Mini, why did you choose homeschooling for your kids? And others, how are your kids

marmat103 · July 5, 2005, 1:59pm

I’ve a collection of links about homeschooling and socialization (most of the research cited is pretty old, though).

<a href=“http://www.ericdigests.org/1995-1/home.htm[/url]”>http://www.ericdigests.org/1995-1/home.htm</a> - ERIC digest
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.” Stough (1992)

Using one of the best validated self-concept scales available, Taylor’s random sampling of home-schooled children (45,000) found that half of these children scored at or above the 91st percentile–**47% higher ** than the average, conventionally schooled child. He concludes: “Since self concept is considered to be a basic dynamic of positive sociability, this answers the often heard skepticism suggesting that home schoolers are inferior in socialization” (Taylor, 1987).

Bliss (1989) contends that it is in the formal educational system’s setting that children first experience negative socialization, conformity, and peer pressure. According to her, “This is a setting of large groups, segmented by age, with a variation of authority figures…the individual, with his/her developmental needs, becomes overpowered by the expectations and demand of others–equal in age and equally developmentally needy.”

Webb (1989), one of the few researchers who has examined aspects of the adult lives of wholly or partly home-educated people, found that all who had attempted higher education were successful and that their socialization was often better than that of their schooled peers.

<a href=“http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/admin/books/files/homeschool.pdf[/url]”>http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/admin/books/files/homeschool.pdf</a> - The Fraser Institute

The average home schooled student is regularly involved in 5.2 social activities outside the home, including afternoon and weekend programs with public school students (e.g., sports, scouts, church groups, ballet, Little League, neighbourhood play, part-time employment, and voluntary work), and day-time field trips and cooperative programs with groups of other home schooled students (Mattox, 1999). Ninety-eight percent of home schooled students are involved in two or more outside functions on a weekly basis (Farris, 1997).

Of all home schooled children, 65 percent watch one hour or less of television per day, compared to 25 percent nationally. On average, 40 percent of American fourth-graders watch over three hours of television a day, but among home schooled children, only 1.6 percent consumes comparable amounts of television (Rudner, 1999).

According to Prof. Mona Delahooke (1986), the home schooled are less peer dependent than private school students, and the home schooled are
as well adjusted, socially and emotionally, as their private school agemates. Prof. Linda Montgomery (1989) found that home schooled students are as involved in out-of-school and extracurricular activities that predict leadership in adulthood as are those in the comparison private school (who are more involved than those in public schools).

<a href=“1382cm太阳在线玩游戏（中国）科技有限公司”>1382cm太阳在线玩游戏（中国）科技有限公司;

The most important thing in learning is copying how other people think. … We need a cultural situation where every child has an adult friend who they can emulate. What we do now is to take a six year old and send him in a room full of six year olds. The result is that every person grows up with the cognitive capability of a five year old.

<a href=“http://www.familyeducation.com/article/0,1120,58-17910,00.html[/url]”>http://www.familyeducation.com/article/0,1120,58-17910,00.html</a>
The homeschoolers I know are out and about every day, enjoying museums, beaches, parks, and shows without the crowds. They travel often. The kids participate in Girl and Boy Scouts, 4-H, and sports. They take art, dance, drama, language, and music classes, to name a few.

“The idea that children need to be around many other youngsters in order to be ‘socialized,’” Dr. Moore writes, “is perhaps the most dangerous and extravagant myth in education and child rearing today.”

In one study, trained counselors viewed videotapes of mixed groups of homeschooled and schooled children at play. The counselors didn’t know the school status of each child. The results? The homeschooled kids demonstrated fewer behavioral problems.

<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_schooling[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_schooling</a>
Homeschoolers offer several responses against common socialization criticisms:

… 9.

<a href=“http://www.nhen.org/dads/default.asp?id=381[/url]”>http://www.nhen.org/dads/default.asp?id=381</a>
Homeschoolers, without the constraints of a 6-hour-a-day school schedule, are extremely vulnerable to falling into the trap of too many outside activities and too much social interaction. This can be dangerous, especially if we hope to teach our children to appreciate and enjoy the quiet reflective life.
:)

And college-related articles:
<a href=“http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000000/00000017.asp[/url]”>http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000000/00000017.asp</a>
<a href=“http://www.bu.edu/alumni/bostonia/2003/winter/homeschoolers/[/url]”>http://www.bu.edu/alumni/bostonia/2003/winter/homeschoolers/</a>

homeschoolmom · July 5, 2005, 7:54pm

I already sent calmom a pm thanking her for what I thought was an exceptionally thoughtful, balanced, and nuanced post.

