The Homeschool Option
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Logan Hall
According to Dr. Brian Ray, there are currently over 2.3 million homeschool students in the United States alone, and home schooling is growing in popularity as a viable educational choice (Ray 1). While homeschooling provides an excellent education, in most respects, it is often misunderstood and, in some cases, misaligned and disparaged. Not only is the educational aspect of homeschooling challenged but so are the students themselves. A common perception is that homeschool students are not as well socialized as their public-school peers, when in actuality, the home school students are often more socialized, less affected by social pressures, and are successful socially and academically as they move into their college years. Therefore, educating the general public regarding the positive outcomes of homeschooling for the students involved would help create an atmosphere where homeschooling remains a well-received and viable educational option.
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Homeschool students come from various backgrounds. According to Ray, homeschool families are Black; Hispanic; White; Asian; atheists; Christians; Mormons; conservatives; liberals; and low, middle, and high-income families (Ray 1). This wide variety of students, overall, are often more socialized than their public-school peers. Some would argue that public school students have many more opportunities than homeschool students to be involved in clubs, sports, and other social activities provided by the school system. The reality is that homeschool students have just as many opportunities to be involved in community sports, music, dance, debate, social gatherings, etc. as their public-school counterparts. Homeschool co-ops are made up of many individual families who come together to have academic classroom experiences, and they can even form athletic teams, clubs, scholastic groups, etc. These co-ops are one of many ways that homeschoolers can be involved with other students. In addition, because of the flexibility of the homeschool student’s day, students have more of an opportunity to be out in the community volunteering during the day, working part time jobs, and developing relationships outside of their peer/age group. Research shows that those multi-aged relationships lead to a strong self-identity and students who socially maturity faster than the average public-school student, who sits in a classroom all day surrounded by the same age peers (Romanowski 126). Because of the flexibility of the school day and the structure of co-ops, homeschool students have many opportunities to work with adults and older students which adds to their social maturity and confidence. It is logical to see the connection between all these opportunities available to the homeschool student and understand why they are, unlike the misconception, well socialized students.
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In addition, it is common to misunderstand and misuse the definition of socialization. Socialization, being well-balanced as an individual within a group setting and learning social skills, is not the same thing as being around a lot of people all day or having a lot of acquaintances. Many public-school students are around people all day but still fall between the cracks and never form healthy and meaningful friendships. Homeschool students, while maybe having fewer friends, find that socialization takes place more organically with opportunities to form a healthier view of self. As mentioned above, this strong sense of self comes from the multi-age peer group, who are invested in their education, as compared to being around the constant scrutiny of same aged peers as in the public-school setting. Overall, while homeschool students are made up of a variety of students, just like the public-school system—those who are outgoing, shy, quirky, and nerdy—homeschool students are more socialized, as mentioned above, in the proper use of the word than their public-school peers. In addition, it is wrong to judge an entire class of students based on stereotypes disseminated by those who might not understand the entire homeschooling process and the opportunities which are available for the homeschool student.
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Homeschool students are also, according to Richard Medlin, less affected by social pressures than public-school students (Medlin 292). A misconception, or argument, would be that public-school students experience a lot of peer pressure during high school and that allows them to deal with the real world better than a homeschool student. They would go on to say that homeschool students do not have as much peer pressure which ultimately results in their being less prepared to be successful in the real world or as they move on into college, and less prepared to stand up against individual or group pressures.
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In reality, as mentioned above, due to the fact that the homeschool student develops many relationships outside of their own age-group, they are less susceptible to peer pressure both during their high school years and as they move into college. Romanowski claims that broadening a child’s peer group has been shown to help those students avoid negative influences (Romanowski 126). This broader peer group allows the homeschool students to have the daily input of a multi-aged perspective on life and its challenges. In turn, this allows the students to have a varied perspective regarding the things they allow to have influence over themselves. In addition, they have a stronger sense of self, as previously mentioned, which in turn leads to being more confident in their own decisions and less able to be peer-pressured into making poor choices. Unlike their public-school counterparts, who may be driven to make poor decisions to impress the same aged peers they see every day, homeschool students are less likely to succumb to peer pressure. Furthermore, due to the makeup of homeschool education opportunities like co-ops, most often, homeschool students are also surrounded daily by younger aged-students. This fact gives the older students the opportunity to develop nurturing and mentoring skills on a daily basis. Logically, we can conclude that students, who learn empathy towards others and who are caregivers, will use these experiences to add to their social maturity and strong sense of self. In totality, the homeschool environment allows for students to experience peer pressure in an entirely different way, with deep roots of confidence, social maturity, and a good sense of self.
