More Americans Are Overcoming The Homeschooling Myth
Over the last few years, homeschooling has been experiencing a surge in the U.S, and it's now estimated that around 2 million children are educated this way at the moment.
In recent years, homeschooling has seen growth of about 8 percent every year. This means that there could be more children being homeschooled than there are attending charter schools.
People of all different beliefs/backgrounds have been increasingly moving toward this schooling option. The homeschooling community includes: atheists, Catholics, Christians, Mormons, libertarians, liberals, low income families, middle income families, high income families, parents with formal post secondary education, parents without, and so on.
It really is a mixed bag, and there is something for everyone; because the process is individualized to the consumer and their needs.
Myth #1 – Homeschooled Kids Are Anti-social
It's really baffling to try and understand why some people might still believe that in 2017, that the only way for a child to become socialized is to attend a public school. It simply isn't the case. Just because the children don't attend a public school doesn't mean that they still cannot reach out in their community and join a variety of teams/programs. The internet makes it especially convenient today for children to find other kids in their community who have the same interests.
There are a myriad of homeschooling resources out there for parents and it really helps them to provide a richer learning experience for their child. One where they can cater to and meet their own unique needs, because everyone learns differently and at a different pace. Homeschooling parents have held things like dances, soccer classes, field trips, and more. There is plenty of opportunity for homeschooled children to meet other kids and form friendships, not only through homeschool channels but through other extracurricular activities as well.
You might get the "I knew a guy who was homeschooled one time, and he was weird" anecdote, but that unfortunately doesn't translate to supporting the notion that the homeschooling method itself breeds antisocial tendencies. Because we can see that it doesn't and that millions of children are effectively socialized despite their choice to learn from home.
Myth #2 – Homeschooled Kids Are Less Intelligent
Homeschooled children have managed to be accepted to prestigious educational institutions like Harvard, MIT, and others. In fact, studies show that homeschooled children are likely to do better than public school kids when it comes to their tests and college prep. It's obvious that homeschooled students might have an academic edge over their peers, as they are afforded a less restrictive learning environment and the freedom to explore their own interests further. Multiple studies have found that education in public schools is outperformed, in areas of math and reading for example, by the success that children are having in learning at home. They have also been seen to score better on their SAT and ACT exams.
One 2009 study showed homeschoolers graduate college at a rate of 67 percent, compared to public schoolers who graduate at about 59 percent.
The right kind of homeschooling really looks to be able to give the individual an edge against their peers. It creates an environment that is unique to them and their own needs, so that they have a better chance to focus on what's important and reap the benefits. They don't have to worry about things like bullying, drugs, and other public school problems, because all they need to concern themselves with are the lesson they're learning.
The learning lessons in homeschooling are all about uniqueness, individualization, and personalization. And this is a big difference from the cookie-cutter factory farming public school model that many areas operate with today. Where students are unable to get the individual attention and training that they need, because public resources are stretched too thin.
Finding Freedom In Education
Homeschooling helps to foster an open-mind in the child and it affords the children the chance to experience new things, something that they likely wouldn't have had the opportunity with had they went to public school. It doesn't necessarily have to be a blackboard set-up in the kitchen, with the children limiting themselves to only lessons being taught in the home. But rather, homeschooling refers to a lack of control in allowing only one educational institution to raise the child, it provides more diversity.
Homeschooled children have the option to sign up for a variety of training classes, programs, teams, and courses, thus enabling them to have a much richer learning experience.
It has also been seen that for those families who are engaged in homeschooling lessons with their children, that they are not dependent on any public or tax-funded resources for their kids. This means that American taxpayers are saving themselves roughly $24 billion every year, thanks to the children who choose to homeschool.
It is clear that there are benefits to the community, as well as to the family and individual learning. And when asked why parents choose to homeschool their kids, a number of reasons are given as to why. Maybe their child has specific medical needs and they want to look over them? They want to provide a safer environment for them? Perhaps they want to form a stronger bond with them? Be able to customize what they learn? Allow their children to accomplish more academically than they could in public school? The reasons are many why families turn to this method.
Pics:
Pixabay
http://i.bnet.com/blogs/homeschool.pdf
http://www.businessinsider.com/structured-homeschool-canada-2011-9
http://healthland.time.com/2011/09/15/high-marks-for-home-schooling-a-small-study-finds/
http://www.businessinsider.com/homeschooing-more-popular-than-ever-2017-1
http://www.theblaze.com/news/2011/09/15/study-home-schooled-kids-beat-public-school-kids-in-math-reading/
https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cgb.asp
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED556234.pdf
I home schooled my daughter from 7th grade to graduation. Long story short, when I dis-enrolled my daughter, the school asked me, "What curriculum do you plan to use?"
My response was, "Yours. May I have a copy?"
The response I received was shocking. "We don't have one. We teach to the TAKS." (the state-mandated test at the time).
I was so very glad I had made the decision to give my daughter an education which allows her to think critically and do more than just color in a circle with a #2 pencil!
Great post we have homeschooled our children and they are outstanding people
This is a great article. Thank you for all the research you did.
