Why We Decided to Homeschool – And It’s Not Why You Think | Part 3: The Research
This is part 3 of a series on why we decided to homeschool – if you missed the first post click here! If you missed the second post click here!
Research Influenced Why We Decided to Homeschool
Is Kindergarten really That Hard?
The heart-to-hearts I had with my son, my friends, my husband, and God led me to take a closer look at homeschooling. Since I was inviting God to lead my heart in this decision on homeschooling, I needed more information. Our son voiced his opinion on school; my husband and I did not want to dismiss this. We also didn’t want to put too much stock in it – after all, he was just a six-year-old. Would our boy have the same experience if the work load was cut down by 50%? If more play was included in the day? We didn’t want to make a life altering decision if our boy had unrealistic dreams of playing all day. Though my mama bear instincts told me that there was a problem, I needed to look into this further. What was happening in kindergarten across the nation? Here are a few of the articles I read:
Play is Disappearing from Kindergarten. It’s Hurting Kids
Are Academic Demands and Overscheduling Stressing Kids Out?
All Work and No Play in Kindergarten
These articles informed me about how kindergarten changed over time. Academic demands have risen, and time to play has decreased. What really confirmed my son’s interpretation of his work load came directly from his kindergarten teacher. During a recent conversation I had with her, his teacher said, “Kindergarten is very rigorous. It’s more like I’m teaching 1st and 2nd grade to 5-and 6-year-olds.” With 20 years of educating kindergarteners, I valued her comment. Our struggles and stresses felt validated. I became confident that my boy wasn’t exaggerating his work load.
Kindergarten is very rigorous. It’s more like I’m teaching first or second grade to five-and six- year-olds.
Our son’s kindergarten teacher
Did Play Time Influence Why We Decided to Homeschool?
Why Play Matters
When a child says that they don’t have enough time to play, adults may believe the child is being lazy. Adults must consider that it could be the child communicating that they have too much work and they need a break – which in their world is play. In the same way, an adult has the tools to express feeling overwhelmed, overworked and stressed, and they can advocate what they need for themselves.
Don’t just take my word on it. Ample research has proven the importance of play for children of all ages. In the article, The Power of Play: 6 Benefits for Children, Blahey writes,
Lori Blahey, The Power of Play: 6 Benefits for Children. August 2021“When adults feel overwhelmed, we retreat into activities that soothe us. We go to the gym, sing karaoke with friends, walk around the neighborhood, weed the garden or play a board game. These activities are more than a distraction. They are a way of bringing play back into our lives and connecting us to the things in life that help ground us.
Children are the same, although they need a lot more playtime. Frequent, daily play can help reduce anxiety, stress and irritability. It also helps boost joy and self-esteem.”
The author goes on to cite reason upon reason in which play benefits children from infancy all throughout one’s teenage years. Here are some of these benefits:
- Play establishes skills to develop relationships.
- Play develops creative problem-solving skills.
- Play augments neural connections in the brain.
- Play aids in the development of the prefrontal cortex in the brain.
- Play minimizes stress, anxiety and irritability.
- Play builds confidence and self – esteem.
- Play improves communication skills.
- Play boosts literacy skills.
- Play strengthens children physically.
- Play develops emotional connections between people.
If play has such significant roles in a child’s mental, physical, emotional and cognitive health – shouldn’t kids have more time to learn in this way? Gaining academic knowledge is both good and necessary. But is the push for academic knowledge still good if it creates more stress while simultaneously eradicating the way in which children process stress?
Gaining academic knowledge is both good and necessary. But is the push for academic knowledge still good if it creates more stress while simultaneously eradicating the ways in which children process stress?
Home education teaches your child the same amount of information as a student in public school in a much shorter amount of time. There is significantly more free time to play without compromising academic advancements. This benefit sounded more and more intriguing.
Pros & Cons List Helped us Decide to Homeschool
Homeschool Benefits & Homeschool Challenges List
I needed to do some critical thinking. To help me think through the benefits and challenges of each schooling structure, I created lists. These are not exhaustive lists and they are sometimes general and at other times specific to my life.
Homeschool Benefits
Time Benefits
– Less time required to learn the information
– More time open to play & explore
– Flexible schedule
– Sick days as needed with no stress.
