Posted on 07/20/2005 12:13:49 PM PDT by Little Bill
Why Homeschooling Continues to Grow
by Isabel Lyman — May 16, 2005
For evidence that the homeschooling movement is growing up, look no further than the crowd - and excitement - generated by the National Christian Homeschool Basketball Championships held in Oklahoma City.
The 2004 athletic event - in its thirteenth year - drew 240 teams from 26 states, featured over 600 games, and attracted college coaches eager to scout players. In attendance was Texan Debbie Verwers, the mother of Stephen Verwers, a homeschool graduate, who currently plays for Colorado State University’s basketball team. Upshot? The extracurricular athletic activities that exist for active home scholars is only one cultural indicator that homeschooling has graduated from its fledgling, countercultural beginnings in the 1970s into a more popular choice.
DOWN MEMORY LANE
The early days of homeschooling were not without their own buzz. Grant Colfax's admission into Harvard in 1983 (he was also accepted to Yale) attracted wide attention because he had been homeschooled by his bookish, hard-working mother and father - David and Micki - on a ranch in northern California. The teenager’s acceptance to the venerable New England institution was proof that a schooled-at-home (and homesteading) student could acquire the type of education necessary to gain entrance into one of the most selective schools in the world.
While home education wasn't a new phenomenon, young Colfax, as well as his adventuresome parents, served as the catalysts to awaken a sleeping giant. A generation of baby boomers, who were in the thick of parenting and who were dismayed at the bureaucratic mindset that had overtaken American public education, now had inspiration to take the educational road less traveled. The 'Colfax method' gained even more credibility when Grant's younger (and homeschooled) brothers - Drew and Reed - were subsequently admitted into Harvard.
Twenty years later the electrifying accomplishments of the Colfaxes have been slightly eclipsed by a new generation of homeschoolers, who are also crafting impressive vitae. For instance, when Calvin McCarter, age 10, a homeschooler from Michigan, won the 2002 National Geographic Bee, he became the youngest competitor to ever win the contest. Home scholar Kyle Williams has been a political columnist for WorldNetDaily.com, since he was twelve years old. After his book Seen and Heard was published, the then 14-year-old Williams weathered a media blitz that included television interviews with Bill O'Reilly, Pat Buchanan, Bill Press, and Judy Woodruff.
Besides winning academic contests and enrolling in Ivy League schools, homeschoolers have been elected to public office, managed successful businesses, played on national sports teams, made a mark in Hollywood, authored popular books, graduated from law schools, and served in the armed forces. They show no signs of resting on their laurels. For its 1999 competition, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation selected 137 homeschoolers as semifinalists, and their numbers have steadily risen each year. In 2004, there were 250 homeschooled students selected as semifinalists.
Even their small numbers, estimated by the U.S. Department of Education at approximately 1.1 million last year, only a cynic would find the achievements of homeschooled students unremarkable.
DEFINNING THE TERM
"Educating children under the supervision of parents instead of school teachers " (p. 1) is how Patricia Lines (1993), a home education researcher, has defined homeschooling. Brian Ray (2003), another veteran researcher, has written: "Some families organize homeschools like a conventional school, with structured daily activities. Others view all of life as an opportunity for learning and use a very flexible schedule. Most families provide educational experiences outside as well as inside the home.”
Homeschooling, like other grass-roots movements of the twentieth century, is largely a middle-American endeavor. Ponder this description of the 'typical' family: "…they are more likely than other students to live with two or more siblings in a two-parent family, with one parent working outside the home. Parents of homeschoolers are, on average, better educated than other parents - a greater percentage have college degrees - though their incomes are about the same. Like most parents, the vast majority of those who homeschool their children earn less than $50,000, and many earn less than $25,000" (“Homeschooling Here to Stay,” 2003).
Many families are are "kitchen-table" homeschoolers, which means that a parent, typically the mother, sits at a table or a desk helping the children with their studies. Some home educators think of their endeavor as 'family-schooling' or 'parent-funded' and want the practice to remain wholly independent of government money and control, an issue that is often debated by home education bloggers and activists.
