Homeschool Dad Blog

In an Op-Ed Piece in the Washington Times, Home School Legal Defense President J. Michael Smith offered comments on a survey conducted by Ellison Research.

According to the study, homeschooling is seen as a better quality option for education, scoring 3.14 out of 5, compared to the 3 scored by public schools. HSLDA is interpreting that as an increased recognition of homeschooling as a quality education option - a reputation that is starting to exceed that of public schools.

However, when asked “Which is most likely to prepare students for life after graduation?” respondents favored the public schools: 42% to 6%.

I have to agree with HSLDA - this doesn’t make sense. The better education prepares one less for real life? Isn’t the advice given to every social outcast during high school that real life isn’t like high school?

I’ll probably revisit this often, but there is a wonderful article written on the many factors of the high school social system that do not mirror real life. It addresses how issues like bullies, upperclassmen, and even how the administration classifies your are not only unheard of in real life, but also illegal. For instance, in high school you are assigned to a school based on your age, zip code, and in crowded districts even by the alphabetization of your last name. If a company were to use such factors in hiring, it would result in either a poorly staffed organization or massive age discrimination suits.

In my own experience, I had one year of public high school in the middle of 3 years of home educated high school study. I can see why freshmen college students struggle so much during the first year - skills like time management have to be learned, and often habits learned in the public school system have to be broken.

If there is one period where students should NOT be put into a public education system, it is high school. Too much dependence is taught on teachers and hierarchy. A student goes from spending 30 hours a week in the high school classroom to 12-15 hours of class time in college - and suddenly no one is telling them how to meet deadlines or structure their time.

While homeschooling methods vary, virtually all of them rely on the student taking more responsibility for their time than the average public school student.

Of course, don’t quote me. Ask the admissions officers at colleges. Homeschoolers are becoming more sought after by universities.

Gee, I wonder why.

Here’s an older tidbit of info that I’ve not heard much about lately.

MIT and other universities are making some of their courses available online, for free. Some courses are merely lecture notes, others are full audio and or video presentations of each class.

These are great for furthering your own education, or preparing your children for college by having them “sit in” on a few classes, or for integrating into your curriculum.

Here’s the MIT OpenCourseWare Home Page