Christopher Mahon: To Help Teachers, Adults Need to Influence Kids
by Christopher Mahon The discussion in America about the problems in education needs to shift a... Read More
Number of Homeschoolers Growing Nationwide
Researchers are expecting a surge in the number of students educated at home by their parents over the next ten years as more families spurn public schools.
As the dissatisfaction with the U.S. education system among parents grows, so does the appeal of homeschooling. Since 1999, the number of children who are being homeschooled has increased by 75% in all states including Arizona, Texas, and California. Although currently only 4% of all school children nationwide are educated at home, the number of primary school kids whose parents choose to forgo traditional education is growing seven times faster than the number of kids enrolling in K-12 every year.
Any concerns expressed about the quality of education offered to the kids by their parents can surely be put to rest by the consistently high placement of homeschooled kids on standardized assessment exams. Data shows that those who are independently educated typically score between 65th and 89th percentile on such exams, while those attending traditional schools average on the 50th percentile. Furthermore, the achievement gaps, long plaguing school systems around the country, aren’t present in homeschooling environment. There’s no difference in achievement between sexes, income levels or race/ethnicity.
Recent studies laud homeschoolers’ academic success, noting their significantly higher ACT-Composite scores as high schoolers and higher grade point averages as college students. Yet surprisingly, the average expenditure for the education of a homeschooled child, per year, is $500 to $600, compared to an average expenditure of $10,000 per child, per year, for public school students.
College recruiters from the best schools in the United States aren’t slow to recognize homeschoolers’ achievements. Those from non-traditional education environments matriculate in colleges and attain a four-year degree at much higher rates than their counterparts from public and even private schools. Homeschoolers are actively recruited by schools like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Stanford University and Duke.
Nor do homeschoolers miss out on the so-called socialization opportunities, something considered a vital part of a traditional school environment and lacking in those who don’t attend regular schools. On the contrary, those educated at home by their parents tend to be more socially engaged than their peers, and according to the National Home Education Research Institute survey, demonstrate “healthy social, psychological, and emotional development, and success into adulthood.”
Based on recent data, researchers such as Dr. Brian Ray (NHERI.org) “expect to observe a notable surge in the number of children being homeschooled in the next 5 to 10 years. The rise would be in terms of both absolute numbers and percentage of the K to 12 student population. This increase would be in part because . . . [1] a large number of those individuals who were being home educated in the 1990s may begin to homeschool their own school-age children and [2] the continued successes of home-educated students.”
Recent News
Tech Industry Calls on Massachusetts to Require Computer Science
Some of the titans of the technology industry including Microsoft and Google are calling on schools... Read More
Job Cuts Follow School Closures, Deficits in Chicago, Philadelphia
The decision to close 49 elementary schools in Chicago has now led to layoff notices being sent out... Read More
Popular News
James Shuls: Why We Need School Choice 26
The Pedagogical Agenda of Common Core Math Standards 23
Julia Steiny: 5th Graders Having a Blast with Algebra 14
Career Index
Plan your career as an educator using our free online datacase of useful information.
- Select a City Subject
- Early Childhood Education Schools in Archbold
- Early Childhood Education Schools in Athens
- Early Childhood Education Schools in Berea
- Early Childhood Education Schools in Bluffton
- Early Childhood Education Schools in Cedarville
- Early Childhood Education Schools in Celina
- Early Childhood Education Schools in Cincinnati
- Early Childhood Education Schools in Dayton
- Early Childhood Education Schools in Defiance
- Early Childhood Education Schools in Ironton
- Early Childhood Education Schools in Lima
- Early Childhood Education Schools in Mount Vernon
- Early Childhood Education Schools in Nelsonville
- Early Childhood Education Schools in New Concord
- Early Childhood Education Schools in Newark
- Early Childhood Education Schools in Oxford
- Early Childhood Education Schools in Painesville
- Early Childhood Education Schools in Piqua
- Early Childhood Education Schools in Portsmouth
- Early Childhood Education Schools in Rio Grande
- Early Childhood Education Schools in Sylvania
- Early Childhood Education Schools in Tiffin
- Early Childhood Education Schools in Toledo
- Early Childhood Education Schools in Westerville
- Early Childhood Education Schools in Wilberforce
Comments
It is fabulous for the progressives in the public system because these home schoolers tend to be right wing kooks who would otherwise be activists for vouchers and charters. Good ridance see ya.
I sence some ignorance here doug. At one. Time you may have been correct, but the current data does not concur.
Actually by foolish remarks like yours is the reason schools are failing and homeschooling is doing what certified teachers can’t.
