Scary Homeschool Stats

Some time ago, Crimson Wife over at Bending the Twigs wrote a post entitled

Are the Doubters Right about Homeschooling for High School? 

In this post, she revealed some test scores showing that homeschoolers in charter schools fared worse academically each year they homeschooled.  In the end, she works it, out pointing out that many homeschoolers move on to community college and higher education options, so these scores showed the lowest of the barrel.  

I noticed another disturbing factor... something veteran homeschoolers have been warning us about for years.  These test scores were from charter schools.  Charter schools that have been used for years to lure insecure homeschools back under the umbrella of the public education system.  That means these kids also among those whose parents are  not actively involved in homeschooling their kids but simply have them at home doing public school work.  

 Do you know what these stats really tell me?... THAT PUBLIC SCHOOL CURRICULUM DOES NOT WORK in and of itself. 

 Now I am not going to tell homeschoolers to not use public school at home resources.  I have met some "homeschoolers" who would not be able to function about it. But all homeschooling families must understand that true homeschooling where the parent gets down and dirty into the nitty-gritty of the curriculum and actively helps, assists, and researches is the only kind of homeschooling that will be ultimately successful in the end.  

 Ask any parent of a highly successful public school student how involved they were... you better believe that their journey would mirror that of a homeschooler, even with their kids in school... Why would any homeschooling parent expect to do less?

 Curriculum is meant to be used as a tool... not a substitution for one-on-one tutoring.  No one who understands this fact will have a child whose stats are as low as the ones in Crimson Wife's post:

Are the Doubters Right about Homeschooling for High School?

 Trust me... the doubters are wrong.

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Resisting the Urge to Sleep In

Because Tuesdays can be as long as 12 hours or more (Fine Arts classes on the other side of the county), the kids and I have the urge to sleep in on Wednesdays.  This year we are resisting that urge.  You can't sleep till noon when you have 5-6 core classes to complete in a 4 days a week schedule!  I know it's a lot, but they would not give up Artios Academies for the world, and I would not want them to.

In fact, they came home so energized and happy, I had thoughts of letting them do their academics at Artios too (as they had in middle school years) which would mean two days  a week, but logic prevailed as my budget and their individual needs put me back in check.

So as  I drug myself out of bed at 7:30 this morning and took a whole hour to wake them up and another 30 minutes to get them to swallow their breakfast smoothie and bacon breakfast (yum!) I kept reminding myself that at their ages, keeping a schedule is important and sets good habits that would carry them into adulthood. Still, all I wanted to do was roll over and go back to sleep.

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Tom and Katie Homeschooling Suri?

Well, sort of.

If you've googled "homeschooling" and "news" lately, then you know that Tom and Katie
Cruse have announced their plans to homeschool Suri. This adds another number to the many lists of famous homeschoolers.

I am realizing however, that the fact that the rich and famous are joining the ranks of homeschoolers does nothing for (nor takes nothing away from) homeschooling. Maybe it's because celebrities are expected to be eccentric, or because no one expects or worries about them falling short in their homeschool duties as it usually involves merely hiring a teacher as mentioned in this Katie Holmes interview: "...And we homeschool Suri -- she has a teacher who is with her every day. We like the one-on-one education. I'm happy that my daughter is strong-willed and determined. You really have to go with what the child is wanting."

A Huffington Post reporter however, mentioned that homeschooling is popular with Scientology anyway....  How dismissive!

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Don't listen to the misinformed

So I received a phone call from a new homeschoolers who was told that if she handn't already filed her homeschooling forms that she could be arrested.

That is the kind if misinformation and alarmist reactions that scare people away from homeschooling. I gave her the correct information she needed, but I made a video to vent.

The moral of the story is, don't let random educators (who are not intimately aware of homeschooling) to give you homeschooling advice. Chances are they will be wrong.

My guess is this person got their information from the fact that a local homeschooling mom was arrested last year for educational neglect. They had been "homeschooling" for years and had not filed any paperwork or done any testing. (If I remember correctly, there were some other illegal things going in the house too).

So please, don't let peopel scare you... check with a homeschooling expert



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