When my husband and I decided to have children, their education was not an issue we discussed. It wasn't apparent until six months before our daughter was to start kindergarten. We knew her education was important. We never considered any other choices except public schools, until a friend told us about a home schooling program she knew about. With public and home schooling as our options we had for our children, our personal circumstances were the deciding factors in our choice for their education.

        The first thing we had to consider was our working arrangements. We both had full time jobs. My husband worked during the day and I worked at night. I had the day with my children, which allowed me the time to home school. On the other hand, if we sent our children to public school I would have the day to rest and get my housework done. We also had to look into the future to see if our jobs were stable. Would our hours change? Would we decide to pursue different careers? If we started to home school we wouldn't want to have to put them in public schools later. This wasn't the only consideration to think about, so we weighed the rest.

        Home schooling can get to be expensive with the tuition and all the books and supplies needed for the program. Home schooling expenses start out at around $400 a year, while public school is usually no more than $50 a year. In public schools there is no tuition and the books are borrowed. The only thing that public school children have to buy is supplies such as paper and pencils. So the question is are we making enough money to pay the home school prices? With both of us working full time jobs we had the money for home schooling if everything else we had to think about pointed towards that option.

        My husband and I thought that the children should be consulted on the issue since it was ultimately about them. We explained what the two options were and what we knew about them. We asked what their opinions on the matter were. Our daughter liked the idea of being at home with me teaching her but our son wanted to be around the other kids in a class. This made the decision a little harder because they both wanted different things. We didn't want to split the two up by one going to public schools and the other staying home.

        At this point we decided to visit the public schools. With the growing violence and peer pressure we wanted to see what it would be like for our children. In the area that we live in we came to the conclusion that the violence rate was very low. This was good to know and made us feel all right with public schools in our area. My husband and I also decided that peer-pressure would be greater at public schools however, it exists to some extent everywhere. We could deal with this issue by teaching our children how to handle the pressure. With public schools being somewhat peaceful we decided to move to another issue.

        Interaction with other children was also a concern of ours. If we home schooled would our children fit in socially with others? We talked with our friend that told us about home schooling. She told us that all the home schooling families plan field trips and parties for all the children to interact with each other. This was good point for home schooling but in public schools the children would constantly be around others and could learn more easily how to play and share with them. Public schools have sports activities that students can participate in with their classmates. Home schooled children can participate in sports but it usually involves children they don't interact with regularly. The bad side about public school on interaction is that our children could learn bad behaviors and language from the other kids.

        We also thought about discipline. If we home schooled we would see them act up or not pay attention, while at a public school we would have to wait for the teacher to tell us if our child got out of control. We discussed this issue and thought that the children needed room to act up sometimes but that they would have to learn when and where. Of course acting up in school is not a good place but in public school it would give them a little space to develop without their parents knowing every step they take. In this case we thought public school would be better for them.

        The last, but not least, deciding factor was the curriculum that both choices offered. Public schools covered all the basics needed plus some extracurricular activities. Home school also had all the basics and many extra courses to choose from. If we home schooled we could also have our children take more than just the required amount of studies. This option was good only if our children could handle the extra load. Even if they could handle the extra work would it be a good idea? Children need to be children, is what came to mind, so an extra amount of studies would not be a good idea. Since both home school and public school offered similar courses, we knew we had to think about if we could teach the courses. We decided we could teach the basics but we would need extra education for other subjects, while at public schools the teacher is specialized in each subject. The good point on teaching is that if we home schooled, our children would have one-on-one instruction while at a public school it averages one teacher for thirty children.

        It was then time to evaluate all the considerations. At the moment we had the time and money but we were not sure whether we were stable. This was definitely a plus for public school. Another good point for public school is that in our area there is little violence. The children could feel they belonged because of constant interaction with the same children in public school. We also decided that the children would have room to develop without our being around all the time if they went to a public school but we wouldn't be able to see first hand how they acted in school. The choices of courses to take were fairly equal however, with home schooling our children would have one-on-one instruction plus quality time with me. Even though our daughter wanted to be home schooled, the best choice proved to be public schools. We enrolled her in her new school and after the first day she had forgotten about the possibility of being home schooled. My husband and I are very happy about our decision, especially after seeing our daughter's smile when she told us about her first day of school.

Copyright © 2000 Elizabeth Charles. Used with permission.

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