WAIT!!
What about the children's socialization?
Posted on 10/08/2007 4:07:25 PM PDT by ChocChipCookie
Home schooling appears to improve the academic performance of children from families with low levels of education, according to a report on home schooling released today by independent research organization The Fraser Institute.
"The evidence is particularly interesting for students who traditionally fall through the cracks in the public system," said Claudia Hepburn, co-author of Home Schooling: From the Extreme to the Mainstream, 2nd edition and Director of Education Policy with The Fraser Institute.
"Poorly educated parents who choose to teach their children at home produce better academic results for their children than public schools do. One study we reviewed found that students taught at home by mothers who never finished high school scored a full 55 percentage points higher than public school students from families with comparable education levels."
The peer-reviewed report, co-written with Patrick Basham and John Merrifield, builds on a 2001 study with new research and data. It examines the educational phenomenon of home schooling in Canada and the United States, its regulation, history, growth, and the characteristics of practitioners, before reviewing the findings on the academic and social effects of home schooling. The full report is available at www.fraserinstitute.org.
Hepburn said evidence clearly demonstrates that home education may help reduce the negative effects of some background factors that many educators believe affects a child's ability to learn, such as low family income, low parental educational attainment, parents not having formal training as teachers, race or ethnicity of the student, gender of the student, not having a computer in the home, and infrequent usage of public libraries.
"The research shows that the level of education of a child's parents, gender of the child, and income of family has less to do with a child's academic achievement than it does in public schools."
The study also reports that students educated at home outperform their peers on most academic tests and are involved in a broad mix of social activities outside the home.
Research shows that almost 25 per cent of home schooled students in the United States perform one or more grades above their age-level peers in public and private schools. Grades 1 to 4 home school students perform one grade level higher than their public- and private-school peers. By Grade 8, the average home schooled student performs four grade levels above the national average.
Hepburn said a growing body of new research also calls into question the belief that home schooled children are not adequately socialized.
"The average Canadian home schooled student is regularly involved in eight social activities outside the home. Canadian home schooled children watch less television than other children, and they show significantly fewer problems than public school children when observed in free play," she said.
The report concludes that home schooling is not only a viable educational choice for parents, but can also be provided at a much lower cost than public schooling. The report notes that in the U.S., home schooling families spend less than $4,000 per year on home schooling while public schooling in the U.S. costs about $9,600 per child.
"Canadian and American policymakers should recognize the ability of parents to meet the educational needs of their children at home, without government involvement," Hepburn said.
"While home schooling may be impractical for many families, it has proven to be a successful and relatively inexpensive educational alternative. It merits the respect of policy makers, the attention of researchers, and the consideration of parents."
The complete report, Home Schooling: From the Extreme to the Mainstream 2nd edition is available in PDF format at www.fraserinstitute.org.
The Fraser Institute is an independent research and educational organization based in Canada. Its mission is to measure, study, and communicate the impact of competitive markets and government intervention on the welfare of individuals. To protect the Institute's independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit www.fraserinstitute.org.
ping
Says a lot about the value of a teaching degree doesn’t it?
Maybe if teachers were actually taught how to teach instead of being taught how to find patients for the behavioral modification lobby.....
What about the children's socialization?
ping
“Poorly educated parents who choose to teach their children at home produce better academic results for their children than public schools do. One study we reviewed found that students taught at home by mothers who never finished high school scored a full 55 percentage points higher than public school students from families with comparable education levels.”
***Worth repeating so I don’t have to search for who wrote it.
ROFLOL! Hope you are good at evasive action!
We (90% my wife) have been homeschooling for over 6 years now. While she does the majority do the enabling and supporting and, when I can, the teaching.
Free to do what we want when we want. Were not tied to a school calander, we don’t have our kids learning from Johnny Rotten, and Ze State does not indoctrinate with Adam and Steve in stead of our world view.
Geee. they test in the 95th percentile against Public school in the 78th percentile against Private school, we test every year when the state does not and look at the test as a test of US NOT the student.
Involved like crazy in many out of home and local town sports, organizations and clubs, they are more active as students than we were in public school 30 years ago.
The state hates home school, the NEA hates home school, Liberals as a group hate home school and certainly it would be curtailed as a right and an option under any liberal in power.
We kept them in closets for 18 years.
Most people didn't know we had kids....
I've land under the Salton Sea...I'll sell cheap.
Liberals are all saints.
Guns kill.
From 25 + Year Home Schoolers
Trumpet this far and wide.
Whether or not you are home schooling your own children (and especially if you are a property owner being forced to help pay for public education through your property taxes):
I suggest getting printed copies of this and mailing them to every member of your local school board, and the principals of the schools in your local district.
Also, make sure that the people at the top of your state education departments read this. Ask for your GOVERNOR’S reply, as well as from your representatives in your state legislature.
Someone has already hit on the TRUTH that the education degrees being awarded today at university level mean less than zero, except, perhaps by those who have seen through the zoo system of public education and have made a conscious decision to educate children rather than indoctrinate them.
I’m HSing 4, first one in college now.
Closets are the BEST!
ping
Hs’ing for 11 years now!
And here in Washington the state figures in home schooling and private schools into their aggregate scores on how well the public schools are doing thereby raising the numbers ... if those two were not entered in the state run schools would be in the tank as far as grades go ....
Maybe they are finally catching on.
Been there, done that.
A worthwhile sacrifice.
Sure you don't want some submerged salty land?
Ha!
In the future, I would like to see a multimedia, interactive home schooling curriculum far more advanced than what is available out there now.
It is very hard for parents to be fully skilled in most curriculum studies, so such multimedia could help fill in the gaps, and also expand studies with electives. Far more than just watching a movie, such instruction should be like one on one tutoring, with continual feedback from the student, as well as review and evaluation.
Students would profit by being able to see hundreds of images, both still and video, as examples, rather than just a single book image surrounded by text. This would be a great help both for contextualization and retention. And, by providing “higher density” learning on some subjects, more time is available for more intellectually demanding subjects.
Multilingualism could be integrated into such studies, so the student is learning two subjects at once.
Of course it would not diminish the role of the home studies teacher. Just provide them some more needed support.
Yep........
We just finished up home schooling 3.
First is now in her final quarter at Seattle Univ. on a ROTC Scholarship, and will get her BS Nursing and be commissioned a 2LT in the Army Reserve.
Second is in his final year at the Naval Academy. He is a Trident Scholar (1 of 15 at USNA), and has been selected for a Bowman Scholarship - where he can go get his Masters degree before going to Nuc Power School
Third - wasn’t interested in pursuing a collge degree, and is almost completed with Army Basic/AIT. He graduates in a week and a half, then goes to Airborne & Ranger Indoctrination Program (RIP) after graduation. He is now thinking about trying for college or the Helicopter Warrant program after his first enlistment is over.
Did any of our 3 suffer from lack of participation in public schools ....I don’t think so!!!!
Yes - there are different results based on the inner drive of the particular child - but with parents homeschooling, there is less chance that a child will get the wrong messages, drop through the cracks, or sucked into bad behavior because of peer pressure. It was a lot of work, but we would do it again without hesitation!
Mike
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