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Homeschool enrollment explodes
American Thinker ^ | 06/08/2013 | Rick Moran

Posted on 06/08/2013 8:29:40 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

Absolutely no one I know is satisfied with the education their children are getting in public schools. But most of the people I talk to with young kids have two parents that work full time outside the house and are unable to homeschool their children.

But a lot of parents are making the sacrifice as evidenced by the explosion of home schoolers in the US.

From Breitbart:

As dissatisfaction with the U.S. public school system grows, apparently so has the appeal of homeschooling. Educational researchers, in fact, are expecting a surge in the number of students educated 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 increased by 75%. Though homeschooled children represent only 4% of all school-age children nationwide, the number of children whose parents choose to educate them at home rather than a traditional academic setting is growing seven times faster than the number of children enrolling in grades K-12 every year.

As homeschooling has become increasingly popular, common myths that have long been associated with the practice of homeschooling have been debunked.

Any concerns about the quality of education children receive by their parents can be put to rest by the consistently high placement of homeschooled students on standardized assessment exams. Data demonstrates that those who are independently educated generally score between the 65th and 89th percentile on these measures, while those in traditional academic settings average at around the 50th percentile. In addition, achievement gaps between sexes, income levels, or ethnicity--all of which have plagued public schools around the country--do not exist in homeschooling environments.

According to the report:

Recent studies laud homeschoolers' academic success, noting their significantly higher ACT-Composite scores

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: education; frhf; homeschooling; publiceducation; publicschools
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To: EBH

Standby for a new federal law coming down the pike which states, “All children under the age of 18 years MUST be educated in a public (that would mean government) schools.”

Don’t believe it? Just wait and we will see.


61 posted on 06/09/2013 7:38:56 AM PDT by DaveA37 (I'm for SMALLER , HONEST government)
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To: EBH

Watch for a new federal law coming soon that states, “All children under the age of 18 MUST BE educated in a public (that would mean a government) school.

Don’t believe it will happen? Lets wait and see how long it takes.


62 posted on 06/09/2013 7:41:08 AM PDT by DaveA37 (I'm for SMALLER , HONEST government)
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To: SeekAndFind

“Absolutely no one I know is satisfied with the education their children are getting in public schools. “

The sad thing is that every single GenWhyMe parents loves the school system. They were brainwashed into liberal thinking and believe the schools are there to socially raise their kids. They love the nanny state.


63 posted on 06/09/2013 8:48:01 AM PDT by CodeToad (Liberals are bloodsucking ticks. We need to light the matchstick to burn them off. -786 +969)
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To: SeekAndFind

I was invited to my grandson’s “moving up” ceremony (kindergarten “graduation”) this week. The handout billed it as a “Pledge Ceremony”. So naturally I envisioned a pledge to Gaia with the green nonsense involved. Surprise!

A retired music teacher started off on the piano as everyone was gathering with some patriotic tunes, including all the armed forces songs and Eternal Father Strong to Save. The Pledge was the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by America and You’re a Grand Old Flag.

A song listed later was called “We Are A Rainbow”, but surprise again- it was not a pro-homosexual tune but seemed to refer to the varying shades of kids present.

So, not ALL the public schools are adhering to the Communist Manifesto! I’m going to reinforce them with a thank you note to the administration. Especially because of this- http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/06/08/texas-high-school-silences-valedictorian-microphone-during-speech/ and this- http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/story/22527453/sc-valedictorian-recites-lords-prayer-at-graduation . I hope they keep it up.


64 posted on 06/09/2013 9:29:31 AM PDT by JimRed (Excise the cancer before it kills us; feed &water the Tree of Liberty! TERM LIMITS, NOW & FOREVER!)
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To: AlmaKing

Tell your wife that my wife did it, and she Is about as temperamentally unfit as you can get. She isn’t very patient, and has a short fuse, if you sense my meaning. And she isn’t big on academics.

One child made it all the way through, and will be going off to college with a couple of small scholarships. The other child has some minor learning disabilities, and over my objections, my wife put her in our local government school this year. The experience has been almost uniformly negative.

Keep in mind, too, that after about age 9, the kids can work out of the planner, pretty much on their own, except for maybe math and essay-writing.


65 posted on 06/09/2013 10:59:26 AM PDT by St_Thomas_Aquinas
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To: Jack Hydrazine

— Last I read...about 4% of school-age children were home schooled. It might be 5 or more by now. -—

To many ears, this sounds like a small number. But this is an enormous cultural revolution. This number represents 1-in-20 children, and half the number of children in private schools.

At this rate, the number of homeschoolers will equal the number of children in private schools within ten years. Together, they will represent 1-in-5 children.

And it’s possibe that the number of homeschooled children will grow exponentially, rather than linearly.


66 posted on 06/09/2013 11:19:25 AM PDT by St_Thomas_Aquinas
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To: AlmaKing

No, you won’t be able to teach him after work.

I don’t know what concrete doubts your wife has about homeschooling. If I knew, I might be able to get you information that will help her.

She has to make it her life project and you have to help. Being a homeschooling family is a creative lifestyle; different from the herd.


67 posted on 06/09/2013 11:39:23 AM PDT by SaraJohnson
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To: wintertime

I am very sad when I read or hear the above. Why?


She is from Laos and not a native English speaker. She went to a gov’t run Chinese school where she didn’t learn much up until about our 8th grade.


68 posted on 06/09/2013 8:25:02 PM PDT by AlmaKing
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To: AlmaKing
Please contact a local homeschooling group. I am willing to bet that there are immigrant moms with limited skills who have figured out successful strategies for homeschooling.

