11 August 2009
The growth of homeschooling
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Alternative education; Homeschool .
The August 8-14 issue of The Economist has an article about the growth of homeschooling. Once seen as a largely conservative movement (read ‘religious’), homeschool is fast attracting non-religious families who are just as unhappy with the state of US schools. And not just because the internet is making homeschooling easier than ever for everyone, but also because President Obama may be far too liberal for a broad swath of Americans. Hmm. Read on.
KITCHEN-CLASSROOM CONSERVATIVES
Barack Obama could hasten the spread of educating children at home
THE first thing you notice about Karen Allen’s house is that it is spotless. Even in her teenage boys’ bedrooms, not a thing is out of place. And her boys, Thomas and Taylor, are polite and engaging. Your correspondent found himself being grilled about his travels by a boy who had clearly Googled him. In this household, every chance to learn something new is eagerly seized, explains Mrs Allen.
The Allens are home-schoolers. Instead of sending their children to a public (non-fee-paying) or private school, they teach them at home. They are far from alone. A generation ago, home-schooling was rare and, in many states, illegal. Now, according to the Department of Education, there are roughly 1.5m home-schooled students in America, a number that has doubled in a decade. That is about 3% of the school-age population. The National Home Education Research Institute puts the number even higher, at between 1.8m and 2.5m.
Why do people teach their children at home? Many of the earliest were hippies who thought public schools repressive and ungroovy. Now they are far more likely to be religious conservatives. At a public school, says Mrs Allen, her boys would get neither much individual attention nor any Christian instruction. At home they get plenty of both.
In a 2007 survey by the Department of Education, 88% of home-schooling parents said that their local public schools were unsafe, drug-ridden or unwholesome in some way. Some 73% complained of shoddy academic standards. And 83% said they wanted to instil religious or moral values in their children—a number that has risen from 72% in 2003.
[Read the rest here]
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2 Comments so far...
paul vivian Says:
12 August 2009 at 5:57 am.
Fantastic! well done for exposing this awesome child & Christ Centred education system!
I have always held that education is all about teaching children how to get the most out of life and finding their place and role in the community in order to better and strengthen the community, both close community and more spread out. Since God is Life, He has to be in the very centre of the Education Curriculum! It stands to reason!
My wife and I home-school our three young children.
We run a ministry that is absolutely dedicated to the establishing of godly role models in children’s lives and the Word of God in their hearts!
Please check us out with our unique, empowering and pioneering resources for the chil and family, at http://www.truthfabric.com We think you’ll be very excited!!
Bless you enormously!!!
Yours in Christ
Paul & Blanca Vivian
Sharon Al-Haddad Says:
30 August 2009 at 11:17 pm.
As a public school teacher for most of my teaching career, I applaud homeschooling parents for their dedication to their children. It is so easy to just send them off to someone else. For those who definitely can’t afford to stay home, say single moms for example but other circumstances may exist, I do not offer rebuke. The percentage of those students who receive a poor education is small and probably balanced by the absence of learning bad behavior found in most public schools. Our schools are so full of bad behavior; even teachers use profane language. I did a small survey of teachers in several schools and found that only one in ten have an idea of the meaning of the word. Think about the phrases “oh my God” and “good Lord”, so common now as use for expressing oneself. Of course, for some this is not seen as profane language, although placing God before dam is, as it ought to be.
I just read that the president is “so liberal” that many more may resort to homeschooling.
As a Christian myself I do support him. We may not always agree on some things, but his impact on education is not what anyone should fear. It is your state and local boards and the courts who decided that creationism should not be taught as one theory of our existence. It is violence both verbally and physically in the schools that is to be feared.
As for homosexuals rights, I believe as he that they are citizens and as such should have equal rights to jobs, education, decent housing, etc. If they want they should be allowed civil unions. We Christians often consider them the worst of sinners and their life style is repulsive to many Christians, but to God, sin is sin. We can not change them, nor or we to judge them, for God has reserved that right unto himself. Remember Jesus told the men who wanted to stone the prostitute that he who had no should sin cast the first. Even the best of Christians have had some sin. Jesus was a liberal in for his time. He preached a revolutionary message. However, let us get back to the president. He does not support gay marriage, he does practice Christianity and his goal is to try to help even “the least of these” to have a better life (i.e. the poor, the nonwhite, those without the resources to get medical care). Why are we as Christians against these things? Yes, Jesus said that the poor will always be with us, because he knew that our selfish hearts would ensure that happening. While homeschooling, Christian parents have a wonderful opportunity to teach their children outreach to the disadvantaged children of God.