I have learned a lot since I came to the United States.  The thing that I admire the most is the educational system in this country.  It is very professional and reasonable.  That is why I believe that American students are usually more creative and confident than others in foreign countries.  However, I have recently learned about homeschooling that parents in the teacher roles teach their kids directly.  I suppose that this technique cannot gain that much success.  I have read many sources relating to this issue, and I have come up with an idea: this is a controversial topic because of its advantages and disadvantages, and people keep arguing about this.
               At first, I thought that homeschooling was a weird educational method.  Children stay at home with their parents and siblings.  They study what parents instruct them in, and they do not know about the public school environment.  Homeschooled children also play around with their brothers and sisters or sometimes their neighborhood peers.  They cannot know the various kinds of activities throughout their cities or states or even nationwide competitions.  I also wonder about the effectiveness of homeschooling and what they can do with the knowledge they get at home when they grow up.
             Through the article “ What you need to know about homeschooling in New York” by Chernikoff in the New York Times Daily News, I have learned that there are some rules for parents to homeschool their children.  Based on the speech of Director of Communication for the New York State Education Department, Tom Dunn, those parents “must send a letter of intent to homeschool to their district superintendent and fill out quarterly Individualized Home Instruction Plans (IHIP)” (Chernikoff).  This plan includes clearly explanations about the syllabus, curriculum material, textbook and other preparation for the courses.  I think these regulations will be applied to all states in the future so that parents have a good and basic preparation for teaching.
           I also read some other articles from Salt Lake Community College’s Library.  It helps me access this issue closer.  Actually, homeschooling was quite popular in 1990s.  Many authors come up with this conclusion thanks to a survey or a report from a reliable institute.  In the article “Homeschooling Up”, according to a new report by the US Department of Education,       “ the number of homeschooled children in America has risen steadily over the past five years and stood at about 1.5 million in 2007.”  They also represented about 2.9 percent of the school-age population.  Moreover, the author said based on homeschooling experts’ claims, this number could be two millions.  These statistical numbers emphasize the existence of homeschooling, and it has been growing.  I assume that homeschooling really gained a certain support from parents. 
          I am especially surprised that “83 percent of homeschooling parents said they wanted to instill religious or moral values in their children” (“Homeschooling”).  In my opinion, it is easy to understand those reasons because once parents take a serious interest in their kids’ educations, they of course want to cover both religious and moral lessons to their kids. Besides, the author lists several other reasons that are really practical.  Based on The National Household Education Survey, the author concludes that homeschooling can provide a high quality education at home, the best learning environment, special needs and other considerations to students.
          However, at near the end of this article, the author points out three disadvantages of homeschooling that I do not really agree with.  Inadequate social interaction is the most frequent criticism because “ homeschooled children are sheltered from so-called real world social situations and they will therefore be socially deficient as adult” (“Homeschooling”).  The author used the result of a survey to support this viewpoint but I think not all homeschoolers lacked this ability.  Nowadays, thanks to the explosion of technology, people can get involved in many activities in society even at home or everywhere.  The next two problems in the article are more unreasonable.  The author thinks that parents are not qualified to educate children, and homeschoolers have difficulties getting into college or university because homeschoolers do not have the traditional transcripts.  In my opinion, educating children at home is not a big obstacle for unskilled parents because they can get help from experts, online material, and the community. Furthermore, the admission process into a college depends on many factors, not only the transcripts.
          I receive some support from a part of the article “Evolution of Homeschooling” which focuses on the solution of homeschoolers’ socialization.  The author, Davis uses reasoning to persuade that homeschooled children are not isolated from the outside world such as “some homeschool parents connect with other homeschool parents to establish homeschooling community”, and “student come in contact with many more students than they would in a traditional school.”  I have observed and discussed this issue with many people, and all of them think that homeschoolers spend more time in society than children only socialized in public school.  Homeschoolers have plenty of chances to practice their communication with neighbors and friends around their houses.  They can also go along with their parents to different places and receive the explanation about the surrounding environment.  Even an only child can also have the same opportunities as other children.  Parents of course take greater care of their only child.  In order to fulfill their kid’s loneliness, they try to create more chances for their kid to interact with various kinds of people such as neighbor adults or friends, people at the market, mailman, etc.  Therefore, I think homeschooling prepares children more than enough for their future real life.