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Lastly, homeschool students are also successful both socially and academically as they move into their college years. Many would be surprised at this and would think that homeschool students would have a harder time being independent and dealing with a classroom setting on a college campus. The thought process is that their public-school peers, have been in a classroom setting their entire scholastic career; therefore, they would have an advantage adjusting to college. In truth, many homeschool students have had a variety of classroom experience and instructors during their co-op groups. Homeschool students learn “how to learn” and most work independently; these students are able to carry those skills forward into college. Once in college, because of the normality of having a relationship with their instructors, homeschool students seek out relationships with their college professors. They are not simply settling for just attending class then leaving. The confidence and experience homeschool students carry forward, from having worked with adults already, lends itself to classroom success. Michael F. Cogan shows that homeschool students, during their first year of college, earned a significantly higher G.P.A. of 3.8 over their public-school peers average G.P.A. of 3.3 (Cogan 24). Additionally, the same research states that homeschool students are more likely to stay in school and complete their degree as well (24).
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In addition to succeeding academically in college, homeschool students have less instances of depression than their public-school peers (Bolle et al. 638). This study also found that homeschool students scored significantly higher than their public-school peers in leadership areas (639). Colleges are finding that homeschool students are well rounded, have good self-esteem, and are likely to seek out campus activities to be involved in. This combination of academic success and being well balanced socially has caused university recruiters to be excited about having homeschool students attend their institutions. Brown University’s Dean states that, “homeschool students are self-directed, take risks and face challenges with fervor” (Bolle et al. 639). In an interview with Alpha Omega Publishing, Dr. Susan Berry states that, “The high achievement level of homeschoolers is readily recognized by recruiters from some of the best colleges in the nation such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard, Stanford and Duke University who now all actively recruit homeschoolers” (“Why Colleges are Recruiting Homeschoolers”). Most of these facts would come as a surprise to someone who was unfamiliar with the concept of homeschooling and merely thought homeschool students were ill-prepared, unsocialized, and sheltered.
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Homeschooling is a very solid educational choice and the students experiencing this type of education have many proven advantages as they head into college. Homeschooling, as an educational option in the United States, should continue to be a legal option for parents. The general public should be informed of the benefits of homeschooling, and they should always continue to recognize a parent’s legal right to make educational decisions for their children. Recently, there has been a push in the educational system to put forth the idea that children belong to society and not to their parents; they claim this because they view children as our collective future. Becoming aware of the overall positive outcomes regarding the choice to homeschool and developing an understanding of what homeschool students are really like will help combat any arguments to do away with this option.
Works Cited
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Bolle, Mary Beth, et al. “Transitional Experiences of First-Year College Students Who Were Homeschooled.” Journal of College Student Development, vol. 48 no. 6, Dec. 2007, pp. 637-654. ERIC, doi: 10.1353/csd.2007.0059. Accessed 2 Feb. 2019.
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Cogan, Michael F. “Exploring Academic Outcomes of Homeschooled Students.” Journal of College Admission, no. 208, 23 July 2010, pp. 18-25. ERIC, https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ893891.pdf. Accessed 2 Feb. 2019.
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Medlin, Richard G. “Homeschooling and the Question of Socialization Revisited.” Peabody Journal of Education, vol. 88, no. 3, 19 June 2013, pp. 284-297. ERIC, https://www.stetson.edu/artsci/psychology/media/medlin-socialization-2013.pdf. Accessed 2 Feb. 2019.
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Ray, Brian D. “Research Facts on Homeschooling.” National Home Education Research Institute, 6 Jan. 2015, pp. 1-3. ERIC, https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED556234.pdf. Accessed 2 Feb. 2019.
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Romanowski, Michael H. “Revisiting the Common Myths about Homeschooling.” The Clearing House, vol. 79, no. 3, Feb. 2006, pp. 125-129. JSTOR,https://0-www-jstor-org.library.acaweb.org/stable/30182126. Accessed 2 Feb. 2019.
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“Why Colleges are Recruiting Homeschoolers.” Alpha Omega Publications, Alpha Omega Publications, 5 Sept. 2013, https://www.aop.com/blog/why-colleges-are-recruiting-homeschoolers. Accessed 2 Feb. 2019.