More than 29,000 families choose to homeschool in North Carolina, and according to this article, they're happy with their decisions to do so:
A gray schoolhouse sits on three acres of land in Bethel. It's located next to a plot of corn, and a gravel road with chickens scurrying around it leads to the door. In the enclosed back yard are a swing set and a trampoline. Six horses graze outside of the fence.
This isn't D.H. Conley High School. It isn't Wellcome Middle School. It's the home school of Dawn Tyson. Tyson has been home schooling her children, Travis, 16, and Natalie, 10, for eight years...
Horses, trampolines...sounds like heaven to me.
More and more people across North Carolina have chosen to set up home school classrooms for their children, according to the North Carolina Division of Non-Public Education. Since the 1996-97 school year, the number of students who are home schooled in North Carolina has increased by more than 18,000.
Growing dissatisfaction with public education is contributing to the trend, home school advocates and parents said. Families believe they can teach their children better, provide a safer, more nurturing atmosphere, create a stronger family unit and allow children to practice religious beliefs more freely.
So far, the test scores back up at the least the "teaching better" part, although nature certainly can't be separated from nurture here (it may just be smarter parents with smarter kids who choose to homeschool):
According to North Carolinians for Home Education, a nonprofit organization that supports and advocates for home schooling, the state's home-educated high schoolers scored 10.5 percent above the national average on the ACT this year. The home school students achieved an average composite score of 23 on the college admissions test, ahead of the national average of 20.8 on a 36-point scale.
Statistics show that the education home schoolers receive is at least on par with public education, said Gary Dunn, psychology manager at Pitt County Memorial Hospital.
Homeschooling parents also feel they have a better chance of keeping their kids away from negative social influences:
Although apprehensive about the possible results, Dawn is glad her children are not exposed to the social environment she believes exists in public schools.
Home school parents have to consider the prospect of children missing out on social opportunities offered to children by traditional school life: football games, dances, clubs and graduation ceremonies.
No studies have been conducted on the social consequences of home schooling, Dunn said. But anecdotal evidence suggests there are no negative consequences as long as parents create other social opportunities.
You know, I have to wonder just why there is this monolithic idea in public education that every kid must attend football games and dances in order to be properly "socialized." I mean, for a geek such as myself, homeschooling would have been a dream come true in middle school, when I was being picked on every day for being "different." Was the realization that some kids can really be power-hungry, cruel, and obnoxious (without getting caught) the "socialization" I was supposed to receive?
C'mon. While there are legitimate concerns about homeschooling, I believe the "socialization" factor to be the least valid, especially for kids who are smart or "different". See the quotation about homes being "a safer, more nurturing atmosphere" above.
Update: Here's yet another happy homeschooling story, this one in Kansas. This same newsletter reports on the national upswing in homeschooling.
Posted by kswygert at November 17, 2003 12:19 PM