Homeschooling is not always a success, no more than public schools are all failing. Jump all over Doug for his comments and then make one just as ignorant, not a smart move. I can show you home schoolers that can spell every word in the dictionary, but know nothing about government, science, geography, etc. etc. I can also show you public schools where every kid is at level and some believe it or not actually become engineers, lawyers, and doctors. And Doug those successful schools I would show you come from very conservative communities where traditional family and work ethic is important. That may be coincidence, but I don’t think so.
Homeschooling is not only a success when you compare it to public schools, the ratio of failure of public schools cannot be comparesd to scarce cases of so called homeschool failure whithout incurring in demagogy. It is simply not an honest argument.
I can show you almost entire students from public schools that can’t spell much words in the dictionary, and know nothing about government, science, geography, etc. etc. Atbout schools where every kid is at level mention one and mention what level, because advanced today means knowing what is arbitrarily established as that which others decree you should know. And many kids graduate and become professional. In my case not thanks to school but in spite of school and I think that to be true in every other case. Schools are destroying America, leaving children behind but not undrugged and it makes no sense defending such a perverted project from its inception. Homeschooling is getting the job needed done.
Were you homeschooled? If not, your public school did fail. Is that English? What would it matter if I showed you the school where they are all at level? You’ll make your nonsensical arguement in spite of what I show you.
Regarding Doug, that fact that his ignorance is indicated does not make us ignorant. That would an ignorant conclusion itself.
Mikey-you need a course in analyzing data. No number of personal anecdotes can or should outweigh the statistical evidence of large group studies. The statistical evidence is clear-home schooling is more effective and efficient, ON THE WHOLE. No one claims a perfect record. The allocation of resources should be to raise the level of the GROUP, not just some of the people you personally know. PS – Sounds like you and Doug went to the same public school!
We home educate so our kids won’t turn out to be hostile, rude and intolerant like you, Doug.
Doug- I am not right wing at all nor am I a lefty. I am a average middle of the road American and I home school. Why because the “no kid left behind” system was leaving my child behind. I have two adult children that went through reg. school in the days before “no kid”. From a parents point of view I have seen how our school system has change over the last 25 years and it’s not for the better. I am ending my first year of home schooling and I love it. I feel privileged to have the time and resources to provide this education for my daughter. I was surprised at the number of home schoolers there are and I have yet to meet a right wing kook, and I live in Kansas!
It used to be true a generation ago that most homeschoolers were right wing, often fundamentalist christian families. Although, these groups still make up a large part of the demographic, there are many liberal and middle of the road families homeschooling today. It is just no longer the case that most homeschoolers are right wing. In fact homeschooling is growing so fast that very mainstream families are becoming more and more common. When I started homeschooling five years ago, I used to joke and say that homeschoolers were either left wing hippies (myself included) or right wing fundamentalists. I have seen the community around me grow so fast that I can no longer make this tonge in cheek comment. It just is not true anymore. Now days homeschoolers are very diverse both culturally and politically speaking.
A few misunderstandings pop out on a few comments. No, not all states require tracking of attendance / progress, and of those that do, only a few really take the job of assessing outcomes very seriously. I’m fine with that – not a government responsibility anyhow. On the socialization question – from my 17 years of personal experience, the article is mostly correct. But HSers will rarely admit that sometimes it IS a problem. I have struggled with this at times, do to tight finances that prevented me from signing up my kids for sports teams, and military deployments when we did not live on a base where neighbors were more trusting to let their children play outside … leaving my children without as many social opportunities. Their new neighborhood job hires also went down, leaving them less interaction with non-parent adults. We lost both track and swim team opportunities on one military move. That said, I wouldn’t use the school systems to solve my personal socialization deficit. We can be more resourceful than that.
What I do not like is the labeling of an education system based on a few perceptions. Public school children do not all turn out horribly, and home school students do not all turn out beautifully. Private school – ditto. There are problems and benefits with each. Let’s be nice and not disparage the intelligence of the others, with words like “kooks” and right wing.” Is that too much to ask? Progressive elites are just as revolting as superior-minded home schoolers. But – at least the home schoolers can make their mistakes on their own dime. As Doug commented, “good riddance” we can all agree to disagree and part company. But “good riddance” notably, forgets to thank home schoolers, for donating financially to school children’s excellent progressive education. I have to wonder where that rudeness stems from? If I was Doug, I’d simply be glad we were helping him keep his class sizes down.
Doug – demonization of those with opinions that differ from yours is the sure sign of a frightened, weak and undisciplined mind. Buck up some courage and debate the issue based on evidence and logic-NOT feelings.