– Vacations whenever,
– Easier to schedule doctor appointments
Social Benefits
– Holly would get regular weekly adult interaction from co-ops
– Holly & kids would have more time together & more shared experiences
– Allows family to reinforce their worldview
– For us, this would establish better structure at home
– Jim would gain an intentional day with the kids
– School can happen wherever you want (in home, at a park, at the beach, on vacation)
Emotional Benefits
– School shootings wouldn’t impact our immediate family
– Less unnecessary academic pressure on child(ren)
– Studies prove boys especially do not learn well in traditional school settings
Academic Benefits
– Can cater to individual learning style
– Can cater to individual learning pace
– Can include other lessons into the curriculum
Ex: Bible, Theology, Cooking, Chores, Life Skills, Lemonade Stand, Service projects
– Homeschool kids tend to do better academically compared with public school students
Homeschool Challenges
Emotional Challenges
– Changes how Holly envisioned the future
– Holly would always have the kids with her
– Sibling rivalries & bad attitudes could wear on each other
Social Challenges
– How would the kids get socialization?
– Homeschool is socially less acceptable
Academic Challenges
– Teaching 3 children who are at different academic levels (or not in school yet)
– I’m not a certified teacher
– Kids behave better for teachers/other adults than their parents
– Missing out on music, art, gym, assemblies, spirit weeks & class parties
Public School Benefits & Public School Challenges
Public School Benefits
Time Benefits
– Operates very systematically which creates a routine for the child
– Gives parents time away from their child
Social Benefits
– Learns how to interact with other peers
– Learns how to interact with authority figure other than parents
– Encounters conflict with people outside of family
– Offers other opportunities such as sports and clubs
Emotional Benefits
– Learns how to be away from mom & dad (family)
– Learns how to develop friendships outside the family
Academic Benefits
– Taught by experienced teachers
– Held to a high standard
– Extra help available: SLP, OT, Guidance counselor, Tutoring etc
– Easy to understand how child is doing in relation to his peers
– Other opportunities offered: art, gym, music, health
Public School Challenges
Time Challenges
– Kids are away from home 30 hours per week
– Requires more time for homework once home.
– Can’t plan doctor/dentist appointments easily
– Must plan vacations around school calendar
Social Challenges
– May be exposed to ideology that conflicts with our family beliefs prematurely
– Though children are exposed to conflict, they may not be taught how to navigate through that conflict appropriately.
– School shootings have changed how schools are set up (not visitor friendly).
– Children develop their worldview by the time they are 8 years old. Who is responsible for teaching them their worldview? Parents or others?
Emotional Challenges
– Stress from academic pressures
– Kids compare themselves to others in an unhealthy manner
– Must be aware of risks such as school shootings
Academic Challenges
– Emphasizes that kids achieve high standardized test scores
– Motivation for learning could be for good grades rather than the sake of learning
– Teacher has 25 students to teach at once/ Limited one on one instruction
– Parents have less control over what is/isn’t taught to their child
Asking Questions Helped us Decide to Homeschool
Do you remember the first issue blocking me from homeschooling? Home education was unfamiliar to me. It was time to overcome this obstacle by interviewing homeschool moms. Over the course of a few weeks, I was able to chat on the phone with three different homeschool moms. Of these moms, one of them had previously taught in public schools and now homeschools her four children. Another homeschooled all four of her children, who are now adults. The third mom was homeschooled as a child and has now chosen to homeschool her own kids. In addition to these phone calls, I also met up with a fourth homeschool mom for coffee – and bless her heart – she chatted with me for three hours, answering every one of my questions. She even brought sample curriculum with her to show me. Here’s the list of questions I asked:
Questions for a Homeschool Mom
Routines
– What is your normal weekly structure?
– What is your daily structure?
– Do you homeschool year-round or traditional school calendar?
– What do the kids do after their schoolwork is done?
– Do you incorporate other things (chores, Bible etc.) into your homeschool day?
Transitions
– How did your kids adjust to being homeschooled (if applicable)?
– Do you anticipate sending your kids to public/private school at any point?
– Is there anything you do now to prepare them for that transition?
Academics
– What curriculum do you use?
– Is there any curriculum you would avoid?
– How do you verify you meet all of the state requirements?
– How do you teach the kids their individual lessons for their particular grade levels? (i.e. 2nd grade and kindergarten)
– What did your youngest child(ren) do while you taught your older child(ren)?
– Do your kids respond well to you as their teacher?
– How do you discipline during school time? (Attitudes? Sibling conflict?)
– Do you lesson plan? How long does it take?
– Do the kids get “grades?” Who grades the assignments?
– Do you let your kids fail assignments?
– Do you do anything for health, music, art & gym?
– How do co-ops work?
– How do you evaluate if your kids are on par with their grade levels?
– Do you have to do state testing?
Legal Requirements
– How do you legally declare that you homeschool?
