Home school families lead the way
p2pnet news view | Off Topic:- This is way off topic, but it’s still holiday time so I can get away with it. Right? heh
I have a friend who’s an independent contractor at a local school. Over Christmas dinner, he was telling us horror stories of what goes on, there.
“I had to tell a bunch of them, ‘Watch your language! There are contractors here’!” – he joked.
p2pnet is the only site I’m aware of which in addition to other categories, features Kids and Kartels, specifically devoted to detailing the kind of corporate brainwashing of children which goes on routinely in schools everywhere, but particularly in America and, to a slightly lesser extent, in Britain.
That’s bad enough, but it’s by no means all.
At some schools on both continents, kids carry weapons, and teachers go in fear of the children they’re supposed to be teaching.
Two myths …
Home schooling is by no means possible for everyone, but if parents are prepared to have only one of them out at work, accepting a lower income and fewer of the ‘essential’ frills demanded by our ‘consumer’ society, it can be done, and without too much pain.
My wife, Liz, and I, have home schooled our daughter, Emma, from the beginning, and now a Washington Times post underscores what we’ve always known —-
—- kids are way, way better off if their parents are responsible for their education.
“One of the most persistent criticisms of home-schooling” is the accusation home-schoolers won’t be able to “fully participate in society” because they lack ‘”socialization’,” writes Michael Smith in the story, going on:
“Since the re-emergence of the home-school movement in the late 1970s, critics of home-schooling have perpetuated two myths. The first concerns the ability of parents to adequately teach their own children at home; the second is whether home-schooled children will be well-adjusted socially.”
He also says many critics believed, “and some parents feared,” home-schoolers wouldn’t be able to compete in the job market.
But the longitudinal study Fifteen years later: Home-Educated Canadian Adults thoroughly busts all of these contentions.
Not only is job placement a non-problem, home-schooled kids do far better than kids educated at school, it concludes.
Measured against average Canadians aged 15 to 34, home-educated adults in the same age group were “more socially engaged (69 percent participated in organized activities at least once per week, compared with 48 percent of the comparable population),” says the Washington Post, going on >>>
Average income for home-schoolers also was higher, but perhaps more significantly, while 11 percent of Canadians ages 15 to 34 rely on welfare, there were no cases of government support as the primary source of income for home-schoolers.
Home-schoolers also were happier; 67.3 percent described themselves as very happy, compared with 43.8 percent of the comparable population.
Almost all of the home-schoolers — 96 percent — thought home-schooling had prepared them well for life.
The results are “a great encouragement to all home-schooling families and to parents thinking about home-schooling,” says Smith.
“Home-schoolers, typically identified as being high academic achievers, also can make the grade in society,” he says, adding:
“Home-school families are leading the way in Canadian and American education, and this new study clearly demonstrates home-school parents are on the right path.”
Jon Newton – home-school dad 
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
Washington Times – HOME-SCHOOLING: Socialization not a problem, December 13, 2009
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December 27th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
When I have a kid, I hope to be in a position to be able to home school him/her until high school. Definitely want to do my own homework though. Like finding ways to get them into a local kids soccer organization, etc. in order too keep them social.
While I completely agree that current public schools are inferior to home schooling (never mind the completely false BS that gets peddled at some schools), I think this kind of study is inherently bias. Having parents that actually get involved in their child’s education is a huge improvement alone, regardless of where they get their education. In this study there is a portion of public school kids they are studying that have no help at home, to those being home-schooled by parents who truly care.
Nice to see them disprove the socially-inept myth though.
December 28th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
You should of adopted me Jon lol (joke, joke)
Public School has ruined me!!!!—-University is better than Primary or High School ugh!
December 29th, 2009 at 4:05 am
Hi Qix
I must say, I always find it puzzling that anybody would question a homeschooler getting enough socialization. Your kid may not get the chance to rub along all day with 35 contemporaries but they still get to play with their fellow homeschoolers and they are always welcome at any local soccer team, ballet class or choir. Plus, homeschoolers usually know their local librarian by their first name, they volunteer, get to watch dad get a tooth pulled, and even when they are teenagers they have no problem conversing with adults.
Finally, let’s not forget that Mom also needs her socialization, especially after a rough math session, so on that basis alone the kids do get out of the house.
When you do your homework, get a book called Homeschooling for Excellence and read in the appendix the letter from the kid who couldn’t wait to get out of highschool. It’s an absolute gem. A consummate comedian couldn’t have made it any funnier.