Early Childhood Education
Early Childhood Education: Formal Schooling vs. Home Schooling
By: Michedolene Hogan
The Purpose of Early Childhood Education:
When asked to describe their role in one sentence, some teachers might say their goal is to help the child get along without the teacher. This statement is similar to the definition of socialization as defined in the 2003 Webster's New World dictionary: to make fit for living in a group. The 1810 Merriam-Webster definition also sits along the same lines: To make social: especially to fit or train for a social environment.
Education is about more than just academics, therefore the schools are focusing more and more on teaching our children to be sociable. But, are our young children ready to learn socialization? Is the school setting appropriate to teach this matter?
There are certain traits that must be exhibited by an individual in order to be ready to lean social skills. These include:
- Being sociable – having a disposition to connect and communicate with others, ready and inclined to join in company or society and ready to unite in a general interest.
- The ability to work together with their surrounding community
- Conform to current laws, both physical and spiritually.
- Show respect towards authority and an understanding of the way things are.
Understanding that young children learn best through observation and practice, let us compare the effectiveness of the two main forms of Early Childhood Education in socializing our children.
Formal Schooling:
If you walk into an average school, you will soon notice an atmosphere where delinquency, low academic achievement and behavior problems reign. The minds of our young children, who are learning sociability through observation and practice, are showered with a warped concept of proper social behavior. In spite of these alarming facts, the schools continue to be at the forefront in training our children for a socialized environment.
A study found that the success of formal schooling before the ages of 8-12 is not only disappointing, but it is damaging to young children’s development. Researchers Raymond and Dorothy Moore discovered proof that childhood problems such as juvenile delinquency, nearsightedness, increased enrollment of students in special education classes, and behavioral problems could be attributed to increasingly earlier enrollment of students.
In the school setting, young children as young as 3 years of age are bombarded with new emotions and unreasonable expectations for handling those emotions. They are expected to regulate their feelings, which they barely understand, and exercise self-control. Children look to their peers for comfort and guidance which leads to comparison, low-self esteem, and a failed attempt at socialization.
When Education Becomes Abuse: A Different Look at the Mental Health of Children discusses in more detail the sequence of consequences of early enrollment in schools. Children experience an array of negative feelings summarized into the following steps:
- Uncertainty as the child leaves the family for a less secure environment
- Puzzlement at the new pressures and restrictions of the classroom
- Frustration because they are not ready to handle the regimentation of formal lessons (unready learning tools – senses, cognition, brain hemispheres, coordination)
- Hyperactivity growing out of nerves and jitters from frustration
- Failure which quite naturally flows from the four experiences above
- Delinquency which is failure's twin
Even teachers, such as John Caldwell Holt, can attest to this damage. He developed a theory based on his years as a teacher stating that, "academic failure of school children was caused by pressure placed on children in schools." In 1980 he stated that, "I want to make it clear that I don't see home schooling as some kind of answer to badness of schools. I think that the home is the proper base for the exploration of the world which we call learning or education. Home would be the best base no matter how good the schools were."
Home Schooling
Home is the launching pad for exploration and learning. In this statement 'learning' has a much broader meaning extending beyond the classroom and into the social world around us, where social training truly takes place. Home is where the child's roots and values are found. Home is where the seeds of honoring and respecting authority are planted. Home is where we harvest children who love to be part of their community both physically and spiritually.
In the 1970's researchers Raymond and Dorothy Moore conducted over 8,000 studies on early childhood. After their extensive investigation they concluded that, "Where possible, children should be withheld from formal schooling until at least ages 8-10." Their reason was simple, "children are not mature enough for formal school programs until their senses, coordination, neurological development and cognition are ready."
According to the Moores, bonds and emotional development made at home that were critical for long term development were cut short by enrollment in schools. They asserted that these bonds could not be replaced nor corrected in an institutional setting.
In the home, children benefit from more time spent with warm, responsive parents, limited time with peers and free exploration under parental guidance. In the home, children's emotions are protected as parents monitor their social influences, unlike at the school setting. In the home children get a chance to build a strong bond with the parents as the center example for proper social behavior and they take advantage of more opportunities to be among their community in a guided manner.
The success of home schooling can be confirmed by a survey conducted in 2003 by The National Home Education Research Institute. They polled 7,300 adults who had been home schooled, 5,000 of which had been home schooled longer than 7 years. What they found is astonishing; 71% home schooled adults are active and involved in their community compared to 37% of U.S. adults from a traditional education background. 76% of home schooled adults between the ages of 18-24 voted within the last five years compared to 29%. The numbers are even greater in larger groups at 95% compared with 53% of traditional school graduates. The survey also found that 58.9% of home school graduates reported that they are "very happy" with life compared with 27.6% for the general U.S. population. 73.2% find life "exciting," compared with 47.3%.
Socialization is to make social: especially to fit or train for a social environment. This training best happens in the home. History, past experiences, and now a plethora of research, surveys and statistics prove that home is the best place for learning to take place. The best way for children to learn is by watching our example of successful and productive adult lives in the home.
About the Author:
Michedolene Hogan is a stay at home mom living in Yucaipa CA. She devoted much of her married life establishing unique methods for parenting. She enjoys spending time in her online forum for parents and publishing tips on raising moral children.