional schooling at all costs.
Families having the freedom, information, and support to choose the education that works best for them.
And, if you need help with ELA support, check out courses at www.TeacherJade.com.
If you want to learn more about homeschooling, check out:
- National Center for Education Statistics: Homeschooling
This is the strongest neutral, government source. NCES collects nationally representative data on homeschooling, including families’ reasons for homeschooling, curriculum sources, and homeschooling experiences. - National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI)
This is a nonprofit research organization specifically focused on home education. It has research, statistics, state information, research summaries, and a large bibliography of homeschooling studies.