My amazing mother home schooled my 4 sisters and me from kindergarten to 8th grade…here’s an update on our lives now:
child #1 Samford University Grad School, 4.0 GPA
child #2 University of Wisconsin Physical Therapy School 3.9 GPA
child #3 Samford Nursing School, 3.8 GPA and on running scholarship
child #4 Starting pre-pharm program and eventually getting P.h.D. in Biomedical Engineering…you know, just for fun…also will be on running scholarship 4.0 GPA
child #5 Jr in H.S. 4.0 and breaking all of her big sisters’ records
We took all A.P. classes…studied abroad…run marathons and mini marathons…graduated college early or will graduate early…graduated with honors…Valedictorians…multiple sports captains with school records…all while paying our own way through school…I mean…really??
[...] http://www.educationnews.org/parenting/number-of-homeschoolers-growing-nationwide/ [...]
[...] Full Article- follow the link below Number of Homeschoolers Growing Nationwide | Education News #family movie -THE LAMP- one family's loss shows them how to turn to Faith instead of magic #kidmin [...]
[...] robust growth over the next 10 years, as disillusioned parents spurn public schools. The article, Number of Homeschoolers Growing Nationwide, stated that “the number of primary school kids whose parents choose to forgo traditional [...]
[...] also brings followers to a new movement. The number of homeschoolers is on the rise by a whopping 75% since 1999, and as the article describes, the switch seems to be backed by empirical results of superiority. [...]
I’m a homeschooler and I get soooo tired of statistics being thrown around. Thrown around poorly in this article. There was no link to reliable studies. Statements like –
“recent studies”
and
“Since 1999, the number of children who are being homeschooled has increased by 75%. Although currently only 4% of all school children nationwide are educated at home, the number of primary school kids whose parents choose to forgo traditional education is growing seven times faster than the number of kids enrolling in K-12 every year.”
all need footnotes so the reader can indeed see not only if this reporter got it right but also if the researcher did a good job. Where did these numbers come from???
If a researcher uses numbers from a select group to represent a whole population, there are legitimate reasons to question their results. A classic example is when a researcher uses participants from a test company or an advocacy group. When a common factor is religion, the sample is too narrow to accurately represent anything but the few families who are of a certain faith and who use a limited scope of tests. This does NOT represent the whole population of homeschoolers.
Second, there is no way. Repeat, no way to get national numbers on homeschoolers. Up until the census folks started asking, there was never a national means to count us. I believe the census folks started asking a few years ago. Even with the census, families have different definitions of what homeschooling is. In my state, we have NO public school involvement. Added jumble of numbers is that every state has different means to track or count homeschoolers (some register as private schools). These are very, very weak numbers.
But hey, if it makes an article or people are happy with these fantasies, go for it. Please remember this is NOT reality.
Every state I’m aware of must not only track homeschoolers, but homeschoolers must use an approved curriculum. It is monitored by the state, so not sure how they can’t get an accurate count. And maybe in this article they didn’t use “reliable studies”, whatever those are. This arguement is used time and time again when we don’t agree with what a study does say. Your studies are reliable to you becasue they show what you want and mine are relieable to me etc. etc. Not a very good arguement.
I’m sorry, Mike. Your point is invalid. There is not a single state that “tracks” homeschoolers in any way (unless by “track” you mean some form of reporting to the county that your kid is no longer attending traditional school, and even then, it’s only done once with an end-of-the-year form stating we’ve complied with State regs.) and only a handful of states (two that I know of) ask homeschoolers to report on their curriculum but NONE ask beyond “subject” listing (eg: English, Math, Science, etc…). There is ABSOLUTELY no “state approval” for curriculum at all, ever.
Unless you are confusing, in an effort to make your invalid point, Virtual schools and homeschooling. If this is the case, state so. But even then, I can use a virtual school (for a subject or two, using their curricula) AND homeschool using my own curricula.
I am very sorry to have to inform you of this, but your post and point have been rendered invalid for lack of truth and evidence or proof thereof.
http://www.hslda.org/laws/
very sorry to inform you you’re full of s**t
Dan – Your concerns about generalizing from ‘research studies’ to whole populations are well founded. Links to the sources of data would be VERY helpful. However, in a forum like this, one has to invest some time themselves to build an opinion, based on the data and the limitations of the conclusions that can be expressed based on the data and how it was collected and analyzed.
Seldom is there research that is a ‘knock-out punch’ that settles an issue once and for all. However, exploratory research is very helpful and often leads to larger, more controlled studies with greater generality. Noting the limitations of a study is not the same as dismissing it entirely because it’s not perfect.
(An equally important question to ponder is why the existing teachers’ unions and educational associations so strongly resist any attempts to measure their effectiveness compared to alternative systems of education.)
To take the research in the light you argue is to take the position that the subjects of the study account for 100% of the observed effects and that the process used in their education accounts for zero percent of the observed effects. In essence, you would be saying that white, Christian students are smarter than others and that’s why they did so well. Not a very likely conclusion.
