In defense of home schooling
Commentary by LORI WILLIAMS
As a home school parent I’ve found that public perception of
home schooling is largely dictated by a lack of knowledge about the movement itself. A
valid educational option, it is creating students who love learning and young adults who
are well prepared for a bright future.
In 1998, the Virginia-based Home School Legal Defense Association
(HSLDA) where based commissioned the largest research study to date of home education in
America. It was conducted by an impartial third party and involved seven times as many
home schooling families as any previous study of its kind, with data compiled from test
scores of 20,760 students. In every subject and grade level of the Iowa Test of Basic
Skills (ITBS) and the Tests of Achievement and Proficiency (TAP) batteries, home school
students scored significantly higher than their public and private school counterparts. On
average, home school students by the 8th grade performed four grade levels above the
national average, according to HSLDA data.
On C-Span, Aug. 24, 1999, Eric Hirsch, Senior Education Policy
Specialist for the National Conference of State Legislatures, said that the number of home
schoolers in America is estimated at 1.5 million with exponential growth. Why? Because
academically, it’s working.
Many colleges and universities actively recruit home educated
graduates because of their maturity, independent thinking skills, creativity and extensive
academic preparation. Blaine County’s own Michael Albrecht, formerly home schooled,
is in his senior year at the United States Naval Academy.
As for the "socialization" myth, it is quite possibly
the most misunderstood aspect of home schooling. Popular opinion assumes that children
need periods of interaction with a group of peers to acquire social skills. In contrast,
many believe that extensive peer contact during childhood can lead to undesirable choices
through peer pressure. The opposite can be found in a healthy interaction with committed
parents, self-confidence, independent thinking and the ability to relate to people of all
ages. The HSLDA found that the average home school student participates in a very adequate
5.2 activities each week. On a local level, Blaine County home school classrooms are alive
and well and prospering in a valley rich with extra-curricular activities and interaction,
from sports to technology to arts. Because a one-to-one teaching style is more efficient
than institutional instruction and thus takes less hours each day, the time is there for
those opportunities.
Unfortunately, if you dig deep enough, you could probably find the
home schooler who isn’t consistent or committed, and whose child will likely fall
through the cracks. In any system there will be children falling through the cracks, as
none are perfect. But with results mentioned above, there should be resounding approval
for an educational option producing such success.
Instead home schoolers find themselves up against a wall of
negativity and a push for government involvement and regulation. In states where there is
a low level of regulation (including Idaho), research shows home schooled children scored
as well as those in states with a high level of regulation. We can confidently assure
policy makers that this system delivers solid academic results, and that home education
works well for the majority of those who choose this form of education. Parental
involvement and hard work—not government involvement—are the keys to educational
success.
The success of home education will be seen in the individual lives
of young people who grow up and impact our nation and the world. Lives that are part of a
literate population that can speak and think for themselves, which is the very strength of
a democracy.
Lori Williams, a Ketchum resident, is a homeschooling mother
of two.
