The competition in public school hurt me. I skated through k-12 with a solid B average, and rarely lifted a book. Then I headed to college thinking that was the norm. It took me 3 semesters, one on academic probation, before I came to terms with the fact that I wasn't smarter than the rest of them. I also had to learn how to study, as I had never done it before.

Homeschoolers, since they progress at their own pace, are more likely to hit their personal academic limits before they get to college. I think knowing where those limits are is the essence of academic competition, and it is probably healthier and more productive than the artificial competition in a school setting.

Also, many homeschoolers take community college courses prior to heading off to college, so they do get a taste of classroom competition that way.

It's all so very individual ...

My husband, for instance, sailed through public school with little competition - he was always the smartest. College gave him a nervous breakdown. He had no idea how to handle the challenge. He NEEDED more academic competition early, but the schools could not provide it. I had to work a bit harder in school, and as such was able to recover from the switch to greater competition in college.

So I do worry about the necessity of competition. I think it has little to do with grades and academic competition, though, and more about the child's mindset and approach to life. They have to learn that failure, in any area, is not the end of the world. They need to learn how to approach hard things, how to fail, how to study, and how to work to do better the next time. There are many areas in which parents can teach and reinforce these lessons. If you learn to work hard, recover from failures, and achieve excellence in one area, you can carry those lessons over into other areas.

Having seen problems with public school kids and competition, I'm not sure it's so much a homeschooling issue as a parenting issue (as are most things!). And at this particular point in time, I believe that *my* kids need some serious work in this area. Yes, it's a concern. Would it be less of a concern if they weren't homeschooled? I don't know.

The competition in school was useless for me. I was labelled, bagged and tagged almost as soon as I entered. The word "gifted" was plastered on my school record and I skipped a grade. There was talk of a bigger skip. I could already read at a 6th grade level.

Every year, then every new school, I had to prove myself all over again - not just to fellow student, but the teachers as well.
On top of that, the payoff of competition, for me, was not enough. It was easy getting the prizes that school offers, and when I had them - after the initial hurrah, they were worthless. It was always "more".

In 12 years of homeschooling my own children, the lack of external competition has actually been good. The only measuring stick they have is themselves and their parents. And yes, pursuing their own interests, with the love of learning their motivation and a curious brain, both of which were unquenched, the kids have actually excelled us in some areas.

As for a sports analogy, maybe long distance running would be better. In the end, you compete against yourself and your body's limits.

Speaking as a Catholic homeschooler and parent of an intensely competitive, hyper-achieving child (comes from my husband's side, not mine--sure I was on Math Team in school, but only because husband-to-be was on it...).

Dear Daughter (10yo) actually snorted water out her nose while reading your post over my shoulder. She has been involved in scholastic chess competitions since she was five, competed in PSIA (Private School Interscholastic Association--basically UIL for private schools, and which allows hs'ers to compete) for the first time this year and won two first place awards, frequently competes in mathematics exams, and takes fencing classes to help deplete more of her bloodthirsty take-no-prisoners approach to life and her fellow man. I've been at pains to remind her that altar serving is not a competitive sport, but rather an opportunity for patience, attentiveness, and obedience.

Other homeschoolers compete in various sports, art competitions, science fairs, etc., etc. Have you noticed the number of homeschoolers competing in, and winning, the National Spelling and Geography Bees these last few years?

The answer to your question is: you don't approximate competition at home. Despite the misleading name, "homeschoolers" are not so often at home, but rather out in the community, unhampered by the habit of comparing themselves to their age-peers and inspired by the achievements of the older children and adults they interact with constantly.

Nice site, BTW.

Your theory says that the competition found in schools is a) something that homeschooled students miss out on and b) desirable.

If that's correct, it should be the case that adults who'd been homeschooled would do less well in later life than those who'd attended school, right?

This presents a problem for your theory, because the research shows the opposite. :-)

Here's a piece (with references at the URI) from http://www.hsc.org/professionals/socialization.php :

"Ultimately the question becomes, "will homeschool children become well-functioning adults and contributing members of the community?" The most recent research replies with a resounding YES! Knowles (1991), an assistant professor at The University of Michigan, is one of the researchers who has looked at the long term success of homeschoolers. His research shows that more than 40 percent attend college, and 15 percent of those had completed a graduate degree (Knowles, 1991). Nearly two-thirds of the homeschooled individuals were self-employed, but only a few worked alone as craftspeople or in other solitary occupations, while most either provided employment to others or worked along with family members (Knowles, 1991). "That so many of those surveyed were self-employed supports the contention that home schooling tends to enhance a person's self-reliance and independence" (Knowles, 1991). Knowles also found no evidence that these adults were even moderately disadvantaged (Knowles, 1991). Two thirds of them were married-the norm for adults their age, and none were unemployed or on any form of welfare assistance (Knowles, 1991). More than three-quarters felt that being taught at home had actually helped them interact with people from different levels of society (Knowles, 1991). Webb, another researcher who looked at aspects of the adult lives of wholly or partly home-educated people, found that all who had attempted higher education were successful and that their socialization was often better than that of their schooled peers (1989)."