In a system of people and process, the system usually accounts for the large majority of observed effects. This fact is counter-intuitive to most people.
Good comment, Dan.
Even though only 4% of the school-aged population, this number is enough to have significant sway in the polling booth. It is enough to defeat school bonds. Each of these homeschooling children have parents, relatives, and friends who see their outstanding success and then vote. Support for government owned and run K-12 socialist-entitlement schooling is decreasing and the numbers supporting vouchers, tax credits, and charters is increasing.
Large and seemingly intractable institutions can collapse quickly. Examples are the Protestant Reformation, slavery, and Jim Crow. Government socialist-entitlement schooling is not an exception.
None of the following would have been possible if my children attended government socialist-entitlement schooling in the 1980s and 90s. Even today, little of what follows is possible for those institutionalized for their schooling in our community’s local government socialist-entitlement schools.
My own homeschooled children, they entered college at the ages of 13, 12, and 13.
All finished all college general courses and Calculus III by the age of 15.
The two younger children earned B.S. degrees in mathematics by the age of 18.
One child was teaching college students, as part of her masters program, at 18 and earned a masters in math by the age of 20.
The oldest attended college at night and trained in his sport during the day. He represented the U.S. worldwide and consistently reached the national levels of competition.
As an older teen he worked for our church in Eastern Europe and is, today, completely fluent in Russian. He recently earned a masters in accounting.
wintertime, I notice none of your kids have degrees in history. And no wonder if they had you for a teacher. Neither slavery nor Jim Crow went quickly unless you consider a century or a four-year military conflict which was proceeded for at least 50 years of political conflict to be “quick.” And as someone who currently resides in Britain I’m in a good position to testify that the Protestant Reformation is alive and well here.
And I’m curious what church is it that you belong to that doesn’t consider being prideful a pretty big sin? I’ll pray for you to get a little humility. Bless.
Jenn,
You correctly point out Wintertime’s mis-statement: “quickly.” So be it. She mis-spoke or her perception of quick is a little off yours. Time is relative, isn’t it? Her point is that education systems can change. We can all probably agree they should change – maybe we disagree on the details.
Pride is a universal sin – I consider it a given – even in the most humble of souls. I cannot think of a person who does not possess it in some measure, whether it is near the surface or not. That said, gratuitous bragging – even the “humblebrag” which is now so prevalent – can be annoying to the saints among us who never, ever, publicly brag. In this case, you took a statement of fact as boasting.
We all do some compare and contrast in our education choices, and by looking at others’ choices, we can make more informed choices. You may not prefer to encourage early college, or a math focus – you may prefer government schooling, private schooling, unschooling, or cloud gazing. To each his own. But let’s not fool ourselves for one minute that our own insecurities and jealousies do not taint our perspective.
Let it go. Make your educational choice, free from accusations of pride and religious barbs. That’s out of line.
We all suffer moments of jealousy. It’s a test of maturity, I tell my children, when you can be truly happy for your friends when they succeed. Don’t be jealous of home school success. You likely do not know or understand the road they traveled to get there. It wasn’t perfect. And, it wasn’t all a bed of roses, I can assure you.
That’s mighty even-handed of you, Lisa, to scold both me and Doug by name and that’s it? No one else here said anything so worthy of scorn as to be mentioned by name?
Gee…
Sorry, Jen, if using a name on a public forum is poor manners. I am not accustomed to the protocols. I wanted to be clear who I was addressing – nothing more. To answer you, the words “kooks” and “sinners” was what drew my attention. If I was scolding sarcasm and meanness, I would stay very busy indeed. No time for that. A shame that writers often go that direction – probably they would be downright decent folks in person. But calling someone out that you do not know – labeling them as a kook or a sinner – that seemed comment worthy. Home schoolers are an odd and eclectic bunch. Far from perfect. But the anger and jealousy aimed at us is inappropriate. Who cares if we win spelling bees or graduate college early? It’s just not that big a deal – as I said – to each his own. Be good at what you do. Be gracious. Show respect. That’s my angle.
Dear Jenn,
A student’s knowledge is NOT limited to the teacher’s mastery; rather, a student’s self-paced learning often surpasses that of the teacher. There are many famed examples of this truism in history. Furthermore, in any given home school, history may or may not be emphasized. Many home schools focus on the interests of the students and peripherally incorporate the required subjects for a holistic interpretation of the curriculum standards.
I attended government schools, and received an adequate education. I was, however, always daydreamng and rarely paying attention in class. I was small for may age and mercilessly reviled and harassed because of my bookishness (which was what we called intellectual hunger in government schools) and my small stature. I was actually lucky to survive physically and emotionally until matriculation. For the record, I did earn advanced university degrees and serve in a professional role for decades.
