
# Long before the advent of public schools, parents educated their children at home. Today, some parents still elect to keep their children out of public schools and teach their children in the comfort of their home. While some argue that this practice does not provide students with the necessary socialization, proponents of home schooling point to an assortment of benefits of this practice.
Independent Study
# Home-schooled students benefit from the ability to develop their independent study skills. Most higher level learning is done independently, not through the interactive and creative activities that are popular in elementary and middle schools. While these creative activities do provide students with an enjoyable way to learn, some worry that they set the students up for failure later in their schooling by not preparing them to engage in the quiet reflection necessary to study independently. Home-schooled students often learn on their own with the aid of books or other educational resources. These students are often charged with the responsibility of ensuring that their work is successfully completed, without the aid of a teacher to check their progress and remind them to remain on task.
Self-Paced
# In the traditional classroom, much education time is lost when the class has to stop and wait for students to complete their assignments, or when class time is used up with the completion of necessary bookkeeping such as attendance taking and lunch counts. Home-schooled children do not have to deal with these educational disruptions; instead, they can continue at their own pace, unfettered. This allows them to quickly cover material that they find easy and slow down when struggling through a complex lesson---without letting the progress of others have an impact on their educational momentum.
Strong Family Relationships
# Parents often play an integral role in the education of home-schooled students. This close work relationship between the parent and the child allows them to spend more time together and promotes the development of a strong family relationship. Many home-schooled students are joined in their learning endeavors by siblings, who also take their lessons at home. These siblings have the opportunity to spend significantly more time together than siblings who attend regular schools, allowing for the development of a closer bond and a greater degree of mutual respect.
Religious Concerns
# Home schooling is a popular choice among devoutly religious parents who worry about the potential influence that the public school environment could have on their children. Home schooling allows parents to integrate religious studies into the traditional education curriculum and ensure that their children are not exposed to any customs or practices with which they do not agree.
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