Posted on 11/29/2005 1:34:50 AM PST by Lorianne
Like many critics, I used to feel vaguely sorry for home-schooled kids. What a shame, I thought, that they might be deprived of the well-rounded education and social skills to become integrated, productive members of society. I never thought to question why cafeteria food fights or the predatory pack habits of teenage girls would be better for molding productive members of society.
This uninformed, critical opinion lasted precisely until I met my first home-schooled children several years ago. Within one month I met five home-schooling families, and their 13 children were among the most polite, well-adjusted, socially adept and academically advanced kids I'd ever seen. Being home-educated seemed to have given them a confidence and maturity — and yes, social skill — far beyond their years. They had many friends, but didn't seem dependent on their peers for approval — a far cry from what I remember as a kid.
I've since learned that these kids were not the home-schooling exception but the rule, which makes me wonder how anyone could look at the data and say it deprives kids of anything. In a landmark study by Dr. Brian Ray of the National Home Education Research Institute, among 7,000 young adults who had been home-schooled, 74 percent had attained some college courses, compared with just 46 percent of other young adults — and 82 percent said they would home-school their own kids. On the social front, almost twice as many home-schooled adults as those in the general population were active in their community (71 percent to 37 percent) and "very happy" with life (59 percent to 28 percent).
In 1998, a Home School Legal Defense Association's study of 20,760 home-school students found that: "In every subject and at every grade level (on standardized tests), home-school students scored significantly higher than their public and private school counterparts." Younger home-schoolers performed one grade level higher than their public and private school counterparts, and by eighth grade, "the average home-school student performs four grade levels above the national average."
Obviously, home education doesn't fit every family. But the evidence makes me think it's the kids who aren't home-schooled who may be missing out, not the other way around.
No, not the first year though there are usually small increases (sometimes dramatic), but studies have shown the longer they are home taught the higher the test scores. So Yes, in the long run if you can stick with it poorly performing school students improve greatly when brought home and given one on one instruction and supervision.
Please, there was a boat load of research 10 years ago when I started homeschooling and public schooling, and I am sure it has just gotten larger since.
BTW, my very average and sinking, and my very poor performing elementary school students were given a chance to excel when I took them out of school.....One graduated high school with his associates degree in biology, the following year helped write Microsofts gaming guide for one of their most popular games and this year will graduate from college and go on to grad school, his brother is doing very well at Juilliard.
Many poorly performing students who do not fit into a one size fits all education are getting a chance at a real life by home schooling.
Oops: when I started homeschooling about homeschooling and public schooling
no need to type out a list, you must have misunderstood the intent of my post. in reviewing my comment i guess you could think that i was saying something negative about homeschooling. i wasn't. it was a big DUH alert..as in home schooling works, how could this author be so surprised about it (thus the notion that she was duped by the Orwellian Media). when i have kids they WILL be homeschooled. they will never set foot in a socialist re-education camp.
the reason why i think that one day it will be illegal to homeschool due to the recent decision by the 9th circuit regarding sex ed in schools and their parents inability to control what/when they learn it. what these judges are doing is bit by bit peeling away parental rights with the marxist goal of transforming the ownership of children over to the state.
>>My home-schooled 17 year-old just received a FULL-RIDE Scholarship. He will be on a fast-track program to get his Masters in Mathematics in 4 years from a prestigious university internationally renowned for their math program.<<
HOW did your child get a full scholarship?
How did you prove his skills?
Mine are only 8 & 5, the smartest children in the world of course and I want them to get scholarships too.
You can FReepmail me with what we have to do, Thanks in advance!
"Please, there was a boat load of research 10 years ago when I started homeschooling and public schooling, and I am sure it has just gotten larger since."
What? You don't have a sense of humor? Why in the world would someone go to a frat party to research social skills?
"....studies have shown the longer they are home taught the higher the test scores"
Are you making these stats up, or do they actually exist somewhere? Please let me know....I am very interested in them.
Of course, even if what you say is true, which I think it very possible, it doesn't address the main problem with the statistic - homeschooling self-selects for higher achieving kids - so how much of the performance is due to kids being naturally motivated to learn (with an enabling family environment) and how much is due to homeschooling.
I will reiterate, I am FOR homeschooling, but I think in order to properly advocate for it, you need correct and true information, including statistics. If you have 'em, please share 'em. The ones made available thus far are flawed.