When motherhood became my role, I carefully researched the literature and surveyed the situation in real time at local government-run child internment camps.
I noted the bars, the drug-sniffing dogs, the lock-down, pat-downs and even strip-searches, the locker searches, the non-stop stream of propaganda, the conflicting messages of zero-tolerance and mandatory-tolerance, and the declining quality of truly creative components like music, art, dance, drama and science… and I chose to homeschool my children.
I chose to give my children an environment in which they can learn respect for the individual as well as for authority; I chose to teach that government obtains its authority from the consent of the governed, and to emphasize the value of citizens being sovereign (a point I was not taught in government schools). I chose to allow my pupils to explore science, mathematics, art and music interwoven within real-life experiences. I encouraged creative thought and questioning authority. I allowed my students to move as and when they pleased, rather than requiring them to sit quietly until a pre-arranged time arrived. My students didn’t have to suffer from bullying or being shamed for their love of learning. My children have literally ten times more friends than I had at my most popular moments in the government gulags.
While I realize that all this feels very threatening to professional teachers, please realize that many people if not most will thrive if they are allowed to explore learning free of the constraints of shame for achievement, time pressures, movement restrictions, and arbitrary/mandatory curriculum.
Perhaps the simplest way I can explain the inherent advantage of home schools is to focus on the student/teacher ratios: Government schools are often in excess of 20, whereas home schools are rarely in excess of 8.
great anectodotal story that proves nothing except YOU care about education. The same reason public schools fail, because there aren’t enough that care as much as YOU do.
Stating the facts about the benefits of homeschooling for my family is not being prideful. The **point** is that their accomplishments would have been **impossible** within our county’s sclerotic system, and even, today, would still be impossible.
The **fact** is that homeschooling is growing because smart, thoughtfully, well organized, and disciplined parents see families like mine and rationally decide that they can do a better job than their county’s socialist-entitlement and single-payer government run kiddie prison ( oops! “school”).
The **fact** is that the influence of a mere 4% of homeschoolers can be magnified to even a greater extent in the polling booth. This is especially true when one recognizes that every homeschooler has parents, relatives, friends, and neighbors. This percentage of voters can ( and likely will) have serious consequences for the continuation of our nation’s system of socialist-entitlement and single payer government K-12 schooling. This is especially true when combined with those voters whose children are languishing on long waiting lists for charters and vouchers.
As for the rest of your post:
Jenn, you are nitpicking and I am not about to get into a discussion on the definition of “quick”. When compared to a millennium and a half or **all** of human history a few decades, or even a century, can be considered “quick”.
The **fact** is that intractable institutions can lose their legitimacy **seemingly** overnight. The Reformation, the American Revolution, slavery, and Jim Crow are good examples of this. Government socialist-entitlement and single payer schooling is not an exception.
By the way, slavery was abolished in England without a civil war. Perhaps if you studied American history you would learn that slavery was one among several issues that brought about the American Civil War. You might also do a little reading on Lincoln’s attitudes on slavery and why he waited until January 1, 1863, to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.
[...] Number of homeschoolers growing nationwide As the dissatisfaction with the U.S. education system among parents grows, so does the appeal of homeschooling. Since 1999, the number of children who are being homeschooled has increased by 75%. Although currently only 4% of all school children nationwide are educated at home, the number of primary school kids whose parents choose to forgo traditional education is growing seven times faster than the number of kids enrolling in K-12 every year [...]
[...] Original Article Link – Number of Homeschoolers Growing Nationwide [...]
[...] Original Article Link – Number of Homeschoolers Growing Nationwide [...]
I live in rural northern MO. and our schools are constantly under attack from “regulations” because the govt. wants 1 school per county and has for at least 20 years. They come in and insist you move a drain that has been working fine for 40 years, or tell you that the gas main has to be 4 inches up or down even though it’s been working just fine for the same 40 years. When you ask why fix it if it isn’t broke, the only answer you get is , it’s the regulation. Regulations are known for not making any sense.
The ‘education’ our children receive has gone out the window in favor of “indoctrination”.
Our schools have become strange sub-cultures within themselves, with our children being caught in the middle, forced to conform to the group think mentality forced on them by ‘teachers’ who signed up for the 20 year retirement and the whopping ‘bonus’ they get paid for summer school which has precious little teaching involved. It’s nothing but glorified and VERY EXPENSIVE daycare.
GO HOME SCHOOLERS!
[...] (Excerpt) Read more at educationnews.org … [...]
If someone wants to fix the public schools, the first step is to BAN all NEA members (past or present) and holders of Education degrees from ever setting foot on school grounds, except in the capacity of parents to their own legal children.
