I agree. We homeschooled for 13 years before using private church school. Having about four years of that to compare with at this point, I do not believe they get a vastly better education in school, and for any student with even slight learning disabilities, I think home schooling is often a better learning environment than a school that is poorly equipped to deal with disabilities. I am told that our school consistently ranks poorly in reading comprehension on achievement tests when measured against other similar schools. We don't have that much to brag about over home schooling. But like you say, I've seen some less than ideal homeschool situations as well.JayP wrote: ↑Sun Nov 30, 2025 10:18 pm I would be careful in both praise and condemnation of homeschooling.
We started homeschooling our children in the 1980s, very much in the “early days”. Now, our homeschooled through 12 daughter, but college educated with ironically a Masters in education (and 6 years teaching experience) has homeschooled her children (oldest now 13).
The reason I say avoid both praise and condemnation is having seen a LOT of homeschooling, I do not think you can draw firm conclusions. I have seen it done well, no better or worse than formal education, and done worse. It is too big a cross section, too many variations in how it is done to say definitively it is good or bad. Just as there are some fine schools, some that are meh, and some truly awful.
Just on the face of it, schools would seem to be a better and more efficient place for education. Many parents aren't trained to teach. Teachers theoretically are prepared for the academics. There is positive peer pressure for students to perform. There is more structure. Pooling resources is more efficient, and so forth.
But the reality on the ground in conservative Mennonite and Amish schools is that teachers typically have absolutely zero training for their jobs. It takes nothing but a reasonably good report of one's character and a grasp of basic literacy to get a job as a teacher. Teaching is viewed as much as a mission as a job, and the financial compensation typically isn't amazing. Teachers generally 'serve' for a short period before moving on to other pursuits. We don't have too many career teachers. The idea that homeschooling is necessarily an inferior method of education when compared to these private schools is misguided. Parents often have a greater motivation to see their children succeed, a better knowledge of their child's skills and abilities, and other things compared to a young teacher who has no children of their own and no experience.
But again, especially when there is a lack of structure, homeschooling can be really problematic.
I think the biggest objection to homeschooling in our church (it is not allowed, I believe, except in special circumstances) is that it is believed to cause less community cohesion and represents an individualistic mindset. I object to the idea that parents teaching their children is necessarily detrimental to church life, and I think that where a congregation struggles with fragmentation and individualism, it is due to other problems than homeschooling.