Anyone who reads the paper or hears the news knows that home schooled students have excelled in terms of their public performance in the National Spelling and Geography Bees.  Yet school administrators, teachers and much of the general public seem to persist in feeling that these exemplary students are the exception rather than the rule.  We continue to hear and read* that homeschooling is a poor choice for students in terms of academic excellence and social education.  In order to negate those negative attitudes with up to date research, HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association) commissioned Dr. Brian Ray, an imminent home school authority, to do a 2007-2008 study to piggyback upon prior results of 1998 research conducted by University of Maryland’s Dr. Lawrence Rudner.

And the results?  Surprise!!  Now that the homeschool movement has about 25 years of research behind it, home schooled students still consistently outperform public schooled students! What is especially fascinating is that factors such as the level of education of the parents, the amount of money spent annually on students’ education, the amount of government regulation of homeschooling and whether or not either parent were previously certified teachers did not significantly influence students’ performance on the three indicators used to assess students’ prowess: the Stanford Achievement Test, The Iowa Test of Basic Skills and the California Achievement Test.

Fascinatingly, the research also suggests that homeschooling narrows the gaps between the rich and the poor, between male and female students and from those with white and blue color backgrounds – something our public educational system just hasn’t been able to effectively accomplish.

So there you have it!  It works!  And at a minute fraction of the cost of public school.

Now I know I am preaching to the choir here, but if you are considering homeschooling or new to homeschooling, I want you to hear what I am saying:

You can do this.

Yes, there is a learning curve, and yes, you will feel more on top of things the longer you homeschool.  Look for help and support in a group of like-minded people and realize you will. never. learn. it. all. and that is OK! So be encouraged -  if you are worried that you are ruining your kids, you probably aren’t. LOL  Even if you always feel behind, compare your homeschool to others’ and always feel you are lacking, or are more unorganized than you would like, it appears that you have a pretty good chance of not only meeting, but perhaps even vastly exceeding the public school system.  Even if you are just an amateur.*

With hope in Him,

For more encouragement, please read this.

To read the complete study referred to above, read here.

To read the HSLDA article about the study, read here.