We were able to pick up our mail today and in the stack of junk mail, bills and other such stuff was my issue of Home School Enrichment. And in that was the article I wrote about the advantages of homeschooling, Declaring His Power to the Next Generation.I really enjoyed working on this article and learned a lot from the people I interviewed. I thought it was interesting that, while most Christians homeschool for predominantly religious reasons, there has never been any research done on the effectiveness of this goal. Of course, some things are easier to measure than others, but it would be nice to have some information on the success of homeschooling in this matter rather than just the failings of the public schools.
All of us want to be "successful" and I'm sure there are times when many of us have struggled with questions and doubts about what the future holds for our children. I know I have. That is why I particularly appreciated the opportunity to read Sandra Anderson's research Declaring His Power to the Next Generation? in preparation for this article. Her goal in surveying over 16oo homeschooled adults was to determine how effective homeschooling was in passing on the parents' faith to the children. If I might quote myself (I've always wanted to do that):
When asked about whether they felt their child had adopted their religious views, 90% of the parents responding believed they had. The longer the children were homeschooled, the more likely they were to adopt their parents' values. This finding was in contrast to common misconceptions that long-term, intense exposure might lead to rebellion. This is especially significant when compared to statistics gathered from children in the public schools. According to Consideringhomeschooling.org, "...a shocking 75% to 85% of Christian children sent to public school drop out of church, and do not hold a Christian worldview after high school graduation."The statistics are almost reversed. And this little statistic is even more thought provoking when compared with other findings in Anderson's research. She included the option, "other, please specify" on the assessment of the child's religious values. 7% of respondents chose this option and most of them felt that their children were more committed to their family's values than even the parents. Even where the children strayed, parents did not often blame homeschooling, citing other problems such as discipline that was too strict, not enough love in the home and parents not practicing what they were preaching.
If you are interested in reading the entire article which deals with the advantages of homeschooling based on research in the field and personal anecdotes from those I interviewed, please check out Homeschool Enrichment Magazine. I'm enjoying my subscription so far. You can also request a free sample issue, which should be the current issue. Also check out these fine homeschoolers who answered my questions and shared a bit of their story...not everything talked about made it into the article, but they are all interesting people to talk to.
Carolyn Morrison, of Guilt Free Homeschooling. And her daughter Jennifer.
Sara Lewis, of The Learning Umbrella.
Scott Somerville, of Somerschool...although I did not actually interview him. I just included a quote from something else he had written for HSLDA.
Kristin Braun (Spunky, jr.), of Regenerate Our Culture.
Kim Coughlin of Life in a Shoe.
And last, but not least, Lisa Hodgen of Me and My House Ministries shares the story of a daughter who walked away from the faith.
Related Tags: homeschooling, home school, Christian
