Why do so many apparently believe homeschooling to be superior to the well-balanced, well-funded, and proper public schooling system?

[Pet68]

According to some it's better to keep your children away from those nasty left-wing ideologues who want to teach real science (as opposed to pseudoscience, like creationism), and who promote such Satanic agendas as international co-operation, slowing down or preventing the spread of illnesses via the use of vaccines, and teaching children how to get along with those who aren't like them (because apparently if someone is in any way different they deserve to be bullied instead).

Homeschooling is a joke. In Australia it's rather rare, because (and unlike in other nations) our public school system is rather good. Even the private schools aren't too bad. Homeschooling may make sense if you happen to be rich enough to easily afford professional tutors, but I don't think most parents are in any way capable, or qualified, to teach diddly-squat.

[Effably]

If we add where you live we can make this an interesting discussion!

But the basic fact is that Homeschooling, even when undertaken by parents with no degree or formal education, typically performs a lot better than public schools. In fact, it performs better than the majority of private schools too! The exception being the more high-end ones. But these again lose to an educated parent homeschooling.

So if education and knowledge in itself is the goal, homeschoooing (USA as benchmark here) is basically the rough equivalent of a better private school in average performance. If you happen to be a pedagogical parent, it will blow them out of the water.

I myself mentored a few times in my life. Each time with outstanding results. F to A type stories. The reason is not that teachers or bad or that I am amazing beyond the belief. The reason is that our worldwide educational system is bad. Our teachers are overburdened, have too many students, and are stuck presenting knowledge rather than teaching it.

That is why when someone like myself, or heck even you, come in and give it our 100 the result is almost always much better. But it is not a fair comparison. When mentoring I gave one person as many hours as they needed and my full undivided attention while tailoring and adapting the material to this person and their way of learning.

As a modern teacher you have 30 something students and too little time. Instead of 60 minutes per class being devoted to a student, a student gets 2 minutes per class. Our teachers are often unsung heroes. But they are not 30x more efficient than a normal person.

So yes. Homeschooling is flat out outperforming Public and Private schooling. Which is why it is becoming so popular. The obvious real answer is to hire twice as many teachers and modernize teaching itself. Failing that, a dedicated parent will always kick a teacher's butt at teaching when we compare a person to a full class.

[Pet68]

"But the basic fact is that Homeschooling, even when undertaken by parents with no degree or formal education, typically performs a lot better than public schools."

I seriously doubt that. My own parents were as thick as bricks; they didn't know a damn thing about the world, and so I'm grateful I wasn't homeschooled, because they would have taught me absolutely nothing.
I live in Australia, by the way.

[Effably]

Great! So, among more credible sources in Australia specifically you have far less studies on the matter. This, is a pdf from your governmment reviewing Homeschooling vs other alternative. The TLDR os that Homeschooling is 15-30 percent better on average but that more results are needed. Link here. www.nsw.gov.au/.../...mic-outcomes-review-2014.pdf

15-30 percent is however the same rate that non-educated USA homeschooling (e. g parents without a higher education) get. And so it is a very credible number.

It is possinle it would be a bad option for you! In general though Homeschooling is currently the best performing option barring a high-end private school. In reality it just comes down to more time with a teacher being very valuable and schools having too little time.

Rather than celebrate homeschooling for being better, which it is in every study I have ever seen, we should take it as a waking call to demand smaller classes and more 1 on 1 time between students and teachers.

It really is super interesting though. Another angle is of course to point out that many students slack off and ignore their teachers. When your teacher is your mom who will shout at you unless you pay attention, sometimes that is in itself enough to beat a public school.

Teachers just need more time teaching, not presenting.

[ArrowheadSW]

I am glad that I was not homeschooled, mainly because of all the friends I made in classrooms and the socialization that it provided. There were bad things that happened, however there are bad things that happen in life occasionally. You learn that there are good people, and there are people who are not-so-good. You hear of bad things happening to other people as a result of the mistakes that they made, and hopefully you can learn from that and avoid the same situations. Homeschooling seems way to "sheltered".

[AI Opinion]

Homeschooling is preferred by some due to personalized education and a flexible curriculum that caters to individual learning styles. Parents may value the close family bonding and ability to incorporate values or religious beliefs into the learning process. Concerns about school environments, such as bullying or safety, may also influence this choice. While public schools offer structured education and socialization, some parents feel they can provide a more tailored, supportive learning environment at home. It's important to recognize that both systems have their strengths, and the choice depends on individual family needs and values.

[PeachyPie93]

Well I guess because if your child is struggling with subjects you can focus on them and help them understand where as in a class of 30 the teacher doesn't really have the ability to really help or make sure kids are understanding and doing well. I don't like homeschooling because it recks havoc on a child's bonding and social skills.

[LazerBean]

Why are you so bitter against homeschooling? So many people believe in homeschooling because its just common sense that child with schooling tailored to their needs is going to have more potential than a child who does not. The stats for how the homeschooled perform in college compared to the public schooled support that.

[Pet68]

I'm not "bitter", I just don't think it's very good.

[strateguy632]

Because of personal attention and "quality control" but you did not accurately describe publuc schools far worse than what you described.

Maybe it needs to be state only , no federal dept. Of education, swap efficiency doge insted so close d. Ed.

[ProbablyClueless]

Because the homeschooling infrastructure in the US has gotten a lot better with online programs. Heck, if I had a kid right now and I had the ability to look after them, I'd be homeschooling them too.

Online curriculums and extracurricular social activities

[Ez-Bri-Z_v2]

Because everybody thinks they know better than the teachers who literally went to school for it. They'd rather raise their kids in ignorance than have them go against their social belief.

[seeyounexttuesday]

The US spends an average of $15000 per pupil per year. The lowest performing school districts spend significantly more.

Money is not tied to student performance.

if that $15,000 was given to parents, a group of 10 parents could band together, pay a teacher $100,000 a year ($30k more than the average teacher salary) and get a great teacher with low student ratio. 10 parents could easily handle any discipline problems.

[Anonymous]

The schooling is only as good as its teachers, and often parents make the worst teachers of all.