Homeschool parents get to "tune" the amount of competition they think is best for their child. They might sign a son up for T-ball and then go on to Little League and the works as they see it bear good fruit in his life. Or, on the other hand, they might start their daughter off in ballet class and then pull her out as they see it start to feed her vanity. In theory, at least, a caring parent can calibrate the right amount of competition more perfectly than anyone else could.

My own family relies heavily on a coop at the high school age, where our kids get together twice a week with about a dozen peers. These group classes are designed to bring out the healthy aspects of peer interation (including some competition) without opening it up to the most negative aspects. It's been a great fit for our kids!

Homeschoolers don't compete? That explains all the homeschooled spelling bee winners, science fair winners, profesional novelists, award-winning athletes, award-winning musicians, an artist who had a gallery show at 14, and at least one five-star chef.

(And think twice about trying out for our local Little League team if you're not homeschooled. The homeschooled kids fill almost every slot on most of the teams in our region. They have more time to practice.)

Homeschool advocate John Holt stated that healthy children would seek out the competitions that truly interested them and compete in those. Research is proving his point.

It seems the questions come when the desire to Homeschool is so strong you are seeking for any reason to not do what your heart is screaming at you to do. Competition happens all day long in a family. Who finished their chores first, which one gets the last cookie, who wins the scrabble game and my favorite which one completed their assignment first are all competitions. Perhaps you are an only child that never had to share a beloved toy or played monopoly after dinner? Competition lives in the human spirit and drives us to excellence. Your biggest competitor is yourself, just ask any golfer. Competition isn't hard to find, finding those that can beat you might be.

<i>When I got to middle school I was an average to slightly above average student. I was actually intimidated by the number of kids who were more intelligent than I was. In high school, the competition got worse. I don't think I graduated in the top half of my class.</i>

Boy, that sounds like something everyone should put their kid through. Can't be a full human without feeling oneself to be a relative nonentity and failing to find or to be given the opportunity to find one's own sphere of excellence, after all. Good for character, or something, right?

Not.

Real fast .. author of the blog here ... thanks for the input. I am at work so time is short. I want to make a few things clear

1. We are going to homeschool
2. My goal is to determine negative aspects of homeschooling, both real and perceived and to determine ways that homeschooling families have tackled those issues in a practical way.
3. We are still going to homeschool.

Thanks again for stopping by ... Will review and respond to comments later.

One problem for gifted students in public schools is that often they are sitting in classes acing everything. It might take a special extra curricular competition to introduce them to the idea that they don't know as much as they think they do and that there is always someone out there who knows more or can do better.

One advantage of homeschooling is that you can make sure your child is operating at a level where he can just keep his head above the water intellectually speaking. He'll never get the idea that he "knows it all" because he is constantly challanged by new material.

I am not sure how effective competition is for motivating students. I personally know adults that are very competitive so surely some students do strive harder as well. But what I find is that rather than attributing winning to hard work, the parents of children who score average or lower than average dismiss high achievement by saying, "Well, he's just talented. We can't all be rocket scientists." Those students and parents are not motivated by competition.

I've considered entering my own child into competitions to see if he would enjoy them. If it does give him a little thrill and motivate him to study harder then I'll be more than happy to sign him up for whatever I can. His achievement so far is the result neither of his desire to compete nor his love of math but simply because his parents insist that he do the work.

I enjoyed your article and "competition as motivation" is an interesting thing to contemplate.

OK, Jekyll here. Hyde, who previously posted, has been safely gagged and deposited in a dark corner until the coffee wears off.

What I meant to say was that everyone has a sphere of excellence, and it sounds like (due to a combination of factors in and out of your experience of school) you seem to have been deprived of the ability, and perhaps even the motivation, to find and capitalize on your own particular gifts.

The biggest draw of homeschooling, to me, is that a discerning and loving parent can remove the obstacles to this process without having to clear everything through the government flunkies (kicks Hyde) I mean teacher and school administration first.

I suppose for competition's sake you could have your children take state tests at the end of each school year. There are also essay and art contests through various magazines and groups. Spelling and geography bees, robot-building contests, digital movies, novels, and many other avenues where one's intellectual work is pitted against others'. The nice thing about hsing, your child's particular interests can be pursued to as high a level as they wish and can manage.

