Harvard and Homeschool

Since the beginning of the Pandemic, there's been an 11 percent increase in homeschooling. Over 5,000,000 million kids now consider home, their school base. Some grieve the change, not believing the home school option a solid educational choice. In fact, many characterized the homeschool community as anti-social and grossly out of touch when I first heard about homeschool families in the 1970's.

As a child, when I heard about homeschool families, I likened them to the Amish and Mennonites. They lived on the same planet I was living on...but definitely not a part of my world. Religious fervor drove families to pull their kids from the public school institution so that they could focus on "reading, writing, arithmetic, and the Redeemer." For those who questioned the wisdom of homeschooling, they cited the young person's lack of socialization. Fast forward forty years, and a Harvard Study finds homeschoolers turn out happy, well-adjusted and engaged.

My wife and I are products of Public School. In fact, after college we both taught in a local Middle School and High School. But, when we decided to start a family, my wife chose to be a stay at home mom and we determined to be a homeschool family. Our oldest graduated in May and already has over 30 hours of college credits under his belt. Currently, we have a Junior, Sophomore, 8th grader, 3rd grader and 1st grader, all learning around our kitchen table, Monday - Friday. During the week, they participate in extracurriculars like choir and basketball. They also engage in weekly gatherings at church. Their experience mirrors some of the findings shared by a recent Harvard Study.

One of the excerpts from the article shares: “The picture of the home-schooled student that emerges from the data doesn’t resemble the socially awkward and ignorant stereotype to which others appeal. Rather, home-schooled children generally develop into well-adjusted, responsible and socially engaged young adults." The article further revealed that homeschool students were 1/3 more likely to participate in volunteerism than public educated students and have higher levels of forgiveness in early adulthood than those children who attended public schools. Homeschooled children were also more likely to attend religious services in adulthood than children educated in public schools, which the researchers noted is correlated with “lower risks of alcohol and drug abuse, depression and suicide.”

Before the pandemic, people often expressed disbelief at my wife's ability to educate our children from the youngest to oldest. They cited their lack of patience as a key deterrent. Others expressed an inability to be a teacher. When the pandemic struck, the entire globe spiraled into a lockdown and the whole world learned a few of the challenges of homeschooling. Some enjoyed the experiment so much that they chose to join the home educator ranks when the shutdowns lifted.

It appears that the surge in homeschooling over the past two years can be attributed to varying factors. Some families find the Coronavirus too great a threat and schooling at home bolsters the odds of physical health. Other parents discovered they wanted to better manage the curriculum being taught their children. Critical Race Theory offends many families and there's an exit from the public school scene because of its tenets. Then, there are some schools advocating for the rights of boys and girls to utilize the same locker rooms and restrooms, despite their biological genders, and this makes many families uncomfortable. For some of these reasons, the number of homeschooling families is burgeoning. According to Harvard, this shouldn't be concerning.

Homeschool families are churning out responsible citizens, young people willing to extend grace and forgiveness to others and ready to jump in and offer a helping to hand to those who are less fortunate. It seems that a few in the higher echelons are recognizing the importance of not only raising intelligent young people, but young men and women with strong and admirable character.

As for me and my house, we agree...