In her post above, she concluded:

Yes indeed, like calmom, I do indeed see some homeschooled students “balking” at the idea of attending college.

But I also see other homeschooled students “chomping at the bit” to go off to college, sometimes at unusually early ages (like mini’s daughter, or occasionally even younger.)

As mini pointed out, college is not nearly so “regimented” as high school. It offers a lot more freedom and flexibility and some homeschoolers are quite prepared to make the most of that flexibilty.

The number of hours spent in the classroom is much less in college, nobody needs a “hall pass” to use the rest room, students are free to go offcampus for lunch, and college students generally have a much larger menu of courses from which to choose than do high school students.

Moreover, colleges offer many options for flexibility that high schools do not–it’s often easy to arrange part-time enrollment, to take a semester or a year off, etc. There are also colleges where one can design one’s own major or arrange to do indepndent study or supervised research, etc.

Even so, there are homeschoolers who do indeed balk at the idea of attending college–and I think that’s not necessarily unhealthy.

I have taught at colleges and universities and I have sometimes seen immature and unmotivated undergrads who were there “going through the motions” of getting a college education, pretty much getting their “ticket punched,” but not very deeply engaged in the learning process.

I think there is a lot to be said for students to wait until they are ready to take the best advantage of college rather than just going off because “it’s the thing to do when you’re 18.”

Some do great at 18, some do great at 16, and some are better off waiting beyond 18.

Some of the best students I ever had were midcareer students who had a clear visioin of what they wanted out of their education.

calmom · July 5, 2005, 8:51pm

Homeschoolmom, you’ll note that in the sentence you quote, I said “a traditional college” – that was very purposeful on my mind, because I certainly am aware of the the options available to people who seek out a more flexible learning enviornment. I think it would be interesting to know the percentage of homeschoolers applying to schools like Evergreen, Antioch, New College of Florida as compared to the applicants to other, more typical colleges. By “typical”, I don’t mean Ivies either - because I think the prestige factor tends to be a big draw. I mean there are probably a lot of homeschooled kids who harbor the idea that they want to go to Harvard their whole lives… but to the vast majority “college” means a state university. Evergreen and Yale aren’t competing for the same pool of applicants … but a comparison of applicant pools between Evergreen and the University of Oregon might show a different profile.

texas137 · July 5, 2005, 9:03pm

the majority of students in my local homeschooling community end up at the state u, after having taken some CC courses during high school. Virtually any college will be more flexible than a traditional high school.

mini · July 5, 2005, 9:08pm

I’ve got homeschooled friends and acquaintances at Harvard, Brown, Princeton, Swarthmore, Amherst, Stanford, MIT, Caltech, Rice, USC, UW, Rice, Olin, Chicago, Wheaton (IL), Hillsdale, Mount Holyoke, Wellesley, Williams, Earlham, and Smith (at Smith, there are currently 11.) Admission rates tend (I am told by admissions officers) to be slightly higher than average - again, not surprising - the impact of the $35k/year education kicks in. But the plurality do end up at the least flexible state universities, with two years of credit under their belts.

One of my co-authors on a forthcoming book is the former Associate Dean at Brown, who sat on the admissions committee for more than a decade. She herself homeschooled 5 kids on the beach of the big island in Hawaii, with no tv, internet, or even a telephone for much of it, and barely a library. All went to “prestige” institutions ranging from Brown to St. John’s.

Don’t assume homeschoolers are looking for the most “flexible” environments for college. Many of the religious among us look for exactly the opposite…Among the rest, many look for the best, most rigorous learning environments. And many have learned that they can learn more out of college than in.

And yes, for homeschoolers, Evergreen and Yale ARE competing for the same students. That’s one of the beauties of it! (And I know that personally, because my own d. spent a year at Evergreen and loved it before moving on, but would not have been particularly unhappy to have stayed.)

Mini, why did you choose homeschooling for your kids? And others, how are your kids

CONNECT WITH US