Dear Stellar Dendrite,
It's hard, I know. But you will need to drop the desire to DUH. From now on, your words will becomes strong like castles that confirm.
Your humble uncle,
And as long as we're running things, we'll keep them.
I remember HR6. LOL. Here they probably thought they could pull one over on the homeschoolers, who are a loosely knit, independent group of people who generally don't cause any trouble. HA! Were they wrong. The independent part showed. They woke a sleeping giant.
Homeschooling at that age doesn't necessarily take that much time. We live in NY and the curriculum requirements for 1-6 grade are ridiculous. IMO, the first couple years should just concentrate on learning to read and write and do some math. Science, health, SS, and all, can be done very informally. There's only so much a 5 year old with a limited concept of time (history classes) and abstract thinking (Social studies, government, etc) can handle. My kids are real bright, but even at that age, some things are just beyond them. See what you can do, even if it's only for a few years. It'll help.
While I think it's likely that it could be true that brighter kids are more likely to be homeschooed and that that could skew the statistics; it's also true that homeschooling does improve their scores. The benefits of a one-on-one education cannot be beat. My kids are far more competent in all their subjects than I was at the same grade level. I'm convinced that it is because when they get stuck on something, we can spend time and go over it and figure out different ways to make it make sense. Something public school teachers just do not have the time to do. Since they master the subject material before they move on, they aren't getting lost by trying to learn something that is being taught that is building on something they don't understand. That's where I got lost in school, especially in math. I got confused over fractions and nothing after that made sense. Now that I've homeschooled, *I* have a better education. I have now learned all that stuff that they tried for so many years to cram down my throat that I refused to learn. I had to learn it in self defense. My kids are much smarter than I and I couldn't be prouder of them.
"The benefits of a one-on-one education cannot be beat"
you hit the nail on the head. Yes, Homeschoolers get one-on-one education.....and so do public school kids who's parents give a whit. My kids get one-on-one attention from me or my wife because I don't expect schools to do everything for them or me.
The statistics need to be comparing these two populations - homeschoolers, and public/private schoolers who's parent's are actively involved. I submit that these differences will be far less dramatic.
The rest of the kids who's parents don't care or can't care about their education and so are not involved in, say-helping them with homework - are going to get a crappy education, unless they teach themselves. But really, who's fault is that? You may blame the schools, but the vast majority of the blame rests with the apathetic, or incompetent parent.
No amount of funding will overcome parental apathy/incompetence as some governments are only now starting to figure out.
WooHoo! Homeschooling bump!
"The statistics need to be comparing these two populations - homeschoolers, and public/private schoolers who's parent's are actively involved. I submit that these differences will be far less dramatic."
I don't doubt that. I see too many parents who look on school as basically free babysitting. I cringe when I hear: "I just can't wait for school to start so I can get these kids out of my hair." or some such equivalent comment.
Bump to self for a later read....
The problem you have, even as an involved parent, is that you cannot be with your child the entire time they are at public school. There are far more distractions, bad influences, and occurrences of poor socialization that take place in public schools.
I'm not talking about some kids who chew gum and talk out of turn. I'm talking about sex on school buses and drugs in the lunchroom. I'm talking about gangs and cliques. I'm talking about teachers and administrators who would rather spend their time socially engineering (brainwashing) your children than teaching them reading, writing, and arithmetic.
I'm glad you spend time helping your child. I homeschool but I have friends who do just as you do. It is the only way to get anything out of the public school system today. But all the parental assistance in the world cannot protect a child from what faces them in the schools.
A one on one teaching situation is best for any child, but a one on one situation without unnecessary and harmful distractions is even better. Homeschoolers do best because they have both.
I have no relationship to homeschooling other than analytical intest; I and my children are out of school and, for better or worse, public school at that. But in analyzing homeschooling I identified parental self-education as a minimum result of the process. Even if the student him/herself doesn't learn better at home than in PS, a parent who elects to homeschool is bound to come out of the process with a better grasp of academics than he/she went in with. The child will see to that, if nothing else!Is that actually of no import whatsoever?? Why are the academics so important for the child if they don't matter for the parent?? The "difference" is, of course, a sort of conspiracy between the parent and the teacher - in which it is taken for granted that the parent did OK in PS - even tho the parent is presumed to not be competent to teach the academics to his/her child.
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