I never attended a public school, and enjoyed every minute of homeschooling. My wife and I plan on homeschooling our kids as well. The freedom you have in the education of your own children is the largest benefit to me.
Good read. I was homeschooled from nineth grade and on and graduated an A student, had a part time job, and enjoyed being in a "bully free" zone. Sometimes regular school just isn't the answer.
Saxon Math worked for me.
Even the stats don't tell the story.
We pulled ours out of the state institutions in the mid-90s. It wasn't popular then at all, and we met a lot of resistance. But nobody could say much if they spent any time around them.
Comments we received?
You think you can teach them as well as a trained professional?
What makes you think you can do a better job?
As noted above - How will they get social skills?
How will they learn to be leaders?
Blah blah blah
We were in California while they were teenagers. It's a rather onerous state to homeschool in, but not overly so. They required us to register as a school, but we didn't have to have the boys take tests. They also have a program to help troubled kids get their diploma. We took advantage of that early, so we could quit dealing with the system, and also so they'd have that piece of paper that means so much to so many, for some reason.
Socialization - Our younger son is one of the most social people you could meet. In fact, perhaps too much so. :) The thing is, homeschooled kids generally learn to communicate with any age group, not just peers. They can hold an intelligent conversation with an adult and speak to someone much younger without issue. Age segregation has caused more problems than it could ever solve... well, it solves none anyway.
They were attending a JR college at about 16 or so. During a group project, a girl in the group commented on him being homeschooled, flippantly stating that homeschooled kids have no social skills. My son asked her if he seemed awkward, to which she replied he didn't but he was different. Then she asked what possible advantage there was to homeschooling.
He could have said a lot of things, but he just pointed out that he was 17, had his diploma and was in college. She said it wasn't fair...
The data about graduating from college is really meaningless. Both boys attended, but it didn't do much for them. The older one finished two years studying IT, but never even bothered to get his degree. He worked and studied hard to learn his trade and now, at almost 29, is an IT architect overseeing huge jobs and making far more than I ever have. The other boy is making plenty as a college dropout as well.
Both are married and giving us plenty of grandkids... homeschooled kids. Yep, I guess we screwed up pretty badly. I hope they'll forgive us.
I have a friend who works in the education industry who gave me the whole "parents are arrogant for even thinking they can come close to doing the job of a trained professional and it's detrimental to their kids" kinda deal, and then moved the goal posts when I pointed out that my (very cool) moderator is a retired schoolteacher who approves of my "unschooling" methods (she keeps approving us every year) and one of my friends (also an "unschooler ") used to be a school teacher, to "oh well maybe you're doing something right but the proof will be in when they graduate from uni".
Parents did initially resist as well but now mine and my mother in law are realising how awesomely everything is working out and are fully into it, father in law just can't because no matter how well they do he simply can't get past "kids are supposed to go to school" and some people are just like that. At one of the "extracurricular" activities the kids do I even had one parent anxiously justifying why it was acceptable and "character building" for her child to be mercilessly bullied at the school he was attending (I was trying very hard to be non-judgemental but in that situation, if the school wouldn't/couldn't do anything to stop/resolve the situation, I would have walked away from it).
LoL yep sounds like you screwed up that social experiment terribly, they will never forgive you :D I hope my kids grow up as happy and successfully as yours :)
Great story. I think our boys will do a much better job than us. We had no clue, little support and experimented as we went along. By the time we finished we finally realized what our philosophy had become. We taught them how to learn. With that skill anyone can do anything.
And this points to the absolute failure of public education. It trains to pass tests, not how to think. Sure, there are exceptions and some teachers are awesome. But the system is broken. It's designed to cater to the lowest common denominator and reward the status quo. Excelling is often meaningless. As long as you can get kids to pass tests, you'll continue to get funding. If they slip, ask for more funding. If/when they still slip, adjust the tests so they can pass, or make them meaningless drivel.
Not that I have an opinion or anything. I'm super excited that our property taxes went up this year so that we could pay more for local education programs. :/
Oh, I got on a rant. haha ;o)
Here's to sabotaging our kids' social skills!
Great post. I would add that "being socialized" is not just being in a crowd with other not-yet-socialized children. Unless children are exposed to a range of people, and make friends outside their age segregated, leader figure controlled, sit down and shut up schooling, they are not learning proper social behaviors. Homeschooling allows children to be exposed to social interactions with a wide range of children, adults, and family members for more than just the 15 minutes after school with people in their "class" (isn't that a scary word?).
I've reposted this in the new homeschool-trail and recommend using the #homeschool tag for similar articles. Voted and resteemed.
Very cool post and I'm glad to hear that homeschooling is catching on. When I was 12, my parent pulled me out of school for a year and sent me on a trip with my grandparents. We went to France and spend months traveling to Paris, The Riviera, and visited many castles. Then we drove through the Pyrenees mountans on our way to Spain where we stayed in a fishing village with my uncle and worked on his fishing boat.
I learned more that year than all my years of school combines and was so glad my parents decided to do that.
My kid is half-time in school, and the other half in home learning or playing as he chooses.
These two different perspectives make him very critical in relation to reality and injustice.