What is the data on the phenomenon of homeschooling in America?

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

What percentage of families do this?

Is it much more prevalent in areas like the South and Bible Belt?

Is there data on the break down of reasons why people do it? Do most do it primarily for political and religious reasons?

Do we have data on the qualifications and education levels of the parents doing the homeschooling? Indeed are there any requirements at all for the teachers? Or does this vary from state to state?

Do we have data on the results? How do these children do on standardized tests like the SAT and ACT, reading comprehension, how they fare in college if they attend compared to public and private school grads? Or is this a big wave of a new phenomenon that is relatively recent so we won't see the full effects for ten years or so?

Are there any good sources of information on this, websites or books?

[ColbertWatcher]

1. God did it?

Isn't that the answer for everything?

[wuushew]

17. Only if you are talking about the finale of Battlestar Galatica

lazy, lazy writing

[ColbertWatcher]

19. LOL! I'm not sorry I missed it then! n/t

[hendo]

2. my first bet would be google

other than that, sorry.

edit: I had a couple friends who were home schooled. I don't really talk to them anymore though, or I would ask. My guess is that it works for some kids and not others.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

3. But do you know why their parents did it? Was it because they thought they

could teach them math, english etc. better than they could learn in a (non home) school?

[madfloridian]

4. The Southern Baptists have been urging for years to get out of evil public schools.

That's only part of the answer, but it's a big part.

I have some articles tucked away on my other computer. When I get time and inclination I will check.

[LiberalFighter]

8. Gee if Southern Baptists have a problem with public schools...

then why don't they just have their own schools like the Catholics and Lutherans? And have their members enroll their students.

[npk]

9. They do

There are literally hundreds of Baptists private schools here in the Atlanta area alone. Specially in the burbs.

[LiberalFighter]

22. Then they should quit complaining about public schools.

[hendo]

21. thier parents all thought that the public schools in the area were flawed

and I suppose they were right. One of my friends grew up in a little backwater town, and his big sister fell in with a bad crowd, so they decided to homeschool both of them. His sister got a full ride to college, as did he. So I guess it all depends on the person.

Besides, have you heard abotu the "math" they are teaching now? "If 9 were a color, what color would it be and why?" Seriosly, wtf is up with that.

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. 'Abotu' that Math:

Interesting I have heard nothing about that. Maybe you could share a link?

[The Straight Story]

5. My daughter is homeschooled

And it does not matter what resource you look up - folks will see it as biased one way or the other.

My sister has home schooled all of kids (3). One is in college, one is going there later this year, and the other will be in two years.

People choose it for many reasons - religion, local school system sucks (which is why my daughter is home schooled), political reasons, and so on.

Some people like the freedom of it - you can go where you want when you want without having the strict times to adhere to.

[ChazII]

7. One of my gal friends has two children that have serious

health issues. Easier to homeschool than to put up with the headaches schools can sometimes cause. Her one healthy child entered community college this past fall.

[October]

12. Yes...community colleges are great for home schooled kids

I'd set up my daughter's high school curriculum early on to mirror that of our district's. I met with the district's curriculum VP, and submitted my "plan." It was approved every year. In addition, a certified teacher paid us a visit every May and my daughter presented her year's worth of work -- written reports, etc. Very cool to watch your teenage daughter do this, btw.

Anyway, since I pieced her curriculum together, I knew I couldn't do a biology lab, so she went to our local community college for that course. She did great! At 15!

My son is in a cyber school situation, so it's all laid out for us. The curriculum is set.

[October]

11. Yes, here, too

We're in the liberal northeast! We are a secular family.

Our local school district's board was infiltrated by wannabe republican politicians.

My children are aspiring ballet dancers, and we needed freedom in our schedule, which the district didn't allow. We don't have snow days, very few sick days -- and sometimes they'd work on a Saturday or in the evening. It's just more relaxed and works with my husband's odd schedule (not 9-5).

No hidden agenda. They are our reasons.

We conference with our teacher routinely and submit projects, essays, online tests, etc. We participate in all the required standardized testings for our state. And the pace is based on my children. Some subjects move along faster than others.

[madfloridian]

6. Here are a couple of articles about Southern Baptists and homeschooling.

I think they backed down a little in 2005, not sure.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2006-09-02-evangelicals-schools_x.htm

"Led mainly by evangelical Christians, the movement depicts public education as hostile to religious faith and claims to be behind a surge in the number of students being schooled at home.

"The courts say no creationism, no prayer in public schools," said Roger Moran, a Winfield, Mo., businessman and member of the Southern Baptist Convention executive committee. "Humanism and evolution can be taught, but everything I believe is disallowed."

The father of nine homeschooled children, Moran co-sponsored a resolution at the Southern Baptists' annual meeting in June that urged the denomination to endorse a public school pullout. It failed, as did a similar proposal before the conservative Presbyterian Church in America for members to shift their children into homeschooling or private Christian schools.

