The Academic and Social Benefits of Homeschooling

James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal ^ | May 15, 2020 | Brian D. Ray and Carlos Valiente

[karpov]

Homeschooling works. The roughly 2 million children who currently learn at home join a millennia-old practice supported by many government officials, scholars, college officials, and employers.

While mainstream America has embraced homeschooling as a viable and positive educational option—and as 55 million K-12 students and their parents have been thrust into “crisis-teaching at home”—the angst of some academics over homeschooling has abruptly emerged.

Professors Elizabeth Bartholet of Harvard University and James Dwyer of William and Mary School of Law organized a summer meeting to “focus on problems of educational deprivation and child maltreatment that too often occur under the guise of homeschooling, in a legal environment of minimal or no oversight.” In a highly controversial article in Harvard Magazine, Erin O’Donnell advanced Bartholet’s arguments in favor of a homeschooling ban.

Yet, what does the evidence tell us about homeschool educational and social outcomes? Is there any sound corpus of evidence that homeschooled children are actually educationally deprived or maltreated? And what worldview drives anti-homeschoolers such as Bartholet and Dwyer?

Most reviews of homeschooling research reveal generally positive learning outcomes for children.

Joseph Murphy and Brian Ray provide quite optimistic reviews, while other appraisals present positive, albeit more tentative, conclusions. A one-of-its-kind review of only peer-reviewed research by Ray revealed that 11 of the 14 peer-reviewed studies on academic achievement found that homeschool students significantly outperformed conventionally schooled children. Both of the publicly available state-provided data sets showed higher-than-average test scores for homeschooled children.

A similar pattern emerges for the social, emotional, and psychological development of the homeschooled.

The clear majority of peer-reviewed studies show that homeschoolers often have better parent-child relationships and friendships than conventionally schooled children. Homeschoolers are happy, satisfied, and civically engaged.

[Maudeen]

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[DIRTYSECRET]

3 R’s would take 3 hours a day. Plenty of extra timer socializing. Start with a $10k voucher per child. Home schoolers keep it. No need for a credential.

[DIRTYSECRET]

Would working moms want to give up their jobs that empower them? I think not. A voucher would give them a way to figure out how to do both. Teachers unions? Screw them.

[1Old Pro]

The per pupil spending needs to be taken away from the public schools and the home schooled student’s parents should get a tax credit.

[stanne]

I have a fairly powerful job right now 2 undergrad degrees

I used to homeschool. It was powerful. The fruits and benefits are apparent on a daily basis

The job I have now? Pshaw. They’d replace me without much of an impact. It’s meaningless.

[Tuscaloosa Goldfinch]

That word “oversight” is the article a really scary word when used in that context - let your betters decide what your children should learn, and more importantly, what they should NOT learn - faith, patriotism, love of family, traditional values.

Grandmother bragging op:

Half of my grandchildren are home schooled. The oldest, who will be 16 this summer, has studied Latin, French, logic, and debate. My daughter took her out of private school when the teacher would not let her read books above her grade level, and then has taught the rest of them as they were ready to begin school.

I’m really proud of all of them, but I’m most proud of my daughter, who has taken on this task and stayed on task.

I home schooled her and her older brother one year, and then their younger sister for whom English was a second language for her first two years here, and it is a very hard job.

[mjp]

the angst of some academics over homeschooling has abruptly emerged.

progressive public school education + censorship of rational ideas + lefturd loon manipulation of language to fool the masses = indoctrination of the masses to accept of lefturd loon statism, socialism, and force

[Lee'sGhost]

Jim Martin was a very good governor.

[Mrs. Don-o]

When you're in a regular school classrom, it's difficult, if not impossible, to have friends in a range of different ages. In school, I never had friends who were 2 years younger or two years older than me; all my friends had birthdays within 6 months of mine.

So what? The big deal is that you never develop understanding, insight, or enjoyment of kids who are at an even slightly different intellectual, social or developmental place than you are. You don't seek older kids to stimulate and challenge you; you don't tolerate younger kids who need a little coaching.

What passes as the "normal" classmate/school milieu is interpersonally impoverishing. This is especially true as homeschooled kids almost always have access to kids of different ages and backgrounds within HS activity groups and co-ops, and the *time* (this is important) to really develop those friendships.

This is just one factor of many. But I always said we liked homeschooling because our two homeschooled boys could have a richer social life.

[jimfree]

Daughter is homeschooling her 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th as 1st is in college sophomore year. All have bunches of friends from home school coop, church, theater groups, sports. The have the interpersonal skills to acquire new friends as they go through life.

The Leftist view is a cartoonish stereotype of children kept alone in the attic.