The Lord does not give a commandment without provide a means to fulfill it.

And...No education whatsoever is better than being taught to think and reason godlessly. All government owned and run K-12 schools are godless in their worldview...by LAW! The children **will** learn to think and reason godlessly. They must just to cooperate in the godless classroom. How could it be otherwise?

Please remember that illiteracy and innumeracy can be fixed a eternally lost soul can not.

From Deuterotomy:
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one![b] 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

69 posted on 06/09/2013 9:34:38 PM PDT by wintertime (Yuri Besemov was a prophet.)
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To: AlmaKing; 2Jedismom; 6amgelsmama; AAABEST; aberaussie; AccountantMom; adopt4Christ; Aggie Mama; ...

She will learn as she goes.

I was very intimidated about whether or not I could homeschool myself, and I have a college degree. (not in education)

Chances are, you two have already been homeschooling all along without even really realizing it. The instruction does not have to be formal classroom kind of instruction and it does not take hours a day. At his age, he’s learning to read and write and calculate and I’ll bet you’ve been helping him along so far.

You should find a homescool support group in your area. They will be able to give you good advice on curriculum and give you a lot of encouragement. Also, although the state laws vary about who gives the actual instruction, as far as I know, there is nothing that says that the parent HAS to do all the instruction by himself/herself. For example, we hired out most of the music in piano lessons and the kids were on the local Y swim team, which took care of most of PE.

You ought to join HSLDA, Home School Legal Defense Association. Here’s a link to their website:

http://www.hslda.org/

People have overcome greater obstacles to homeschooling than the one’s you’re facing and I doubt there are many people who start out homeschooling confident that they can. Perhaps that newer generation who was raised homeschooling themselves and are now second generation homeschoolers. The rest of us, however, went through the same thing you are.


70 posted on 06/10/2013 7:06:23 AM PDT by metmom (For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore & do not submit again to a yoke of slavery)
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To: AlmaKing

She can do it! Attending a conference will boost her confidence considerably. It’s what convinced me.

As others have said, join up with homeschooling groups in your area - they are all over the place. Just make sure you’re joining a Christian homeschooling group and not some granola/communist group.

Also, join not just the HSLDA, but Heritage Defense as well.


71 posted on 06/10/2013 7:17:46 AM PDT by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
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To: ChildOfThe60s

I’m sending my second child to college this fall on a fat scholarship (not quite a full ride, but almost). All four of my children have been homeschooled since kindergarten, and I would not have it any other way.


72 posted on 06/10/2013 7:20:55 AM PDT by Oberon (Big Brutha Be Watchin'.)
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To: EBH
Is there a legitimate way to create the 'little red schoolhouse concept' all over again? Is there a way for small groups of conservative parents to get together and teach their kids using a homeschooling type curriculum?

This is what is called the "Homeschool Association" or co-op. Under this model, a group of homeschooling parents that has for example someone who has a degree in chemistry will have their kids take a chemistry class from that parent... or math, or English composition, or whatever. My wife has been offering dissection classes in Biology for our homeschooling association for a couple years now. She also heads up the Envirothon team.

73 posted on 06/10/2013 7:24:54 AM PDT by Oberon (Big Brutha Be Watchin'.)
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To: AlmaKing

I am a single parent; successfully homeschooled both of my kids.


74 posted on 06/10/2013 7:26:22 AM PDT by ican'tbelieveit
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To: Pontiac
As that number approaches 10% expect a backlash from the Left as fear crescendos in the Teacher’s Unions

Critical mass?
75 posted on 06/10/2013 7:31:18 AM PDT by Sopater (Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? - Matthew 20:15a)
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To: madison10
...or do NOT have the funds. Everyone cannot home school their children even if they strongly desire to do so.

It's been my experience that it's largely a matter of priority and deciding what sacrifices a parents are willing to make to keep their children from the gov't schools. There are many resources out there that help to make it affordable. In ID for example, you don't need to spend one cent.
76 posted on 06/10/2013 7:34:46 AM PDT by Sopater (Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? - Matthew 20:15a)
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To: metmom

I keep on wondering whether Snowden, the whistleblower is a homeschooler.

He is taking a tack that is similar to the Uncle Eric series.


77 posted on 06/10/2013 8:49:54 AM PDT by Chickensoup (200 million unarmed " people killed in the 20th century by Leftist Totalitarian Fascists)
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To: SeekAndFind

We need to start calling it by what it really is: Government Schooling.

Hebrew schools teach Judaism. Catholic schools Catholicism. Lutheran schools Lutheranism.

What do government schools teach?


78 posted on 06/10/2013 8:51:03 AM PDT by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
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To: Sopater

One stat to keep in mind is that any homeschooled person is 14 times more likely to be politically active than the average person...

And, we tend to have a bunch more kids.

Let’s say we have... 3 times more kids than average, and 14 times more likely to be politically active...

That’s 1 homeschooling family “offsetting” 42 general population families.


79 posted on 06/10/2013 8:54:15 AM PDT by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
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To: madison10

You’re right, except every kid comes home and there’s summers and grandparents, etc. What’s so great about homeschooling is that it’s dynamic, customized and much, much easier than people think.

Even in government schools kids with very involved and focused parents or a parent perform fairly well. Children are God’s way of challenging parents to live their lives to the fullest potential - no regrets, no poor examples.


80 posted on 06/10/2013 9:00:00 AM PDT by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
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