Still, the movement is very much alive, led by such groups as Exodus Mandate and the Alliance for Separation of School and State. One new campaign aims to monitor public schools for what conservatives see as pro-gay curriculum and programs; another initiative seeks to draw an additional 1 million children into homeschooling by encouraging parents already experienced at it to mentor families wanting to try it."

Link to WND, as much as I hate to. From 2004

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=38322

A resolution supporters hope will make it to the floor of the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting next month calls on the millions of members of the denomination to pull their kids out of government schools and either homeschool them or send them to Christian schools.

Introduced by a well-known leader of the SBC and a Baptist attorney
, the resolution asks "all officers and members of the Southern Baptist Convention and the churches associated with it to remove their children from the government schools and see to it that they receive a thoroughly Christian education, for the glory of God, the good of Christ's church, and the strength of their own commitment to Jesus."

Lots more articles on a search.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

10. Thanks. But what I'm wondering (USAToday article is 2006) is what the effects of this will be.

Are the parents doing this actually providing a quality education? If they are doing it for religious reasons, I suspect not.

How are they on reading comprehension? If they are homeschooled so they can learn creationism, I'm gonna guess they won't be really strong on the scientific method and what that's all about.

Can these kids compete applying for college and if and when they get there?

Do the parents even WANT them to go to college? :shrug:

[October]

13. I can only speak to this from my personal perspective

There are a lot of kids in the "performing arts" fields who are home schooled. Many of them use cyber school because it has flexibility, and the curriculum is set for them (with teachers and supervisors to work with online and via phone conferences).

I prepared my daughter for her chosen profession (ballet) and college equally. She took AP courses, kept a reading log (read 60+ books a year), went to community college for science, etc. It's different, and was VERY hard for my husband and I to get used to. But, it fit our schedule. My children are bright, educated in civics, we're non-religious - but I don't hide religion from them, and they're avid readers.

When I felt I couldn't help my daughter in her advanced math (I could only go up to pre-calc), I hired a tutor. (When my daughter was in our public school for 5th grade, her teacher was NOT a certified math instructor and she was worse than me. I loved the woman -- but she shouldn't have been teaching math!)

It's what you make of it.

Edited to add: As far as college goes, I realize my children will be "different" candidates. I feel confident that they are bright enough. My daughter sat for the SAT same as her peers. It's just a new way of approaching education. It worked in our case because of my husband's schedule and the oddities that come with ballet (performance) life.

[madfloridian]

14. Some examples from my own teaching experience.

When I was teaching the upper elementary grades like 5th and 6th...many of the homeschoolers were coming back to public school.

Overall my experience with them was that their academics were great.

However, trying to remember, there were 3 or 4 who were homeschooled for religious reasons and had some problems adjusting. While okay academically, they were very demanding of the other kids who did not have their religious background.

Two in particular became very unpopular for their preachiness. One was a girl who was just special in every way, and she fit in perfectly all the way around. She was a leader.

[October]

25. The religious thing is very interesting

When my daughter was in public school in 4th grade, she came home constantly asking what religion we were, etc. I couldn't get over how many of her friends talked about their church youth groups, wanted her to join, couldn't believe she didn't attend any church...

We got through that year, and I chalked it off to being possibly typical of 4th grade or 9-year-olds. I went on many field trips with other parents, and it seemed all anyone talked about was religion/church. I was dumbfounded and did not fit in.

I live in the Northeast! I mean, I didn't grow up with this kind of church talk, so where did it come from? I'm in the suburbs of NY and Philly -- (PA) -- and I grew up in the city. Perhaps it's a suburban thing???

Having said all that -- I have to add that when my home schooled son goes to take his state standardized testing, there's are a lot of religious types who literally wear it on their shirt.

Honestly -- we don't feel like we fit in anywhere sometimes!

[napoleon_in_rags]

20. I've seen horrors, my experience doesn't match these people at all.

I have a 26 year old Internet pal who is stuck living with her mom and can't do basic arithmetic, even though she has no learning impediment. Needless to say she was home schooled. Others I have known have been okay with academia, but horribly socially dysfunctional in very basic ways. Its yet another unregulated system. Some will play nice, but just like the market, there will be catastrophes.

[October]

24. I've met people from public schools who were similar.

[napoleon_in_rags]

28. But at least there's a regulatory structure in place.

To assess when people aren't learning. I'm not against home schooling in principle but they should have state benchmark tests to make sure they are learning the stuff everybody really has to know, like basic math and english. The problem with that individual was that her mom was this kind of flakey hippy, and taught her that what really matters is that she's kind to others, not arithmetic, that was her home schooling, so what constitutes "education" is not regulated. The result is that she's a sweety, but she's doomed. The other issue was that she was missing broader social support structures that come from schools. When she was sexually abused as a child, in a public school she could have talked to somebody and got it taken care of, but in the home school setting, her mom didn't want to hear it so she just suffered through it.

