By Dr. Adam Focht
In my capacity as pedagogic director, I have worked with young people for more than 15 years. During this time I have worked with students who have attended both public and private schools as well as students who have been homeschooled.
After much observation, it has been my experience that if children are taught by organized and capable parents, those who are homeschooled can achieve equal or sometimes even superior academic results in contrast to students who attend public or private schools.
However, it is important to note that the academic factor should not be the only determination when considering homeschooling. While some studies have revealed that homeschoolers have achieved equal or even higher results on standardized social skills tests in comparison to their counterparts in public schools, it has been my own personal experience that most homeschoolers are able to successfully carry on a conversation with adults, but often struggle to converse successfully with students their own age unless they are unusually gregarious and outgoing.
There are undoubtedly advantages and disadvantages to homeschooling, and one such advantage would be having more control over the things to which the child is exposed. Another potential advantage is that many homeschoolers feel that they are closer to their families, however, it should be noted that homeschooling does not always guarantee such a result, but, oftentimes, this closer bond can come at the expense of having fewer friends outside of the family.
Some disadvantages of homeschooling may include having little or no supervision. Studying is often largely dependent upon the motivation of the student as well as the parent. Of course, it’s a foregone conclusion that even if a parent prefers to homeschool their child, clearly not all parents are gifted to be teachers.
Here is a case in point, I can remember a particular homeschooled student with whom I worked. The child’s mother failed to provide 9th grade for her child due to her “not being very motivated that year.”
The American homeschooler is blessed with many aids and means including books and Internet sites which are dedicated solely to parents who choose to use the homeschooling option. However, many of these tools simply do not exist for the Israeli Hebrew curriculum.
The educational setup in the U.S. is one which offers “believing” options from cradle to grave. Children can be reared in a homeschool environment – whether Christian or Messianic, then attend a believing college and finally go on to work in a ministry or believing owned business ministries. Such options do not exist for believing Israelis. One must remember that at age 18, most Israeli young men and women are drafted into the army, and this can be a tremendous challenge even for those believers who have grown up in secular schools and have traditionally been surrounded by non-believing Israelis.
Two important issues that must be taken into consideration is the fact that homeschooling has not been utilized in Israel long enough to know if it sufficiently prepares young Israelis for the army. It may take a few more years to gather findings in order to properly analyze the real effects as to whether or not these young adults are able to adapt to a military environment after having been in a more protected and closed environment.
Additionally, homeschooling is not a viable financial option for many families in Israel where both parents usually have to work in order to make ends meet.
In Israel, homeschooling is legal but the Ministry of Education does not make it easy for parents to legally homeschool their children. The Ministry of Education requires parents who are desirous of homeschooling to write to their local branch representative to obtain permission to homeschool, giving specific reasons for that choice. Additionally, such permission must be requested and renewed each year.
It should also be noted that although homeschooling is legal in Israel, many of the country’s leading scholars oppose it. The Dean of the School of Education at the Hebrew University, Prof. Dan Inbar, opposes home schooling for social reasons saying, “Friendships are part of the socialization of the child. I am not in favor of total isolation.” http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/15648/home-schooling-a-rarity-in-israel-but-some-like-it In addition, the 2011 winner of the Noble Prize for Chemistry, Prof. Dan Shechtman, was quoted as saying that parents who don’t sent their children to school should go to jail. http://glz.co.il/newsArticle.aspx?newsid=9233
Although homeschooling has worked successfully for many families in the States, it has yet to prove itself advantageous in Israeli society. For the present time, the jury is still out on this one.