Not every student is the same. Each student has different learning styles, interests, strengths, and weaknesses. Yet, many traditional public schools ignore this fact and don’t understand why students dropout or leave that model for one that better fits their needs.
As students and parents become more dissatisfied with their neighborhood public school, homeschooling is seeing explosive growth. Education Next has a fantastic article about homeschooling that is well worth the read. Ten years ago, the number of students homeschooled across the country stood at roughly 850,000 students. Today, that total is estimated to be between 1.5 million and 2 million students. This equals about 3% of all k-12 students. Texas has 160,000 homeschooled students (see page 6).
Actor Will Smith said that he and his wife home school their children because they like the flexibility. “They can stay with us when we travel,” he said, “and also because the school system in this country – public and private – is designed for the industrial age. We’re in a technological age. We don’t want our kids to memorize. We want them to learn.”
Some parents of students with special needs or diagnosed learning disabilities are pulling their kids out of public school as they believe they can do a better job teaching them at home.
Surprisingly, religion is not the main reason parents choose to home school their kids. In fact, 70% of parents who home school their kids give nonreligious reasons for doing so.
What about academic outcomes for home school students? The College Board reports a dramatic rise in the number of home school students taking AP tests. A 2004 survey of universities found more than 75% of universities have admission policies for homeschoolers. Admissions officers tended to have positive feelings about home school applicants and universities were typically happy with the academic performance and graduation rates of home school students.
The National Home Education Research Institute also finds positive academic outcomes for homeschoolers. Its report finds that homeschooled students perform much better academically than public school students for less money and without certified teachers.
Parents and students interested in learning more about homeschooling should contact local home school groups in their community or their state home school association.
– Brooke Terry