But in an age of unprecedented technological innovation and mobility, one fact is clear: It’s relatively easy and cost-effective for a youngster to bypass institutionalized schooling and receive a well-rounded education. Online classes, homeschool cooperatives, tutors, internships, volunteer work, travel, home businesses, hobbies, sabbaticals, even the great outdoors - these serve as gateways to the examined, enriched life.
STRENGTH OF HOMEGROWN VERSUS MASS PRODUCED
One young Floridian - Jonathan Lord - has successfully combined several of these opportunities. The St. Petersburg Times reports, "Besides learning at home, Jonathan now takes math through a private tutor, creative writing classes at the co-op, chemistry through homeschooling classes offered at the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa, and dual-enrollment classes in English and Spanish at Pasco-Hernando Community College" (Miller, 2003).
Other enterprising teens have used the flexibility of schedule to pursue extracurricular pursuits that range from the flashy to the altruistic. Emoly West, a homeschool graduate and college freshman, will be competing in this year‘s Miss Oklahoma competition. She has used past pageant prize winnings to pay for college tuition. At 17, Iowa homeschooler Kelby Fujan, passed the written test to obtain his airplane pilot's license while accruing almost 50 college credits. Sam Goodman, a young teen-aged homeschooler from Indiana, regularly volunteers at a community food bank and has earned an award for his service.
In contrast to public school students, who are grouped by age and not ability, who are expected to arrive and depart at particular times, and who are labeled “learning disabled” regardless of potential, homeschoolers can receive their instruction in a highly-individualized fashion, often beginning at an early age. Their parents have a clear idea where their interests lie and the style of learning most suited to them, without being hampered with worries about bullies, politicized curriculum, teachers’ union squabbles, or the air quality of the buildings.
Parents and students with a bent toward high achievement at the tertiary level have even come to view homeschooling as a ticket to success in college. Writing in Signatures, a publication of Anderson University, Maryann Koopman (2003) reports that the Indiana school admits a "fair number of homeschoolers each year." Jim King , director of admissions at Anderson, offers this: " ... homeschooled students are better prepared for the 'independent learning' atmosphere of college than the typical school student ...." (Koopman, 2003).
While these heartwarming stories have, no doubt, nudged families toward the school-free lifestyle, my own analysis of 300 newspaper and magazine articles revealed that the top four reasons to homeschool were dissatisfaction with the public schools, the desire to freely impart religious values, academic excellence, and the opportunity to build stronger family bonds. Those findings coincide with the reasons advanced by the National Home Education Research Institute, which includes “controlled and positive peer social interactions, quality academics, alternative approaches to teaching and learning, and the safety (e.g., physical, drug-related, psychological, emotional, and sexual) of children and youth” (Ray, 2000).
When it’s all said - and by now a countless number of articles, commentaries, and research papers have been written about homeschooling - perhaps the greatest lesson to be learned is how important the concept of liberty is to the delivery of education. Parents must have opportunity to do what is right by their children and not be limited by geographic location, punitive state laws, or societal prejudices. When freedom and choice peacefully exist, students thrive, and, ultimately, society benefits. As Dr. Lines (2000) has stated, "The hard evidence suggests that the vast majority of homeschooling families are more active in civic affairs than public school families."
It will be interesting to observe, in the coming years, what a generation of such civic-minded homeschooled individuals bring to the education reform debate.
References
Homescholing is here to stay. (2001, August 20). CBSnews.com. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/
Koopman, M. (2003). Homeschoolers pass the test and the torch. Signatures. Retrieved from http://www.anderson.edu/.
Lines, P.M. (1993). Homeschooling: private choices and public obligations.
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Research.
Lines, P.M. (2000). Homeschooling comes of age. Discovery Institute. Retrieved from http://www.discovery.org/.