I'm not saying it CAN'T be good with the right parents, but there is no GUARANTEE of it even being sane.

[mzmolly]

15. Some info here:

http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/weblinks/demographics.htm

[aikoaiko]

16. Of the homeschoolers I know, they do it because public ed sucks and private ed is too pricey

and that's it.

[rebecca_herman]

18. I was homeschooled for several years

because of special needs (non learning related)
I am satisified with the education I recieved. I have always been something of a self-learner on many subjects - I learn better by reading about a topic, rather than listening to a lecture, which I believe helped. I found it more enjoyable than school overall because I learned faster than average in many subjects so could finish those quickly then spend the extra time where I actually needed it, like math.
I honestly don't remember my SAT scores though, but I was satisfied with them. I also got the opportunity to travel a lot, and visit many educational, interesting, or fun places. I was also able to start working earlier and enjoyed that. I really liked my job in high school.
I was never a social child, I wasn't in the six years I spent in public schools, and I wasn't after. So it didn't impact it either negatively or positively. I always preferred to be alone with a book.
My college grades were fine but I've decided in the end to only complete the 2 year degree. One class to go for it. Been struggling with my health and just have not enjoyed it overall. I honestly wish I had gone to a technical/vocational school instead of traditional college. Oh well.

[Fireweed247]

26. I homeschool because my kids like peanut butter

and they are not allowed to have it in public school :rofl:

It is strange that people attribute homeschooling to fundies when it is the hippies that began the movement. Some people like to break away from the schedules and rules, the lack of creativity and individuality not to mention the lower standards in public schools.

When my son started kindergarten both he and my daughter age 4 could read. When he finished the year, my daughter who stayed home with me could read much faster. That is when I decided what I was doing at home was working better. They were having him read 'Jan can run' and doing dot to dot for math when he could already do so much more. Public School was holding him back, and I did not see the 'benefits' of socialization that so many claim.

I just finished reading a 100 page book that my 10 year old daughter handed me that she has been working on the past few months. It is a really interesting, engaging and exciting adventure story with amazing creativity. My son is also a fabulous writer, mostly in the medieval or futuristic genre. I know we did the right thing for our family. I am happy that they are developing their own personalities based on who THEY are, and they don't give a shit who miley cyrus or the jonus brothers are. We are making sure they get a proper musical education hehe. They are also being educated in political and current events. They are curious about everything, and read anything they can get their hands on, 200+ books per year, on top of science/history reading. They will carry this love of learning and ability to formulate and express their educated opinions their entire lives. I'm sure they will get into whatever college they want as they score very high on any tests. The benefit is by that age, they will not be wandering aimlessly like so many who have just followed the rules and have no idea who they are or what they want with their lives.

[whyisme]

27. Some interesting data regarding testing and college success

This is a recent article from the Washington Times sharing results of research showing that homeschooled students outperform their peers on standardized tests. Very interesting study of homeschooled students performance on college standardized tests as well.

Excerpt: "What the test results demonstrate is that a home-school program tailored to the individual needs of the student is the best method of educating a child. This reality was further supported by test results on the SAT and ACT that demonstrated that the average home-schooled graduate tested higher than the average graduate from public schools. "

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/nov/30/testing-proves-success-of-grads/

I think too many people generalize and associate homeschooling with religion. As an earlier poster indicated I think the main reason is the poor choices available regarding private and public education in a particular area. I've heard that in some countries (France?) your tax dollars follow the student instead of the student following the tax dollars. In other words - you choose which public school to attend and your tax dollars are sent to that school. In that way schools are forced to stay competitive and students are not "trapped" in a bad situation.

We live in a rural area where there is NO chance that I will send my students to the public school. If I couldn't afford to send my children to a private school - I would definitely homeschool.

[janx]

29. I don't have data, but I can tell you about college students I've

taught who have been home schooled. They're all over the map. Some are excellent students, up and running when they're freshman; others lack discipline and don't seem to realize that at a minimum they need to show up for class.

One of my all time favorite students is a guy I still see around campus. He has completed three of my classes. He has a disability and was raised in the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico, where his parents work for the U.S. Forest Service. Not many schools there... Anyway, this guy is so well rounded and well adjusted despite his disability that I can't help but marvel at him. He's smart, happy, and extremely open minded. His parents must have constructed a fantastic curriculum for him, dedicated themselves to his education, and taught him very well. His sister is currently being home schooled out in the Wilderness and will graduate this spring. He asked me to look at her college application essays, and I told him I would be very happy to do so.

A couple of other home schooled students I have taught were home schooled for religious reasons. The reason I know this is because they started proselytizing in class through their essays. One essay, in fact, was about home schooling and God. Neither one of these students passed my classes because in the first place, they rarely showed up, and in the second place, their work was sub-par, to put it mildly.

So my guess is that the success of home schooling depends on how and why it's done. Another guess would be that it may depend on the dedication and the education of the parents.