          The last article discusses the financial impacts of homeschooling.  The author Hebert interprets some specific homeschoolers’ cases and believes that homeschooling could be expensive because of  “the loss of a second income if one parent becomes the fulltime teacher,” “extracurricular activities,” “cost of curriculum materials,” and “high school expenses.”  Besides these figures in the article, Hebert also proposes some solutions to cope with these problems.  I think it doesn’t matter what school parents send their kids to.  As the author mentions in the article, there are many ways to save money.  If parents prefer public school, they have to pay tuition, or buy books and other materials.  Therefore, this source helps parents and I have a vivid understanding about the financial impact on the family, and people should consider the abilities to deal with difficulties when they choose homeschooling.
          I find that homeschooling is not a choice that many parents choose but homeschooling is really interesting and has been gaining many achievements. Homeschooling allows students to work in an environment they are comfortable in and isolates them from bad peers.  Therefore, children not only socialize very well, but they are also smart and well behaved. Homeschooling is not useless as people used to think; in contrast, it has many wonderful aspects for kids. It is the best alternative way for parents who do not believe that traditional education can help develop their children perfectly.    

          All parents always wish the best for their children and acknowledge that their children deserve high quality education.  Many people are unfamiliar with homeschooling; however, teaching children at home has recently been popular thanks to several reasons.  Some people assume that only homeschooling provides the best learning environment so that their children can gain success both in academic and social areas.  On the other hand, there are still some restrictions that make people hesitate to choose homeschooling such as the students’ socialization, expenses during homeschooling or how a qualified teacher is.  The advantages and disadvantages of homeschooling exist in many states and countries all over the world.
           Nobody can deny the popularity of homeschooling; however, “parents wishing to homeschool their children must comply with certain regulations set by the Home Statue and regulated by the New York State Education Department” (Chernikoff).  A good news for those parents is that they are not required any skills to be teachers at home, but they have to “fill out quarterly Individualized Home Instruction Plans” (Chernikoff) including clearly their syllabuses, curriculum materials and textbook, etc.  Once parents choose homeschooling, their preparations for their children and the courses satisfy these rules  certainly.  According to the US Department of Education, “the number of homeschooled children in America has risen steadily over the past five years” (“Homeschooling Up”).  “The percentage of the school-age population that was homeschooled increased from 1.7% in 1999 to 2.9% in 2007” (Davis).
           Parents choose homeschooling thanks to several reasons and advantages.  First of all, children are taught at home in the best learning environment.  Living and studying together with their parents and siblings help children develop their sentiment in a positive way.  Moreover, “homeschooling is supported to propagate independent thinking and encourage curiosity and self-motivated learning” (“Homeschooling”).  The second priority for children is the high quality education.  At home, depending on the children’s learning styles, which are visual, auditory or kinesthetic, parents can easily adjust the instructions, so they can help their children develop the strengths and improve the weaknesses.  The last reason that is also as important as the two above factors relates to religious and moral instruction.  “ 83 percent of homeschooling parents said they wanted to instill religious or moral values in their children” (“Homeschooling”).  In addition, many parents are aware of bullying, abusing or violence at public and private school.  Homeschooling, consequently, has become the best alternative for parents who do not believe that traditional education can help develop their children perfectly.
             Homeschooling is effective and successful in both academic and social areas.  The more parents get involved in their children’s education, the higher academic achievement they can gain.  When children are young, if parents teach them to spend adequate time studying, those kids are aware that learning is their duty and feel responsible to study seriously. “Homeschoolers, on average, achieved higher by 30 to 37% in all subject areas than their public school counterparts” (Davis), and according to “Homeschooling”, Kerry, a former homeschooler, is an example.  “ She scored well on the PSAT, SAT, and ACT; was accepted to all four colleges to which she applied; and was offered substantial scholarships. She graduated with honors from Grinnell College in Iowa” (“Homeschooling”).  Both the case of Kerry and the claim about higher scores of homeschoolers are oversimplification fallacy, which is about a true claim but it is not acceptable to most people.  These two things are true but cannot be applied to all homeschoolers.  Not all homeschoolers score higher than traditional school students.  High scores depend on many factors such as students’ background, their family’s income status or even race.