Second would be when possible (and mostly it would be) to go back to using pre-1965 textbooks, before political correctness and general dumbing down hit.
Third is to restrict classes above 7th grade during core hours to Science, Math, History, Literature (pre-1965 only would be best), and Writing.
I’d throw in ending social promotion (if your kid’s not at grade level in ALL subjects by annual tests adminstered by outsiders, they don’t advance), reducing Special Ed funding by 90%, making Special Ed students fully subject to school discipline, letting those who don’t want to be there quit at age 14, and moving varsity sports to hobby clubs.
Charlotte Iserbyt (go see her website), Jaime Escalante, John Taylor Gatto, Peter Brimelow etc., have much to say on schooling. I agree with the bulk of it.
Oh, and my wife and I have twins due next month. They will be homeschooled, as will any future siblings they get.
Yeah, Luke. If I was like you, I wouldn’t want History taught past 1965 either. Too many embarrassing question to answer there. And it’s not like there’s anything in science worth teaching that happened since then either. Although, wouldn’t your kids be kind of surprised once they leave home to find out that there aren’t any water fountains exclusively for whites anymore?
Also, no more tenure for teachers, reduce administrator/teacher ratios to that of pre-1950 (about 1/4 of now), end affirmative action, end ESL/non-English teaching during core hours, allow free switching of schools, end race-based busing. Vouchers (ideally at the 100% level) would help as well, but with the above would not be necessary.
Well, I agree with the free switching of schools at least. I’d love to see kids from the South Side of Los Angeles attend public schools in Beverly Hills. I think kids from the worst schools should be able to go to any school in their city or even in the suburb, even if they don’t reside there.
Jenn, I’m a master’s-level scientist, with an IQ (and knowledge of science and history) exceeding 99% of K-12 teachers. 90% of what kids need to learn in the way of science was known prior to 1970. Math, English — 99-100%.
Re History post-1965, most of it is simple reverse evolution, on both individual and societal basis. Ignorance, idleness, and theft (mostly involving government) are held to be virtues. Go watch the movie “Idiocracy” sometime; it’s practically a future documentary (with the violence unrealistically toned down). Likewise, Yeats, Kipling, Hayek, Rothbard, and Ayn Rand have already turned out to be genuinely prophetic. Go to Zimbabwe, Yemen, Haiti, Detroit, or any Mexican border town to see the likely future. Homeschooling is part of the fight against those (along with moving to northern Rocky states; the coasts and Mex border states are lost causes).
Oh, and even the Beverly Hills government schools stinks. In a recent study, they come in not even average, when compared internationally. I wouldn’t send my children to them.
http://www.exploremyschool.com
Hi, Vivek. How many of those government (“public”) schools eschew employing Education majors for teachers, bar NEA members from employment, or avoid using dumbed-down, politically-correct seriously flawed textbooks? Hint: if a textbook is acceptable to the State of California for K-12, it probably is third-rate at best, on top of being so PC as to give a warped expectation of what is just and how life works.
[...] article from Education News proclaims the same: “Number of Homeschoolers Growing Nationwide”: http://www.educationnews.org/parenting/number-of-homeschoolers-growing-nationwide/. The homeschooling movement has grown 75% since 1999 and increasingly more parents are spurning [...]
Do you mind linking to or posting the source of your data here?
Seems to me, in the best interest of a functional society that we need both home school, public school, and private school. This is not to be a civil war on education. We should all want the best for ALL children and what I choose for mine is part of the freedom and responsibility I have as a parent. It is in the best interest of all if we encourage our young to be responsible, ethical, hard working and yes even dream pursuing so that society as a whole will benefit. I don’t want self-centered, egotistical, prejudiced bigots whatever level of society they come from and from the sounds of some of these comments we need to take a hard look at ourselves before we criticize any method of education. If I help one child learn to read using his natural desire to learn…he can be anything, go anywhere and make a difference for the good of humanity.
As you might have guessed I am a Canadian, a socialist (2nd biggest party here and presently leading in the polls) NDP Canada’s socialist party and was a proud member and activist in our teacher unions.
I always told the union, never fight home schooling. It gets rid of all of the pain in the neck conservatives and allows the progressives to run the school system on progressives lines.
You may or may not have noticed all Ontario (44% of Canada) schools must have a gay-straight alliance. We are bringing in full day juniour kindergarten with wrap around child care, we continue to lower our class sizes, our teacher unions are powerful full partners in education,
and we have no vouchers, no charters, he do have half the testing but it is increasingly unpopular, and guess what – we are almost always in the top 3 in the world in PISA with finland and Korea.
The USA with all of its idiotic right wing experiments is what #17 in a good year. Home schooling charters vouchers and all of that nonsense will not get you anywhere as a nation.
