CONFIDENTIAL 2 LG/JUNE 2020/ELC231/ELC230/ SET 3

PART A: READING COMPREHENSION (25 MARKS)

Read the passage below and answer all the questions that follow.

Homeschooling

I Children probably spend around one third of their waking time in school. That
is about 15,000 hours, which is a tremendous amount of time. How will it be
like spending those 15,000 hours at home and in the homeschooling
community? Historically speaking, homeschooling is nothing new. In the
past, knowledge was passed down from one generation to the next, either by 5
the family or the community. For example, farming techniques were passed
down by farmers to their sons who later became farmers. Formal education
only happened much later during the industrialisation era when more skilled
and educated workers were needed. Subjects in school like reading, writing
and mathematics became the skills for sustaining oneself and the family. The 10
only place where people could acquire such skills was at school. At present,
who would argue with more than 300 years of gathered knowledge on how to
teach youngsters the best possible way? Despite all the history, a lot of
parents are now educating their children at home.

II Homeschooling can be defined in terms of the types of curriculum structure 15

which are integrated into the students’ daily routine. The first type is an all-in-
one curriculum structure where parents try to replicate school at home and
can also be known as a structured form of homeschooling. Parents will act
as the instructors, buy the relevant books and follow a class schedule. This
style attempts to copy the structure of the traditional school setting while 20
personalising the curriculum. As for the second type of curriculum, it is
the unstructured form of homeschooling which basically removes any form of
structure from the students’ learning experience. Parents see themselves as
facilitators who help children to learn what they wish to learn rather than
them becoming the instructors themselves. Another type is unstructured 25
homeschooling which attempts to teach children through their daily
experiences and focusses more on self-directed learning, free of

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textbooks, teachers, and any formal assessment of success or failure.

III The concept of schooling emerged in order to make information more

accessible. Before schools existed, students learned at home and within their 30
community. Nowadays, information is universal and available in palatable
forms such as Web 2.0, study softwares and online. Homeschooling now
provides flexibility and universality in education which has churned out high
performing students. With the Internet, information has become ubiquitous.
Students can tune in to the lectures of the best teachers. With social 35
networks, homeschoolers can chat, discuss threads in forums, share
information and tips, and even participate in online classes via blackboard
systems which are similar to those used by colleges. Thus, attending public
school is not mandatory anymore and many universities now accept
homeschooled students. According to the National Centre for Education 40
Statistics, there were about 1.5 million students (2.9%) in the United States
of America (AS) being homeschooled in 2007, while there were only 850,000
students (1.7%) in 1999. Various studies have also examined the impact of
homeschooling on students' Great Point Averages (GPAs). Michael F. Cogan
in Journal of College Admission in 2010 found that homeschooled students 45
had higher high school GPAs than conventional students. In 2013, Marc
Snyder, another researcher, provided corroborating evidence that
homeschoolers were outperforming their peers in the areas of standardised
tests and overall GPAs.

IV There are many reasons why parents choose homeschooling. One of the 50
reasons is homeschooling exists because of the parents’ growing
dissatisfaction with the rigours and grade-focussed school system. There is
no doubt that evidence which speaks for homeschooling is very appealing.
However, there is still abundance of work to be done in order to establish
homeschooling in the education landscape as a real alternative to public 55
schools. The philosophy that every child has an inborn curiosity is most
certainly true and it is almost indisputable that one loses his curiosity due to
the setup of the school. This curiosity encourages the child to pursue

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knowledge based on his interests. As for parents, they take an active part in
facilitating activities and experiences conducive to learning. They do not rely 60
heavily on textbooks or spend much time teaching. Parents see their role as
that of affirming through positive feedback and modelling the necessary
skills, and the children’s role as being responsible for asking and learning.
Children learn best by doing; they may learn math skills by operating a small
business or sharing in family finances. They may learn animal husbandry by 65
keeping dairy goats or meat rabbits, botany by tending a kitchen garden and
chemistry by understanding the operation of the internal combustion engine.

V Another reason for parents to choose homeschooling is due to their

disagreement with the authoritarian nature of the schools. Recently, the trend
of homeschooling has become less stigmatised. It is because they disagree 70
with the idea that the government needs to have an ultimate control over
their children’s education and the government’s systematic plan for creating
future adults. For instance, some parents have objections to the secular
nature of public schools in order to give their children a religious education.
Thus, use of a religious curriculum is common among these families. For 75
some African-American families, however, they choose homeschooling as a
way of increasing their children's understanding of African-American history,
apart from warding their children off from treatment of racism in most
American schools. A prominent proponent of homeschooling, John Taylor
Gatto argues that public education is the primary tool of "state-controlled 80
consciousness" and serves as a prime illustration of the total institution. The
term refers to a social system which impels obedience to the state and quells
free-thinking or disagreement.

VI Critics of homeschooling often argue that homeschoolers would not be

socialised enough, but that may not be the problem. There have been 85
studies that speak so clearly in favour of homeschooling. Nevertheless,
researchers are not taking this domain more seriously by running more
studies. There are hurdles, primarily the lack of data, but these can surely
be overcome. Trusting the school system too much and ourselves too little is

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perhaps the reason why the homeschooling movement will most likely stay 90
small for now. This does not mean that homeschooling should be
ignored. On the contrary, educators should try to learn from it and identify all
positive aspects of homeschooling to be brought into the classroom. Many
schools are already experimenting it by giving their students more autonomy
over what they learn and how they learn it. Hopefully, they will utilise the 95
freedom given to get knowledge in the best possible way.

Adapted from: http://www.uptrain.net

QUESTION 1

State whether the following statements are TRUE (T) or FALSE (F).

i. Homeschooling is a popular new trend in educating children.

ii. Attending public schools are no longer compulsory for students to enter
universities.

iii. There are still a lot to be done in order to make homeschooling an

alternative to public schools.

iv. "State-controlled consciousness" encourages obedience to the state and

free-thinking or disagreement.

(4 marks)
QUESTION 2

Provide ONE (1) word with similar meaning as used in the passage for the following words?

a. replicate (line 17) : ________________________________________________

b. ubiquitous (line 34) : ________________________________________________

c. indisputable (line 57) : ________________________________________________

d. hurdles (line 88): ________________________________________________

(4 marks)

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QUESTION 3

All of the followings are NOT TRUE about homeschooling except

(identify the two (2) answers)

i. All types of homeschooling give a total freedom for children to learn anything they
want.
ii. Evidence shows that homeschoolers failed behind their public school peers in the
standardized tests.
iii. Some parents are generally frustrated with the education system of the schools.
iv. Public schools are rejected by some parents to emphasise religious education for their
children.
(2 marks)

QUESTION 4

What is the main difference between structured and unstructured homeschooling?

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

(2 marks)

QUESTION 5

What can you infer from the following statement?

‘... there were about 1.5 million students (2.9%) in the United States of America being
homeschooled in 2007, while there were only 850,000 students (1.7%) in 1999.’(lines 41-43)

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

(2 marks)

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QUESTION 6

What does the following statement mean?

‘There is no doubt that evidence which speaks for homeschooling is very appealing’

(lines 52-53)

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

(2 marks)

QUESTION 7

How does children’s curiosity help parents in the learning experiences of homeschooling?

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

(2 marks
QUESTION 8

Why do some African-American families prefer homeschooling over public schools?

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

(2 marks)

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QUESTION 9

What are the implications if the government continues to enforce public schools over
homeschooling?

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

(2 marks)

QUESTION 10

In your opinion, should parents be encouraged to homeschool their children? State two (2)
reasons to justify your answer.

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

(3 marks)

END OF QUESTION PAPER

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