I was home schooled for three years and have recently been enrolled in public school. It has been a big change, but I’ve come to realize the differences and similarities the two share. In this essay I will explain the advantages and disadvantages based on my own experience.

When I was home schooled I always stayed at home and didn’t have to get up very early in the morning and go to school. I did school periodically throughout the day. In public school, there is a time schedule. There’s an amount of time you’re in each class, for you to get to and from class, and a lunch or break time. There is also a strict dress code in public school with uniforms having to be worn in a certain way. I could stay in my pajamas all day while doing home school. The two overall are similar in having to wake up at a certain time and work for hours at a time everyday.

School at home allowed me to take a break whenever I felt I needed one. I could even take a day off to go shopping or if I wasn’t feeling well and make it up on a day during the weekend. In public school, you have to go everyday or the missed day gets counted against you unless it’s an excused absence. Home schooling allows you to go to the restroom, eat, or drink whenever you need to. Either way, you can still go to the restroom, eat, and drink but just not to your convenience.

Public school isn’t only about the school work; it includes a lot of extracurricular activities you can be involved in that you can’t be in home school. There’s committees, clubs, teams, proms, and sporting events. There is also many buildings, classrooms, teachers, and people at a school. In home schooling it’s just you and your curriculum. You have no peers or partners to help you with assignments. You have friends and other people to interact with at school everyday, where in home school you can only do that sort of thing on the weekends. The social aspects are achievable in each way.

At this point in my life I prefer public school, just because of the circumstance I am in. There is advantages and disadvantages in each system, but in the end you can still get an education, have friends, and a social life but in a unique way.