Homeschooling is better than Public School

Like my opponent, I will begin with rebuttals and then move on to my previous points two and three. -Rebuttals- 1. Homeschooling does not isolate children, it gives them more free time to be around other children. It is true that public schoolers have the opportunity to be around other children their age on a daily basis. What we have to consider is whether or not that is a good thing. For instance, if a public-schooled child does not like his/her other classmates, or maybe he/she doesn't fit in well, this could damage any hope of the child finding any friends or acquaintances. Homeschoolers get the chance to interact with hundreds of other homeschoolers their age, older, or younger. For public-schooled children, this can be seen as awkward and unnatural. It's debatable whether or not being around the same children almost every day for a long period of time could damage the child's socialization skills even more than what my opponent might call a "homeschooler's social life", which is only seeing children every couple of days. Public schoolers, whether they like it or not, are going to have to see other children their own age every weekday in the colder seasons. Homeschoolers get the choice whether or not they want to see other children their own age. They have more freedom to go out and meet someone "from scratch", rather than almost being forced to be friends with their classmates. This prepares homeschoolers more for life, because in the real world if you want to have friends, you have to go out and get them yourself. I will now restate my main points. 1. Homeschooling gives you more freedom. 2. Homeschooling gives you more options. 3. Homeschooling gives you more opportunities. I will now use points two and three for my argument. -Point 2- HOMESCHOOLING GIVES YOU MORE OPTIONS. When you homeschool, the choices are limitless. You can: a. Spend more time teaching valuable life skills. b. Gain more family togetherness. c. Use free time to do more important things. -Supporting Proof A- YOU CAN SPEND MORE TIME TEACHING VALUABLE LIFE SKILLS WITH HOMESCHOOLING. Since homeschoolers are not at school all day, they often end up helping their parents run errands. A trip to the grocery store is almost like a "field trip" for homeschoolers, since parents can teach their kids about that particular thing. Children can benefit so much in the future just by something like helping their mom prepare breakfast, or accompanying their dad on a trip to the bank. Even at an early age, homeschoolers can know more than most public schoolers in just a few weeks. -Supporting Proof B- YOU CAN GAIN MORE FAMILY TOGETHERNESS WITH HOMESCHOOLING. Homeschoolers spend almost all day with their families because their parents are the ones that teach them. This develops a strengthens the relationship between them, and helps build character. Getting to know your sibling(s) and parents is never a bad thing. It will definitely help you as your parents are the ones who will be your main supporters through life. Public schoolers rarely get to see their families, especially if they do extra activities after school such as sports. Not getting the chance to get to know your family on a personal level can give you great disadvantages later in life. -SUPPORTING PROOF C- YOU CAN USE FREE TIME TO DO MORE IMPORTANT THINGS WITH HOMESCHOOLING. A public schooler's free time on weekdays consists of meals, homework, studying, and sleep. There is practically never any time to just relax and be a kid. A homeschooler, however, has loads of free time on their hands. Being at their own house doing school motivates children, and can even help them do better at their studies. I agree that homework is important, but I also think that being at school all day and then coming home at night just to get a head start on their homework does not motivate children as much as it should. A homeschooling parent has a choice whether or not they want to even assign their child homework. Some homeschooled children are busy enough doing things that are just as important, such as volunteer work and babysitting. If you go to a public school, and you are so busy that you can't get your homework done, your grade will simply go down, and there is nothing you can do about it. A parent does not have to assign homework, and this will not affect their child's grade at all. -Point 3- HOMESCHOOLING GIVES YOU MORE OPPORTUNITIES. Homeschooled children gain many opportunities, such as: a. Better chances at getting admitted into a good college. b. Standing out in college admissions. c. Start earning college credits earlier. -Supporting Proof A- YOU GAIN THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET BETTER CHANCES OF ADMISSION INTO COLLEGE WITH HOMESCHOOLING. 20 years ago, it was hard for homeschoolers to get admitted into college. Our modern times have now made it easy for homeschoolers to get into college. In fact, a lot of difficult colleges such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Duke are now welcoming homeschoolers with open arms. They are beginning to recognize that homeschoolers are way more prepared for college than public schoolers. Homeschoolers beat all with their GPAs in their freshman and senior year of college with scores of 3.37 GPAs to 3.08 GPAs in the first semester and 3.41 to 3.12 in their senior year. -Supporting Proof B- YOU GAIN THE OPPORTUNITY TO STAND OUT IN COLLEGE ADMISSIONS WITH HOMESCHOOLING. In more of the popular colleges, where acceptance rate is low and it is hard to stand out among everyone else, a homeschooler almost automatically stands out. They are the oddballs, which might seem like a bad thing, but when you are actually trying to gain attention to yourself, it turns into a great advantage. Homeschoolers are also outscoring public schoolers on their ACT/SATs as well, which is also a bonus, with an average of 22.5 points on the ACT for homeschoolers, 20.8 for everybody else. The homeschoolers win again with the SATs as well, with 1092 points for the homeschooled children, and 1020 for the others. This helps homeschoolers stand out even more, considering that excelling at the ACTs and SATs is required if you want to get into a good college. -Supporting Proof C- YOU GAIN THE OPPORTUNITY TO START EARNING COLLEGE CREDITS EARLIER WITH HOMESCHOOLING. Since children who are homeschooled have their education tailored for them so that they can work faster than public schooled children, homeschoolers naturally have more credits when they enter into college than public schoolers. This saves money, time, and effort, which is key to having a good experience in college. The average homeschooler enters college with 14.7 credits, and the average public schooler only enters with 6.0. "I believe it would be much better for everyone if children were given their start in education at home. No one understands a child as well as his mother, and children are so different that they need individual training and study. A teacher with a room full of pupils cannot do this. At home, too, they are in their mother"s care. She can keep them from learning immoral things from other children." ~Laura Ingalls Wilder This quote basically sums up what homeschoolers gain. I believe that an education at home, especially when taught by your own parents, is the best education that a child could receive. I also believe that almost any homeschooler would agree. http://www.onlinecollege.org... http://www.onlinecollege.org... http://www.hslda.org... http://www.raisesmartkid.com... http://www.heritage.org...