All you talk about is my kid my kid my kids. You are responsible for raising standards for all of the children. Home schooling is a cop out but the lack of any ethos of community responsiblility vs “rugged individualism” is what will do you in in the end.
[...] percent over an eight-year period, growing from 1.7% in 1999 to 2.9% in 2007. Moreover, some recent reports estimate that the current homeschooling level has risen to four percent, with the number of primary [...]
[...] percent over an eight-year period, growing from 1.7% in 1999 to 2.9% in 2007. Moreover, some recent reports estimate that the current homeschooling level has risen to four percent, with the number of primary [...]
In 1st-6th grade, kids learn the basics: reading, writing and computing. In 7th-12th, kids learn information gathering. All answers to all test questions on all subjects are Googled or Wikied. Our education system doesn’t teach kids how to evaluate all this powerful knowledge, how to judge for themselves so to speak, which might be the kind of education they need the most right now. it’s the parents, not public employees, who’re supposed to teach their kids things like values and morals at home. That’s home schooling. However, few parents make the time. They’re too busy earning the wages to publicly fund their teenagers’ 6-year web cafe daycare centers they call secondary schools.
[...] at home by their parents over the next ten years, as more parents reject public schools. A recent report in Education News states that, since 1999, the number of children who are homeschooled has [...]
[...] children in the United States has increased by 75 percent since 1999, according to a new report published in Education News, CBN News reports. The study’s findings serve as more proof that [...]
[...] at home by their parents over the next ten years, as more parents reject public schools. A recent report in Education News states that, since 1999, the number of children who are homeschooled has [...]
[...] recent report in Education News states that, since 1999, the number of children who are homeschooled has [...]
[...] recent report in Education News states that, since 1999, the number of children who are homeschooled has [...]
[...] recent report in Education News states that, since 1999, the number of children who are [...]
[...] recent report in Education News states that, since 1999, the number of children who are homeschooled has [...]
[...] recent report in Education News states that, since 1999, the number of children who are homeschooled has [...]
[...] recent report in Education News states that, since 1999, the number of children who are [...]
The noted expenditure amounts per child concern me. This is comparing apples to oranges. Sure, a home-schooling family may spend $600 per year on materials and museum, music and swim center dues, but I am sure, on the whole, one parent must forgo a paying job in order to say at home to school the child/ren. That is a cost. So is overhead such as maintenance, heating and taxes which families pay on their houses which in turn, schools pay on their properties. This should be included.
The monetary data seems skewed….or at the very least, incomplete.
Wintertime, Awesome congratulations on your successes with your children!!!! How did you do that? How would you advice us parents to teach our children to encourage our children to do their best as well? Are there specific curriculum and programs you found most helpful to connect with the joy of learning in our children?
“My own homeschooled children, they entered college at the ages of 13, 12, and 13.
All finished all college general courses and Calculus III by the age of 15.
The two younger children earned B.S. degrees in mathematics by the age of 18.
One child was teaching college students, as part of her masters program, at 18 and earned a masters in math by the age of 20.
The oldest attended college at night and trained in his sport during the day. He represented the U.S. worldwide and consistently reached the national levels of competition.
As an older teen he worked for our church in Eastern Europe and is, today, completely fluent in Russian. He recently earned a masters in accounting.”
[...] recent report in Education News states that, since 1999, the number of children who are homeschooled has [...]
[...] receive a biblically based education apart from the politicized education of a public school. Click here for original [...]
[...] recent report in Education News states that, since 1999, the number of children who are homeschooled has increased [...]
The bottom line is not that everyone should homeschool. The bottom line is that supporters of public schooling need to stop rationalizing failure and wasted money, and just acknowledge that they are paying someone else to raise their children because they feel incompetent to do so.
Child education has always been the parents’ responsibility. No public school is functional without parents who take responsibility for their children’s education, either individually or as a group. So, it is ridiculous to suggest that there is something strange about parents who take full responsibility for their children’s education. What is truly bizarre is just how many irresponsible parents flail about, searching for some kind of justification for the prison/daycare system called “public school.”
I agree with Me..I spend way more homeschooling than $600 a year. I spend around $3,000..and also gave up a full time career and work around 26 hours a week. As a single parent it is tough. I have worked just about every weekend for the last 7 years, nights, 13 hour shifts to homeschool my adopted daughter. She has learning differences and a very short attention span from a vaccine overdose she got here in the states. She has gone from being non-verbal for nine months to grade level and even above grade level in 4 area’s. She scored better than 3/4 of other 4th graders in Science, Social Studies, Math and Listening. It is all due to her 1:1 attention, field trips, creative learning techniques (for example: Montessori) etc. It is very hard and a huge sacrifice. I feel if she was in a public or private school they would want her medicated and I am managing with a gluten free diet, omega 3′s, no preservatives etc..She lost an entire year of development as a toddler and is now thriving. It is not for everyone. I know of some very good public schools. Some day’s it takes us 6-9 hours to get through 3 subjects..but we homeschool year round and she gets all of the work done.
