Home-schooling: A Better Idea Than Most Think

When the United States of America was becoming a nation, every parent in the country was home-schooling their children. If it worked at that time then why wouldn’t it work today? “Well, the times have changed.” The times may have changed, but the children’s minds have not.
Dr. William Brown, Professor of Education at Piedmont College, as well as the founder of “Home Education Coach,” a newsletter for home-schooling parents, finds home-schooling to be a good thing for the children of America. He says that “every child can’t always adapt to the curriculum of the grade. All childrens minds are different.” He also adds that “children should be home-schooled up until the second grade.” But why limit it to before the second grade? Before the second grade, children are simply “learning to read,” and the second grade is when they begin “reading to learn.”
This has to do with children making the transition from the preoperational stage to concrete operational stage as defined by Jean Piaget in the Theory of Cognitive Development. In the preoperational stage, children begin “mentally acting on objects” but not necessarily thinking for themselves. In the concrete operational stage, lasting through the age of 7-11 (or second through fifth grade), children begin to “use logic” and think for themselves. Therefore, the children that aren’t mentally prepared until the age of 6 or 7 are forced into restricting curriculum of kindergarten and first grade and end up becoming increasingly more and more frustrated with school and reading. And when National studies find that “17.5% of children will encounter a problem learning to read during their crucial first three years in school” things begin to come together.
Also, parents schooling high-school age young adults are required to follow a certain county-wide curriculum ensuring that all children are receiving equal education. Dr. William Brown also adds that students who come into college from being home-schooled tend to have more “focus,” better concentration as well as good study habits and “a better appreciation for the education they are receiving.”