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The academic effectiveness of homeschooling is largely a settled issue. Numerous studies have confirmed the academic integrity of home education programs, demonstrating that average homeschoolers outperform their public school peers by 30 to 37 percentile points across all subjects. Moreover, the performance gaps between minorities and gender that plague public schools are virtually non-existent amongst homeschooled students.
Some critics argue that while homeschooled students generally do extremely well on standardized tests, such students are a self-selected group whose parents care strongly about their education; such students would also do well in a conventional school environment. Increasingly, colleges are recruiting homeschooled students; many colleges accept a GED as well as parent statements and portfolios of students' work as admission criteria; others also require SATs or other standardized tests.
Some opponents argue that parents with little training in education are less effective in teaching. However, some studies do indicate that parents' income and education level affect home educated students' performance on standardized tests very little.
Homeschooled children's curricula often include many subjects not included in school curricula. Some colleges find this an advantage in creating a more academically diverse student body, and proponents argue this creates a more well-rounded and self-sufficient adult. Opponents argue that homeschoolers' eclectic curricula often exclude critical subjects and isolate them from the rest of society, or present them with ideological world views, especially religious ones.
The results of homeschooling with gifted and learning-disabled children are not as thoroughly studied. |
A common concern voiced about homeschooled children is they lack the social interaction with peers that a school environment provides. Many homeschooling families address these concerns by joining numerous organizations, including independent study programs and specialized enrichment groups for PE, Art, Music, and Debate. Most are also active in community groups. Homeschooled children generally socialize with other children the same way that school children do: outside of school, via personal visits and through sports teams, clubs and religious groups.
Some homeschooling proponents have argued that homeschooling actually enhances the student's social development. Arguing that the school years are the only time in a person's life that he or she will be artificially segregated into chronologically-determined groups, these advocates assert that homeschoolers have a more normal interaction with persons across the age spectrum. This, in turn, results in more influence on the child from adults, and less from other children, leading to more mature youngsters.
In 2003, the National Home Education Research Institute conducted a survey of over 7,300 adults who had been homeschooled (over 5,000 for more than seven years). Here are some of the study's findings:
"Homeschool graduates are active and involved in their communities. Seventy-one percent participate in an ongoing community service activity (e.g., coaching a sports team, volunteering at a school, or working with a church or neighborhood association), compared with 37% of U.S. adults of similar ages."
"Homeschoolers are more involved in civic affairs and vote in much higher percentages than their peers. For example, 76% of homeschool graduates surveyed between the ages of 18–24 voted within the last five years, compared with only 29% of the relevant U.S. population. The numbers of homeschool graduates who vote are even greater in the older age brackets, with voting levels not falling below 95%, compared with a high of 53% for the corresponding U.S. populace."
"Of those adults who were homeschooled, 58.9% report that they are 'very happy' with life (compared with 27.6% for the general U.S. population). Moreover, 73.2% of homeschooled adults find life 'exciting', compared with 47.3% of the general population."
ERIC, the Education Resources Information Center of the U.S. government, has published multiple articles on homeschooling. Here's an excerpt from one which examined several studies on homeschool socialization:
"According to the findings, children who were schooled at home 'gained the necessary skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed to function in society...at a rate similar to that of conventionally schooled children.'
"The researcher found no difference in the self concept of children in the two groups. Stough maintains that 'insofar as self concept is a reflector of socialization, it would appear that few home-schooled children are socially deprived, and that there may be sufficient evidence to indicate that some home-schooled children have a higher self concept than conventionally schooled children.'" |
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Proponents argue further that the social environment of schools:
* eradicates individuality and creativity.
* sinks to the standards of the lowest common denominator
* involves bullying, drug use, early sexuality, defiance, criminality, materialism, and eating disorders.
and that socialization in the wider community:
* leads them to see adults, rather than peers, as role models
* better prepares them for real life
* encourages them to be more involved in youth organizations, church organizations, and sports
* helps them develop an independent understanding of themselves and their role in the world, with the freedom to reject or approve conventional values without the risk of ridicule.
* children will still learn to deal with a variety of situations and people because they will still interact with others, including schooled children after school hours in their neighborhood and in other after school activities. |
Opponents of homeschooling offer the following criticisms concerning socialization, pointing out that not all homeschooling families participate extensively in community activities:
* Interaction with peers and different social groups is essential to learning to live in society.
* Schools are a unique environment that provides students with necessary social networking skills that help them succeed in the workplace and in the politics of high-level business. Real life includes school as well.
* Homeschoolers tend to live in an insulated world where they aren't exposed to a variety of ideas, which can prevent any personal growth and independence later on in life.
* If children are insulated from unpleasant social situations, then they will be left unprepared when they are inevitably left to make their own way in the world. Children should be allowed to live and learn from their mistakes rather than sheltered from reality.
Some people oppose homeschooling because they fear that children will be exposed to an extremely narrow set of view-points and will lack the broad range of experiences gained through interaction in a larger group setting. |
