If you have children that are school age you have probably have thought about the options of home schooling vs. public schooling. You most likely have thought about how much would it cost or the amount of time it takes to teach home schooling. With the news articles out there about things that happen at schools you most likely have thought about how that would be on your child as well. One of the last things that most parents think about when choosing to home school or not are how your child’s social skills will develop. There are many different articles out there on this topic. The following essay will give you an indebt description of the difference between public and in-home schooling and its effects on the children. To start the first thing that comes to most parent’s mind is how much time and money they are going to spend in each situation. Concerning home schooling, you do spend most of your time with your children. There is no hiding that fact. Depending on your day-to-day life, this might be easy for you. This is the first thing you have to look at when making that choice for your children. Now concerning public school, you get to send your children to a different location for anywhere between four to eight hours. Now one good thing about public school is there are extracurricular activities available for children whose parents cannot be home after they get home from school.
Another thing that parents are concerned about is the price difference between home schooling and public schooling. Where public schools are basically a free education, except for the school supplies and uniforms were required. Home schooling might cost more when it comes to paying for education, but the time with your child is priceless. The extra time with your children when you home school can have other effects as well, for example, their behavior. More than 90% of K-12 students attend public schools in America. Some firmly believe that traditional schools offer benefits and social experiences that should not be missed. The public school system is often the first place parents consider for educating their child.
A public school’s general curriculum and program are established by the state. Standardized testing results, along with other statistical measures about attendance ad graduation rate, provides states with information about the performance of each school. Home schooled students believe that, because the average time spent “in class” can often be compressed to about half a day, home-school students have more time available to them than do students in public school to pursue special interests. These activities may include practicing the piano, learning lines for a play, or studying ballet. One 60 Minutes segment in 2001 spotlighted a family with five children, all of whom played piano and all of whom were accepted at the elite music academy Julliard— something that was unprecedented. As home-schooling students, they were able to practice many hours a day, something they would not have been able to do if they had attended public school. Not only may home-schooled students have more time to focus on and nurture a talent, proponents of home schooling contend, they may also be able to choose more diverse experiences. Public schools provide high achievers with more of a challenge if they want to attend Ivy League schools. These challenges can be turned into an advantage for students who want to overcome the fact that they did not attend a fancy prep school or private school. Highly competitive schools often accept a large number of students from private schools. Therefore, students in public schools must work hard to stand out from the crowd. This hard work can result in students being highly successful in school and in life.
A public school provides students with the ability to learn about people of different backgrounds and cultures. Students receive an education in a school system filled with diversity. Public schools have students who are middle class and poor. There are students of all different ethnicities. Children have the opportunity to have a wide and diverse group of friends, which is often not the case in home school.
Students do not have religious instruction in public schools. This is a benefit for those who have their own beliefs and spirituality that do not fit into any one religion. It is also an advantage for students with a religious background different than the majority of other students. On the other side of the coin, this can be a disadvantage for families who want religion to be a part of their curriculum. Home schooling gives the child an opportunity to excel without waiting on the rest of the class. Too often in our public schools a lesson has to be repeated many times before moving on even though your child may understand the problem. On the other hand there is a possibility that your child may not completely grasp a math concept. That does not mean that he is academically stunted. (All children walk and talk at different ages.) Home schooling gives the child the opportunity to repeat necessary items and skip things that he has already mastered. Public schools may not be able to meet your child's needs.
Some parents claims that home schooling “reduces that degree to which children find themselves constantly and obsessively being compared to, and comparing themselves with, other children their age.” A home-schooled child’s days, he believes, are more like the “real world” than that of students in public school.
When choosing which way to go so that your children get the best education suited for them can be very difficult. Home school and public schools both have their cons and pros. It is very critical that you sit down and weigh each side out so that you will feel confident you are providing your child with the best education possible and making sure they are going to have their needs met.
Now that both sides of each medium of schooling have been looked into, let's take the next step. I am not even going to try getting into any of the statistics here. My arguments in this case are neutral and based on practicalities of life. Homeschooling versus public schooling is an argument that has gone on for so long, simply because, there is no definite answer there. For certain families and certain children, homeschooling can be the best option; while for some factors, public schools can be the better choice. Keep in mind your wants for the child as well as the requirements of the child, on the basis of society and propriety. Either way, the ultimate goal should be optimum learning for the child. If that is maintained, then the mode of schooling is immaterial.

References a b Homeschooling in the United States: 2003 – Executive Summary
Lips, Dan; Feinberg, Evan (2008-04-03). "Homeschooling: A Growing Option in American Education". Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
Distefano, K. E. Rudestam, R. J. Silverman (2005) Encyclopedia of Distributed Learning (p221) ISBN 0- 7619-2451-5