I have 9 kids...competition is as natural as breathing in our house.

You make an interesting point. However, I think the amount of competition that is needed varies greatly from kid to kid. I suppose if I had a smart, but underachieving, rather lazy child, then some competition might be helpful in spurring him forward. However, I have a very shy, sensitive young child that might wilt from the pressure in the face of competition at her stage right now. I would rather she happily learn willingly for love of learning sake right now.
I have a friend who is pulling her fourth grader out of public school because of the competition. Apparently, this child is extremely bright and has the reputation of being the brilliant gifted kid and thus, he feels intense pressure to remain on top at all costs. He feels like a failure when he feels he has let his teachers down. They might make comments like, "I expected him to do better" or "I am surprised by his answer to this question.." etc. His mother said he is extremely tense, and that his love of learning has disappeared and he is more interested in the external appearances of grades and class placement than in the love of the subject matter.
In any event, I think competition might be more important as a motivator in the older grades, middle school and above. But I think there are other avenues besides school for providing it.
I also think some homeschooled kids tend to think they are brilliant because they have no one to compare otherwise and they have heard endlessly from their parents how smart they are and how bad the public schools are, so they tend to get somewhat of a superiority bubble. Thus, I think gentle encouragement but not overpraise is needed from the homeschool parent as well as refraining from public school bashing in front of them. Believe it or not, there are good things being done in the schools and smart kids learning there.--

A home provides the best atmosphere for growth and achievement without the baggage that comes from artificially forced competition. That is, there is always someone more advanced to strive to emulate and usually somone behind to lead forward. This is the healthiest kind of competition. There is the excitement of growing to the next level and the joy of encouraging others by your example.

In a school system, the artifical leveling of the playing field creates a disadvantage for those who are capable but have not advanced as quickly as others. It's as if some children had "academic steroids" and bloomed quicker than others. They are not necessarily more intelligent as you assumed. But the early competition discourages others from believing that they are as capable. As some have stated they were "bagged and tagged" early on.

You are also assuming that given the opporutnity to learn on your own you would not have been as motivated. I disagree. I think the early successes and using your talents to benefit others is the best motivator around. When we excell for the benefit of God and others we are only more desiring to learn and do more. It is what the bible calls in Hebrews 10:23 "provoking one another to good works." It is healthy competition. Not for a grade, a medal, or career advancement but for the glory of God.

I have written a post on my blog today that you may find answers this question in a slightly different way.

Well, I wrote a long ole comment and it went "poof"! But, I wanted to say that if you focus on the individual needs of each child, and give them plenty of opportunity for showing their competative nature, I think that you'll see what kinds of competition best suits them. And knowing this, you'll be able to then provide them with opportunities to express their nature. As they get older, they'll naturally gravitate towards activities that suit their style.

Good luck!
Tammy

First, good luck with your hsing adventure!

Second, don't worry about this non-issue.

It is in the same family of issues as "socialization." The question presumes all sorts of things about hsing and hsers -- they never get out in the world, for instance -- and about ps -- it's the best and/or only way to socialize/compete/etc.

Neither of these things is true so . . . no worries. Well, there are always a lot of things for parents to worry about, aren't there? :)

Like how am I going to afford all this traveling to tournaments . . . seriously, I thought he'd take a few lessons. . . darn kid, following his interests. . . maybe I'll develop some checkbook-saving fear that competitions are bad for him. :)

Nance

Not sure what we're compteting for/at? Competition implies some sort of winnings. What's the prize? & more importantly, what happens to the "losers?"

I'm like some of the commenters: I was naturally "smart" throughout ps high school. Then I went to the Air Force Academy, where I had to learn to study for real. Some shock, but I adapted. Ended up w/ a B+ average. So I know about "competition."
I also have a MS, through the AF.

However, again, where's the prize? I've been in the defense industry now for 6 years, after a 24-year military career. Never, never has anyone asked what my grades were, or where I was in "class ranking." So, what exactly are we competing for?

My wife homeschools our 10 kids. Learning is not a contest. Grades, I believe, help create a skewed self-image, and help create a dependency upon "what you get rewarded for" instead of encouraging people to try new things. "Good Grades" conditions kids to stay away from those things that they could "fail" at, therefore keeping them from exploring. There are just some things in life you can't study for; you have to simply step out on faith. We try to encourage our kids to try new stuff. Success is built on failing and trying again.

The premise is that public school provides competition? What kind?

A student who receive C,D,F grades is largely ignoring academic competition. 'B' students might be interested in it. 'A' students either come by the grades easily, or perhaps work for them competitively. That isn't a much of an argument for positive competitiveness.