            Updates are made to the home schooling to children’s development is increased; however, there are arguments about the socialization.  Nonetheless, according to Davis, “some homeschool parents connect with other homeschool parents to establish homeschooling community.”  Actually, homeschoolers spend more time in society than children only socialized in public school.  Homeschoolers have plenty of chances to practice their communication with neighbors and friends.  Even an only child can also have the same opportunities as other children.  Parents, of course, take greater care of their only child.  In order to fulfill their child’s loneliness, they try to create opportunities for interaction with various kinds of people, such as neighbor adults or friends, people at the market, mailman, etc.  Furthermore, their involvement in activities such as swim or dance classes, which are designed for their needs and interests demonstrate that homeschoolers are not isolated from the outside world.
          Children who are taught at home from early years of school tend to not like interacting with other peers because they feel comfortable with their situations at home.  That is why among public school managers, “92 percent believed homeschooled children lacked appropriate socialization experiences leading to inadequate social interaction skills” (“Homeschooling”).  Socialization is considered a slippery slope fallacy, which means that something inevitably will cause something else happen.  In this case, people assume that homeschoolers who are isolated from real world certainly have weak socialization.  However, some homeschoolers still socialize very well, and some students from public schools are scared of interacting with other people.  Furthermore, admission to a college or a university is a serious challenge for homeschoolers. “Without the preparation offered by public or private school curriculum, it is assumed that children are likely to perform poorly on standardized tests like the ACT and the SAT” (“Homeschooling”).  Homeschoolers are not provided official transcripts, which take important roles in the admission evaluation process.  So, parents who choose homeschooling for their children should think about these difficulties when children grow up.
            Some other drawbacks continue to challenge homeschooling.  Hebert, the author of the article “ Finance Lessons For HOME SCHOOLERS”, shows some circumstances that could cost parents much more money to homeschool.  He mentions that when one parent becomes a full-time teacher, their family loses a second income (Hebert).  Besides, parents have to pay more for their children’s extracurricular activities such as sports, piano or swim lessons. The financial problem is more serious when children approach high school. The author explains that parents have to give payments to tutors since they cannot handle the complexity of higher level of scientific subjects.  Additionally, “ untrained parents cannot provide the comprehensive education offered by conventional public and private school” (“Homeschooling”).
             In brief, homeschooling still has some concerns, but it is not useless as people used to think.  The children achieve higher academic results and the environment of nurture and support also allows children to fully develop.  In contrast, parents have to deal with financial impact, try to make their children’s socialization better as well as the complication of being a perfect teacher when students move up to higher grades.  Thus, choosing the methods to educate the children must be wise to assure they will become good people and achieve great success.



                                                                    Works Cited
Chernikoff, Leah. “What You Need To Know about Homeschooling in New York.” New York Daily News: 32.        
             ProQuest Newsstand. Jan 07 2009. Web. 16 Jun. 2013.
Davis, Aislin. “Evolution of homeschooling.” Distance Learning 8.2 (2011): 29+. Gale Opposing Viewpoints in 
            Context. Web. 13 Jun. 2013.
Hebert, Amy Esbenshade. “Finance Lessons For HOME SCHOOLERS.” Kiplinger’s Personal Finance 61.3 
            (2007): 88-89. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Jun. 2013.
"Homeschooling." Current Issues: Macmillan Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Opposing 
            Viewpoints In Context. Web. 18 Jun. 2013.
“Homeschooling Up.” Touchtone: A Journal Of Mere Christianity 22.2 (2009): 35. Academic Premier. Web. 18 
            Jun. 2013.