Homeschooling

I thank my opponent for responding, and in this round I shall state my argument of why homeschooling should be allowed in America. Also, this will be the first time I try out a new format for posting arguments so it is easier to see where my arguments are.Builds IndependenceLike my opponent stated in his argument in the first round, different states have different regulations when a child is homeschooled. However, no matter the method used, homeschooling is full of the student having to be independent with their work. The term independent, defined from Webster's Dictionary, is "Not depending on another for livelihood or subsistence". With homeschool, this level of independence is achieved by allowing the student into fulfilling his or her given assignments. And it has been proven that homeschool promotes independence, "Parents chose to forgo government factory schooling to let their children develop with independence along the course of their own developmental schedule. These are people who are themselves independent thinkers" (1).Comparing that to public school, independence is really not achieved because of having to follow a certain format on how schools teach, instead of promoting a students independence. According to the article "Why Students in Some Countries do Better" (2), the number one reason of other countries education is higher is because of promoting independence in the student. "The trouble with performing the analysis at the individual level is that there are no independent, individual observations for many variables. Within the TIMSS data set, the primary sampling unit (or PSU) is the school, not the student or classroom. Individual students who attend the same school may share some characteristics that are not captured by survey data; the individual observations are not wholly independent of one another". With a promotion of independence among the student, which homeschooling promotes, it allows that independence to shine through and much more better in the life time.Allows Passions to SpreadAnother thing about homeschool is the ability for the student to find what they are passionate about. My opponent may ask "Can't public schools allow the student to find their passion"? In reality no, because of having so many requirements that the student need to take in order to graduate. This method I like to refer to as "Forced Education", where schools force a lesson down a students throat even though they will not need it in the long run. This idea of "Forced Education" can be homework, where in a majority of homeschools, was not necessary to pass. It mainly consisted of completing lessons given by the homeschool program used by students. With no homework promoted many passions, as well as actually allowed the student to learn on their own. According to mother and journalist Penelope Trunk (3) "I internalized this idea when my youngest son was learning to read. I didn't teach him. But I watched carefully to see how he learned. He learned a lot from playing video games, but the first time I saw him actually sit down and read, page by page, was in a cab ride on our trip to Las Vegas. The cab was full of booklets advertising clubs with women in crazy, exotic costumes. He was determined to learn how to read those booklets. My first instinct was to tell him to put the book away. But not before I took a picture: self-directed learning". Her son learned because of having the time, after his lessons, to learn how to do common stuff on his own.And to provide an example of a person who successfully fulfilled their passions, while homeschooled, lets take a look at Sam Sutherland (4). Sam Sutherland was a homeschooled student who graduated early, and became famous for sailing around the world at a young age. This was achieved because of himself being homeschooled, and developing a passion among his free time; and now look at where he is now. He is famous, wrote a book, and proved that homeschool can be effective. Help Kids Learn When Having a Mental ConditionI would like to quickly share a short story on how I got into homeschool. My younger brother has Asperger's Syndrome (Form of Autism) and had trouble communicating with his peers in school. Even my parents couldn't even talk to him, without him getting extremely nervous. Then my mom did homeschool, where he learned at his own pace and now is in public school where he can communicate with others despite his mental issues. How did this happen? By letting him take a breather from the outside world, and learning at his own pace.Homeschooling not only did this to him, but others as well. "Why homeschool your child with ASD? Less stress and anxiety for the child, Less fighting upon schedules in school, and comfort" (5). As it is seen here, those with mental issues can solve those issues with being homeschooled. As well as it refers back to my previous argument on how these type of students can learn what they want without as many limitations compared to that of public schools. "Putting aside these debates and focusing on the question of education, autistic children appear to benefit from early educational intervention with an emphasis on helping them acquire language skills and mastering basic social interactions. While speech pathologists, parent-led therapy, and intensive language courses appear to help; most autistics benefit from daily intensive language work which is beyond the logistical and financial ability of most parents to provide. Time4Learning provides a home-based low cost effective method to supplement these others therapies" (6).Sources:1. https://johnmcgeough.wordpress.com...2. http://educationnext.org...3. http://education.penelopetrunk.com...4. http://www.zacsunderland.com...5. http://www.tacanow.org...6. https://www.time4learning.com...