Sunday, May 17, 2009

The Virtues Of Home Education Are Clearly Demonstrated

Want your child to be a leader, not a follower? Then get him out of the public school system.
...In meeting individuals who are working to improve our country through political action, I am increasingly amazed at how many home-educated adults I meet. In fact, the first person I met at this conference was a home-educated adult and member of HSLDA! Talk about direct evidence that our work is helping to produce influential individuals who are trying to make a difference! This was not the first time I had met such an individual nor was this the only home-educated person at this conference. In fact, it seems that a surprising number of young political staffers and even elected politicians were home educated. The anecdotal evidence that home education tends to produce leaders is corroborating the growing evidence provided by research.

This is especially encouraging when we consider that, in the general population, this same age demographic is disengaging from political involvement. In the last federal election, only 25% of adults between the ages of 18 and 28 actually voted, whereas this percentage doubles among home-educated adults, according to the last Canadian study on home education.1

Home-educating parents can take comfort in the knowledge that not only is the newest research continuing to support and recommend home education as an effective option, but that home-educated graduates themselves are proving the effectiveness of their education by their actions as adults.
Yes, it takes time and effort, not to mention that the government is anything but supportive. And yet - homeschooling produces the best results. Here's another passage from the same article:
The significance for parents is twofold. First, the most effective teacher for a child will be the one with which that child has established a strong bond. In this context, parents have a natural advantage over everyone else if they are willing to foster and maintain the relationships with their children. Second, by sending children to school, parents are giving teachers and peers the position of greatest influence and moral authority in their children’s lives. In this context, it should be no surprise when the children disregard the influence of parents in favour of peers. In light of this research, it is only logical that home education not only tends to produce better academic results, but also children who value their parents and also seek to emulate them.
So, isn't it worth all the hard work?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

While I couldn't agree more that home schooling is the way to go in the short-run, if there is to be any hope of turning around the slouching towards Gomorrah it is fundamental that the government/activist stranglehold on public education be broken once and for all. There needs to be an all out push to undo what king george II did with our Dept. of Education and to get a national movement in favor of school vouchers. These are state and local issues where the truly progressive states (i.e. those that promote freedom and responsibility and the values of the Founding Fathers) should be able to make these changes, and dent the national organization of the education mafia! You perhaps more of a federal issue on such things, but any sane person can understand the importance of introducing competition into the educational system... Keep up the great work!