English Research Paper.

The Effectiveness of Home Schooling

How does home education affect children? Are there valid concerns with home schooling, such as lack of socialization or inadequate teaching materials? Or are the common arguments against home schooling invalid? Maybe schooling at home is a good preparation for both real-life situations and secondary education. Early North American citizens certainly seemed to think so.
Linda Dobson, an author and the news editor of Home Education Magazine, writes about early American homeschooling in her book, Homeschoolers’ Success Stories. Home schooling in the United States of America was a common idea until the late 1800s, "Until then," Linda writes, "the mostly agrarian American society lived a family-centered lifestyle; education happened at home, if only by default." Young people learned necessary life skills such as growing food and making clothes through daily activities. Academic studies in reading, writing, and arithmetic took only a small portion of time compared with today’s students. "No laws existed, though, to compel attendance. The development of the modern educational system may be said to have been well on its way (over the objections of many teachers, parents, and public press) with the first state compulsory attendance law, courtesy of Massachusetts in 1852" (Dobson 1,2).

Home schooling in the United States as we know it today started in the 1970s. The main reason for this was a growing dissatisfaction among families with the schooling methods being offered within the public school system. According to the 2003 and 2007 National Household Education Surveys (NHES), "the three reasons selected by parents of more than two-thirds of students were concern about the school environment (88 percent), to provide religious or moral instruction (83 percent), and dissatisfaction with the academic instruction available at other schools (73 percent)" (United States). Some families simply wanted to spend time with their children while they were growing up. Karan Cook, a mother of eight children who began homeschooling in 1992 says, "My motive for home schooling was the Godly moral foundation that we could lay down at home and the opportunity to increase the cohesiveness and closeness of our family. I have two children with learning disabilities. I think they would have been extremely adversely affected by being in a regular school environment. Instead, they have flourished in their gifted areas" (Cook). Whatever the reason for being dissatisfied with the public school system, parents began exploring other options for schooling their children.

Home school certainly seemed to be plausible to some families, but many wondered about the legality of schooling children at home. Would either parent be required to have or obtain a teaching degree? Was it even legal to abstain from enrolling children in a public or private school institution? Even disregarding the legality issue, there were still more questions. How would you teach upper level high school classes? Were there even curricula available for a family wanting to home school?

The home schooling movement in Missouri started in the early 1980s. Charles Rogers, who inspired the founding of Families for Home Education, gives an account of the legality issue on the Families for Home Education web site. Many families, being dissatisfied with the education and wanting to be more involved with their children’s lives, began to consider schooling at home. Superintendents of school districts and the Department of Family Services didn’t know what to do. Why were young children being removed from the popular uniform schooling system to be schooled by their parents? And many of those parents had no college education of any kind! Outside of the traditional schooling system, how were these children going to have sufficient social interaction? They concluded that this had to be child abuse. Some parents were threatened with having their children taken away. Others actually had their children taken away for a short amount of time by the Department of Family Services. Many other families were harassed by Department of Family Services social workers (Rogers).

A lawyer was secured and brought up to speed on the issues with the home schooling movement. He recommended filing a class-action suit against the state of Missouri. Twenty-five families were found willing to go to court to appeal the legality of home schooling, and Families for Home Education was requested to be a signer of this suit. Two families were chosen to testify and appear in court. According to Rogers, "the purpose of the suit was to declare the Missouri compulsory education statute void for ‘vagueness’ and ‘overbreadth’" (Rogers 8). Ruling on the United States District Court case Ellis, et al., Plaintiffs, vs. O'Hara, et al., Defendants, Judge Nangle ordered that the portion of RSMo Statute 167.031 regarding instruction at home be voided. The Court transferred the responsibility of enacting a new statute to the Missouri Legislature. Senate Bill 795, dealing with the rights of parents and students in regards to education and schools, was passed in the legislature at the end of the 1985-1986 session. RSMo Statute 167.031 was revised to be more specific regarding home instruction. (Rogers)

In the current wording of RSMo Statute 167.031, commonly considered to be the ruling piece of legislature on the legality and restrictions of home schooling, there are some regulations. These include requirements that establish what ages a child is to be in some sort of schooling, as well as requiring that a log book be kept detailing the learning process. Also, within a given year, there are a specified number of hours that must be spent studying both academic and non-academic subjects (Missouri). The legal issues in Missouri are fairly minimal, and it remains one of the most free home schooling states in the country.

Finally, the legal difficulties surrounding home schooling in Missouri cleared up. Courageous parents began to search for curricula. A Beka Books quickly came to the forefront as the best-developed curriculum available to homeschoolers. According to the A Beka Books web site, this curriculum was started in the 1970s. The A Beka Books material was developed based on 20 prior years of teaching at Pensacola Christian Academy by Dr. Arlin Horton (Our Foundation). It was primarily used for Christian schools, but it was soon recognized as easily adaptable to the home school arena.

Once parents realized there were a few different curricula available for use with younger children, the began to seriously consider home education. Socialization remained a concern, since many of the children's friends were in the public schools. What would happen to these friendships if the children were pulled out of school, or never even attended a public school? Would the children grow up isolated, lacking the ability to interact well with their peers and adults? Susan McDowell, author of But What About Socialization? Answering the Perpetual Home Schooling Question: A Review of Literature, answers this question. After researching 24 studies on the socialization of home schoolers, she concludes, "It’s a non-issue today. All the research shows children are doing well" (Kim, 2-3).