As a homeschooling parent, I am interested in the topic. As a journalism and college writing teacher, I’m very distressed to see how widely the unsourced claims on this blog have spread.
Where did the 75% figure come from? Who counted, and over what time span are we talking about – 10 years or 2 months?
What is the source of the following indented paragraph?
Recent studies laud homeschoolers’ academic success, noting their significantly higher ACT-Composite scores as high schoolers and higher grade point averages as college students. Yet surprisingly, the average expenditure for the education of a homeschooled child, per year, is $500 to $600, compared to an average expenditure of $10,000 per child, per year, for public school students.
What is the source of this other indented paragraph?
Based on recent data, researchers such as Dr. Brian Ray (NHERI.org) “expect to observe a notable surge in the number of children being homeschooled in the next 5 to 10 years. The rise would be in terms of both absolute numbers and percentage of the K to 12 student population. This increase would be in part because . . . [1] a large number of those individuals who were being home educated in the 1990s may begin to homeschool their own school-age children and [2] the continued successes of home-educated students.”
My initial Googling returns
Dennis, thank you.
As a homeschooler I like the reassuring tone of the article and all, but indeed I don’t have to report anything to my state beyond that we are in fact homeschooling. SO I read with a grain of salt.
I do feel that there are more homeschoolers now than 5-10 years ago and they are a more diverse group. I also feel for us it has been successful, but feel I probably wouldn’t have close contact with the unsuccessful cases so I don’t have the full perspective.
I am concerned how these reports get written on seemingly thin air – my behavior is being lauded here basis very little presented fact, so I feel at risk for being equally demonized later on a similarly nebulous basis.
I also echo the fact that I spend more than $500/child on education expenses – although maybe some of that is offset by the fact that today’s pub school parents also pay a lot extra beyond their taxes? I honestly don’t know some days why I still vote yes for most of the school referendums, it doesn’t seem to change anything for the better.
I guess the number of parents out there i would absolutely NOT want to see homeschooling still make the public schools a net positive for me. We don’t all have to do things exactly the same way in the good old USA now do we?
Does this article have any updated facts since last year?
I would argue that the more traditional form of education is out of the home not in the cafeteria style public schools that are currently being misused. It is impossible for a public school to cater to individual children’s individual needs, unless of course the class room sizes where reduced to say a max of 3 to 5. That way every individual can be catered to otherwise the better form of education will always come out of the home. Back to my opening statement, the home school setting is more traditional because, that form of education has been used thought all history, to educate great men and women as an example one need only look to our founding fathers; where as the public school system has only been around in recent history.
[...] you have not read the article at Education News on how homeschooling numbers are growing then you need to take a look at it. You will want to [...]
State/public/government-controlled education, private schooling, and homeschooling are, fundamentally, about who will teach, train, and indoctrinate the next generation. Should it be the State/government, a private institution, or mainly parents with freely-chosen associations in communities and churches? Biblical Christianity says the third choice. Classical liberalism and freedom-loving thinking go for the second and third choices. Statism, Marxism, totalitarianism, tyranny, dictatorships, critical theory, and the-51%-majority-is-right like the State indoctrinating children. Solid academic achievement; sound and respectful social/psychological development; critical thinking outside the box of institutionalism; lack of peer-dependency; and freedom from State indoctrination are all, on average, very fine added bonuses of parent-led home-based education.
Dennis: “As a homeschooling parent, I am interested in the topic. As a journalism and college writing teacher, I’m very distressed to see how widely the unsourced claims on this blog have spread.”
AMEN.
Even though the article itself has the abject failure of not actually citing the data source, I believe the source is here: http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=91
[...] by 75 percent over the past 14 years in all states, according to a report in the online journal Education News. While only four percent of all school children nationwide are educated at home, “the number of [...]
FYI Andrew: your link gives no such data as quoted in this article. It only says: “The increase in the percentage of homeschooled students from 1999 to 2007 represents a 74 percent relative increase over the 8-year period and a 36 percent relative increase since 2003.”
[...] by 75 percent over the past 14 years in all states, according to a report in the online journal Education News. While only four percent of all school children nationwide are educated at home, “the number of [...]
[...] recent report in Education News states that, since 1999, the number of children who are homeschooled has [...]
[...] on their own terms while others seek alternatives like charter schools or homeschooling. In fact, Education News reported in May of 2012 that: Since 1999, the number of children who are being homeschooled has increased by [...]