Personal reflection: the girl at the locker next to mine was fiercely competitive, and eager to see the grades on my papers. She hounded me to reveal my test scores.. The biggest competition was popularity-- and the ways to win that prize were not what I'd call desirable competition, nor did it seem to be a fulfilling achievement for the winner. College was a happy but rude awakening for all of us. (It was great to be 'average' -- the competition was then between me and my books and the exams and papers --- and I was totally unprepared for it.)

As a homeschooler, I can see competitiveness as related to what really interests a child. I love the maturity and growth I've seen in my son since we 'brought him home'. His competitiveness is more pure energy and excitement, and less jealousy and insecurity.

Sometimes competition motivates, sometimes it switches kids off. If competition isn't there to movitate, other things can motivate instead. In my view, homeschooling is a privilege not a right, therefore homeschooling kids need to demonstrate motivation in order to earn it. That can work!

I'll try not to be too off topic, but competition? As a reason to keep children in public school? I am not anti-competition in any way, but I question whether that would be a valid reason, especially for a Christian, to put your child in a place that is so antithetical to your values and beliefs. Really, for most non-Christians who have chosen homeschooling, as well. Sometimes it is about academics and such, but most that I read have deeply held convictions that aren't supported in the public school. I do not think competition would be a fair reason to discard all that.

Second, I think as a Christian, I am attempting to teach my children to not measure themselves against man, but against the standards of God. Like I said, I am not against competition, but I don't really see it as a necessary aspect inherent to education.

I wouldn't say that competition either helped or hurt me, but it did put me in some awkward posititions. A fellow student decided to challenge me in our German class and began comparing test scores, homework scores, etc. I had nothing to do with it, but he'd dance around when he scored higher than me and mope when I scored higher then him. He was kind of silly, but I ended up in trouble for it. Something about my high grades being discouraging to other students (I had like 110% average, which really is rather strange if you think about it, because I rarely missed a point and got all the extra credit as well). I ended up being called more names for my academic successes than anything else...that didn't really "hurt" me either. I did not care that much about what those students thought about me...I already knew I didn't "fit in" and didn't stress about it too much. But it can be very difficult for some.

How to handle a lack of competition? Hmmm....I have never really considered this question before, but it is a terrific one for thought.

I have 5 boys, ages 5-13. Competition happens daily, no hourly, no constantly. It may be who can swim the most laps in the pool. Sometimes its who can finish their math fact drills the fastest and with the least mistakes.

In our family, we do not currently participate in team sports which, of course, is a major source of competition for most families. We don't participate for several reasons: 1) My husband is self-employed, works long hours, and I can't take 5 kids to various activities all by myself. 2)One of my children has a life-threatening illness which necessitates many doctor visits and hospital stays, so we have to be very flexible. Game days are not flexible. 3)Team sports can often be expensive, and quite frankly, we just can't afford for everyone to do everything. We pick and choose our activities based on time, ability to keep that commitment, and money.

That being said, there are obviously many academic competitions in which we can participate: Geography Bee, Spelling Bee, Science Fair, Art Contests, Speech & Debate Coop, Math Competitions, Essay Contests, and so on. In these, I allow my boys to compete as they so desire. If I see that one really wants to enter, but lacks confidence, then I will encourage him to go ahead and give it a try. However, I don't force any of them to compete in these because they have other things they are more interested in that will be more beneficial. For instance, my oldest would like to be a meteorologist in the military someday. Rather than prepare for a Spelling Bee, he would much rather spend time studying history and learning about the weather and why it occurs the way it does. He participates in Science Fairs whenever he finds an experiment that ties in with his future goals.

A lot of the competition that happens with my boys occurs through the ordinary interaction with their friends--a race to the farthest point, who can complete their schoolyear the fastest, who can shoot or jump or even spit the farthest. (Not exactly upper-class on that last one, but boys will be boys.)

I think, though, that for our family the biggest concern is not how well they compete. Instead, our concern is how we can motivate them to be diligent in their everyday lives, to persevere even when the task seems overwhelming, to recognize when others need a helping hand and to work cooperatively in completing a task, and to just plain be upstanding, contributing, morally correct members of society. We want them to exercise a faith that is well-grounded (of course, we prefer our own faith, but they have minds of their own and are allowed to use those minds)and not harmful to others. We want them to think independently and to be good problem-solvers. We want them to understand the importance of family and to be good friends to others.

Really, the competition pales in comparison. You may say that it takes a competitive edge to get to the top in any career. Well, that is true. But a company can't survive with everyone at the top. It needs people with a variety of gifts and talents and abilities in order to function and fucntion well. Wal-Mart needs forward-thinking executives to keep the company growing, but it also needs the guys that bring in the carts and the people that stock the shelves and the truck drivers that deliver the inventory.

The motivation will come from your child's desires--not competition itself.