Jennie von Eggers is a home school mother and the author of several educational materials. In an article for About.com, Jennie writes about the commonly asked question: aren't you worried about your children not getting enough socialization? "Many homeschoolers spend their day doing things such as; helping out with family business', running errands, going on field trips, visiting relatives and friends, doing odd jobs for neighbors and partaking in family responsibilities. As the "socially challenged" homeschool kids are out and about, partaking and interacting in real life situations, the government students are "socializing" under a controlled environment, behind four walls with a controlled group of people (also known as their peer group). Yes, the sales clerk that offered his unsolicited opinion on my choice to homeschool, was right! My kids are "socially challenged" by not going to public school!" (von Eggers, 1)

There are many home school organizations and support groups available to new home schoolers in Missouri. Statewide groups include the Christian Home Educator’s Fellowship and Families for Home Education. Regional groups include the Bolivar Area Home Schoolers, the Bootheel Area Home Schoolers Group, and several county-wide groups (Home Schooling). Once a year, a home schooling convention is held by the Southwest Home Education Ministry in Springfield, MO. New home schoolers can find a plethora of home school curricula available to them at this conference (SHEM).

Dr. Brian Ray has a Ph.D. in science education. He is the president of the National Home Education Research Institute, the author of four books on home schooling, and the editor of the academic journal The Home School Researcher (Dr. Brian Ray). In his book, Strengths of Their Own: Home Schoolers Across America, Dr. Ray found "homeschoolers, on the average, out-performed their counterparts in the public schools by 30 to 37 percentile points in all subjects" (Academic Statistics, 1). The Home School Legal Defense Association cites this on their web site: "According to the 1998 ACT High School Profile Report, 2,610 graduating homeschoolers took the ACT and scored an average of 22.8 out of a possible 36 points" (Academic Statistics, 13). The academic statistics alone show that home schooling is effective.

Some early home schooled high school graduates included Alicia Caperton and Jonathan Hardin. Alicia Caperton went on to attend College of the Ozarks, where she graduated 4 years later with a degree in Animal Science (Caperton). Jonathan Hardin currently attends Missouri State University, has received his Bachelor of Science and is expected to soon receive his Master of Science in Chemistry. He has already been accepted to the State University of New York, Buffalo, to study for his Ph.D. in Chemistry (Hardin). Both of these young people were home schooled from Kindergarten to 12th grade, and graduated in the 1990s. A credit to home education, both these students did well in school, and have been successful in their pursuits.

Although many parents are hesitant to begin home schooling, once they have begun they rarely regret the decision. Karlene, who has one child who has graduated from home school, and two more who are still in home school, states "We have been extremely pleased with our decision to home school. I would recommend home schooling to others as an excellent schooling option" (Smith).

Overall, most families seem to be quite satisfied with their decision to homeschool. Many high school graduates are doing extremely well in secondary/post-secondary institutions. A Dartmouth College (NH) admissions officer explains, "The applications I’ve come across are outstanding. Homeschoolers have a distinct advantage because of the individualized instruction they have received" (Home Schooled Students). Most of them hold good jobs, or are considered successful in life. Once the home schooling movement got under way, few parents seemed to have problems with socialization of their students. Kim Leith, a mother who home schools her 4 boys, was asked about the issue of socialization for her children. "Socialization was and is accomplished in daily life interactions between family members, extended family, neighbors, church family, home school events, etc. My children function well not only with peers, but also with adults" (Leith).

Colleges are recognizing that many home schooled young people are just as well prepared as their public-school counterparts. The "hard-work" ethic that many parents instill in their children by taking a direct, vested, and time-consuming interest in their lives and schooling is paying off. The number of home schooled students is still relatively small nation-wide (1.5 million) and the number of college applications from home school students is also comparatively small. Despite this, most colleges seem to appreciate the idea of home schooling, and are more than willing to accept these students into their programs (United States). In an article published in the St. Louis Dispatch, Georgiana Gustin writes about home schoolers applying to colleges. "Regina Morin, director of admissions at Columbia College, says the school is seeing more home schoolers apply each year. ‘They tend to be better than their public school counterparts,’ she said. ‘They score above average on tests, they're more independent, they're often a grade ahead’" (Gustin). Jon Reider, an admissions director at Stanford University, says, "Home schoolers bring certain skills-motivation, curiosity, the capacity to be responsible for their education that high schools don't induce very well" (Developing Homeschool).

Kim Leith says she "does not regret home schooling in the slightest." She does caution that "home schooling is not for everyone. Each family needs to look at the family situation and take the issue to prayer" (Leith). Morality and academic education are two of the most important issues in a child’s life. The decision of who bears the responsibility for a child's education is not one that parents should take lightly. In regards to socialization, academia, and legality, home schooling in Missouri can prove an excellent decision. Parents and children alike are pleased not only with the results of home education, but also the success the children gain as they move on in life. Home schooling, while perhaps not the right choice for everyone, has proven to be an excellent method for receiving a good education as well as being a training ground for dealing with real-life situations and challenges.

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