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Homeschooling: A Better Method?

By Robby Gray

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Last year 1.1 million students were homeschooled in the United States according to a report by the National Center for Education Statistics—a 29 percent increase since 1999.[1] Are all these homeschool families making the right decision? Is homeschooling really a better method of education than public schooling? Because homeschooling is a more effective way to learn than public schooling, homeschoolers have at least as good social skills as do students in public school, and because the home school environment is better than the environment at public schools, we will be able to conclude that, yes, homeschooling is a better method of education than public schooling. 

            Is homeschooling a more effective way to learn than public schooling? In a fact sheet titled “Facts on Homeschooling,” published by the National Home Education Research Institute, Brian D. Ray, Ph.D. writes, “Homeschool student’s academic achievement, on average, was significantly above that of public school students.” Further down the sheet he continues, “In study after study, the home educated score better, on average, than those in conventional state-run schools (see table).” [2]

Quoting a study by the Home School Legal Defense Association:

On average, home school students in grades 1-4 perform one grade level higher than their public and private school counterparts. The achievement gap begins to widen in grade 5; by 8^th grade the average home school student performs four grade levels above the national average.[3]

Homeschoolers also score better on standardized tests. A 1997 study by Dr. Brian Ray of the National Home Education Research Institute found that, “Homeschoolers out performed their public school peers by 30 to 37 percentile points across all subjects.”2 Homeschoolers get good test grades but do they go and make it through college. Another study by the Home School Legal Defense Association, taken in 2003, states,

The end of formal homeschooling is not the end of the educational road for most home school graduates. Over 74 percent of home-educated adults ages 18-24 have taken college-level courses, compared to 46 percent of the general United States population.[4]

Why, though, do homeschoolers do better? Firstly, homeschoolers get to choose what curriculum suits them best while students in public school have to use the assigned curriculum. As students learn best in different ways, this is a tremendous benefit. Secondly, homeschooler’s schedules are more flexible so they can move at their own pace, spending more time on the subjects they have trouble with and blowing through the ones they find easy, while students that go to public school have to move at the pace of the students as a whole. Lastly, students that are homeschooled are taught on a more personal level. What do teachers at public schools do if a student has trouble with a particular subject? They get the student a tutor. Students that are homeschooled are tutored in every subject all the time. It is for these reasons that I conclude that homeschool is a more effective way to learn than public school.

            Many people and organizations hold that homeschooling may be a better method of education but the home school environment does not promote good social skills. One such organization is the National Education Association. To quote World Net Daily, “Public schools ‘teach things beyond curriculum,’ the NEA spokesperson said, such as ‘values, how to get along with others, diversity, team work and cooperative learning.’”[5] In 2001 TIME magazine ran a cover story “Seceding from School.” In it John Cloud and Jodie Morse posed this question, “Homeschooling may turn out better students, but does it create better citizens?”[6] The answer is yes.

The Home School Legal Defense Association commissioned the largest survey to date of adults who were home schooled. The survey states:

Home school 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 school, or working with a sports team, volunteering at a school, or working with a church or neighborhood association), compared to 37 percent of U.S. adults of similar ages.[7]

Underlying the idea that the home school environment does not promote good social skills is the idea that the only place kids can get good social skills is at school. A study taken by the Home School Legal Defense Association for the 1995-1996 academic years titled Strengths of Their Own: Home Schoolers Across America shows that, on average, homeschoolers engage in 5.2 activities outside the home. Some of these activities include 4-H, scouts, group sports, field trips, and Bible clubs.[8] Social skills can be developed in any of these places. To quote an independent study by Lawrence M. Rudner:

In 1992, Prof. Larry Shyers assessed whether or not home schooled children suffer from retarded social development. His research observed children in free play and group interaction activities. Shyers found that public school children had significantly more problem behaviours than did the home schooled.[9]

Many people picture that homeschoolers sit at their desks and work all day. This is not true. Homeschoolers, due to the lack of busywork, generally finish school earlier then public schools lets out. This allows the home schooled student more free time to socialize.

Finally, I will show how the home school environment is better than the environment at public schools. On April 20, 1990 two students at Columbine high school killed 13 of their fellow students in the most devastating school shooting in U.S. history.  48 people died in school-related violence in the 2003-2004 school year.[10] According to a news release, published by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in 2001, more than 16 percent of U.S. school children admit to being bullied by other students.[11] Duane Alexander, M.D., director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development writes, “It’s a public health problem that merits attention. People who were bullied as children are more likely to suffer from depression and low self esteem, well into adulthood, and the bullies themselves are more likely to engage in criminal behavior later in life.”1

Homeschooling really is a better method of education than public schooling. First of all, homeschooling is a more effective way to learn than public schooling as homeschoolers get to choose what curriculum is best for them while students in public school have to go with whatever is thrown at them, homeschooler’s have a more flexible schedule then do public schoolers, and lastly students that are homeschooled are taught on a more personal level. As I have shown, contrary to popular opinion, homeschoolers have at least as good social skills as do students in public school—schools are not the only place to gain social skills and the homeschooler generally gets done with school sooner so has more time to socialize. Finally, I showed that the home school environment is a better environment then the public school environment as public schools have issues with violence and socially degrading bullying. The 1.1 million homeschoolers in the United States are indeed making the right decision.

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