Miller, M. (2003). Homeschooling: drop the stereotypes. St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved from http://www.sptimes.com.
Ray, B.D. (2000). Fact sheet IIb. National Home Education Research Institute. Retrieved from http://www.nheri.org/.
Ray, B.D. (2003). Home schooling. World Book Online Americas Edition. Retrieved from http://aolsvc.worldbook.com/ar?/co/ar260563.htm.
Cite This Article as: Teachers College Record, Date
Actually, the author relied on a MicroSoft spell check that was set to ignore words in all-caps. When I do technical writing, I often see the same kind of errors jump in.
If you had home schooled, would you have taught your kids the proper spelling of "grammar?" A cheap shot, but if you're going to be a spelling Nazi, don't be surprised when the spelling Gestapo knocks on your door questioning your purity.
I guess my screen name is a little misleading... I actually chose my name because I grew up in Ithaca, NY, where I was one of the only conservatives, and a very outspoken one. Fortunately, I went to Lansing Elementary, Middle and High School, avoiding the Ithaca Central School District. Now I live in Pittsford, NY, and go to Pittsford Mendon High School. You can look any of these up on Google, if you like. PMHS is nationally ranked, according to Newsweek. 37th in the nation, I believe.
Thank you for your thoughts. I'm worried as is my wife. I guess I think I can handle wacky teachers and administrators (they "encourage" involved parents, wait until my kids enroll, and we'll see if they like it!). I'm really worried about their exposure to the crass culture of our world as expressed by other students (who cannot be expelled for the most part). I don't want to see 14 years of dedicated (and undoubtedly flawed) parenting and nurturing go down the tubes in 4 years of govt. high school. And I don't want to take my kids "out" of the community they grew up in and deprive them of the extra-curricular activities their grade school buddies will be enjoying. Got some more time to make a decision. Thanks for letting me vet!
An acquaintance of mine at church just graduated her youngest boy. Her oldest is a homeschool graduate too and is currently in the Navy. The youngest intends to do the same.
Her husband walked out on her when they were little and she managed to homeschool and work. (She told about it in a speech at our end of school banquet.)
I don't know exactly how it's done. Never had to research it, thankfully. But I do know that there are single parents out there that homeschool. There are also poor people who homeschool. There have even been homeless people who homeschool
There are homeschoolers in every walk of life.
I know, I get sick of the spell check excuse that they all give. There will be many times in life that you are not using a computer to communicate. At that point, you look like an idiot if you can't spell no matter how smart or what kind of grades you have. Not teaching proper penmanship is another one of my problems. The handwriting is horrible!
I really learned English grammar from my French and Latin teachers... learning a foreign language is great, because it really teaches you the different tenses and their English translations, how to use them, when to use them, and all of that. That wasn't until 10th grade.
HPISD
My bad...oh well...glad you're out of Ithaca (a little blue dot in a sea of red upstate NY), though.
The real Beacon is purple, and everything outside (Southern Dutchess) of it is solidly red.
Sure. We moved last year, and had at least 8 high schools to choose from in our new area. We did a thorough investigation of each of them. Another thing to do, is talk to involved parents of current high schoolers. Their attitude towards the school tends to be pretty accurate.
oops! I missed that typo in my zeal to post! You are right!
The only way to be completely sure is by home schooling.
I agree. Homeschooling is not something that everyone can do. It isn't even something that most people can do. For those who can do it, more power to them.
Check into homeschooling resources around you. You might be lucky enough to have a homeschool sports league around. My sibs and I weren't really into sports after we got too old for the community softball teams, but I know it's important to some folk.
Now if only we could make NYC its own voting precinct, akin to D.C., we could have NY go red every election...
I thought it was dry and secular.
Thanks for the ping.........
A major BUMP to Homeschooling!
Oh, yes, I should have known. All that talk of Harvard and colleges and... What was I thinking...
Nevermind.
All that talk of accedemic excellence. That is the lowest reason on the list for homeschooling. To the world, it's the highest reason.
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