– Do you need any paperwork to prove your child has completed a given grade?
Personal Questions:
– What’s the best part about homeschooling?
– What’s the hardest part about homeschooling?
– Do you overall recommend it?
– Do you think there are some kids who shouldn’t be homeschooled? What attributes would they have?
– Who would make a good candidate to be homeschooled?
Legal Information Helped us Decide to Homeschool
Stick to the legal Facts
Did you know that home education is legal in all 50 states? Each state, however, has different requirements associated with homeschooling. To understand the legal implications, I looked up laws for my state surrounding home education from this website. It explains legal requirements from each state.
Statistics Helped us Decide to Homeschool
Academic & Social Statistics
Could homeschooling be successful? How did homeschool students compare academically to students in public schools? How did they compare socially? There had to be research done on this topic. I was right. I made sure the research was peer reviewed, not just someone’s opinion. These articles were especially helpful:
https://hslda.org/post/answers-to-your-most-pressing-homeschooling-questions
https://www.nheri.org/research-facts-on-homeschooling/
The following highlights are direct quotes from the website I linked to – and they are pretty surprising to me!
- The home-educated typically score 15 to 25 percentile points above public-school students on standardized academic achievement tests.
- Homeschool students score above average on achievement tests regardless of their parents’ level of formal education or their family’s household income.
- Whether homeschool parents were ever certified teachers is not related to their children’s academic achievement.
- Home-educated students typically score above average on the SAT and ACT tests.
- Homeschool students are increasingly being actively recruited by colleges.
- Research facts on homeschooling show that the home-educated are doing well, typically above average, on measures of social, emotional, and psychological development. Research measures include peer interaction, self-concept, leadership skills, family cohesion, participation in community service, and self-esteem.
- 87% of peer-reviewed studies on social, emotional, and psychological development show homeschool students perform statistically significantly better than those in conventional schools (Ray, 2017).
- 69% of peer-reviewed studies on success into adulthood (including college) show adults who were home educated succeed and perform statistically significantly better than those who attended institutional schools (Ray, 2017).
- [Homeschool students] go to and succeed at college at an equal or higher rate than the general population
Wow. This data is compelling!
Curriculum & Co- Ops Helped us Decide to Homeschool
Curriculum
If I homeschooled, how would I know what to teach? I had to research curriculums. I spent hours at night trying to understand the options out there, the costs associated with these options and what would work well for our family. That is, if we ever homeschooled. Notice how that inital “never” turned into an “if.” Homeschool had become an exciting option. I saw the appeal and why millions of families in America choose this form of education (yes, literally millions).
Once we decided to homeschool, we ultimately landed on two different curriculums: The Good and the Beautiful for Language Arts and Math. For science, we will use Masterbooks. We appreciate that these curriculums do not require lesson planning and are academically on par with or exceed state requirements.
Co-Ops
If you’re unfamiliar with the term co- op, it’s a group of homeschooling families who gather together to share in a common purpose. Often that purpose is to be social. It can also include academic goals. I Google-mapped several co-op groups in my area and asked around about different options. Finally, I landed on joining a local Classical Conversations group. It is a group that educates kids in a fun and systematic way. There is a set curriculum. The style of education has been established for years and my kids would be surrounded by nearly 50 kids weekly. Knowing my kids would have the opportunity to engage with peers academically and socially was huge. Bonus? I might make a friend too.
Financial Calculations Helped Us Decide to Homeschool
Homeschool families pay taxes into the public school system. Additionally, they also have to pay for their own curriculums and co-ops. My family had to consider the financial impact home education could have on our family.
The Cost of Homeschooling
In true Holly fashion, I created an excel spreadsheet with all of the curriculum I would need to purchase, the cost of our co-op and supplemental subscriptions I’d like to have. This is what that sheet looked like:
| 1st grade Language Arts | $69.97 |
| 1st grade Math | $58.98 |
| 1st grade Reading books | $13.99 |
| 1st grade Handwriting | $15.95 |
| Pre-K Language Arts | $20.99 |
| Pre-K Handwriting | $12.99 |
| Reading Books + Reading Books | $29.97 |
| Family Science Book | $31.49 x 2 |
| Foundations Worldview Course | $125 |
| Prodigies Subscription | $120 |
| ABC Mouse Subscription | $45 |
| Co-Op Cost | $1200 |
| Co-Op Book | $99 |
| Grand Total | $1984.82 |
The grand total landed under $2000 for this upcoming school year. Contrasting that with the cost of tuition for Christian education, homeschooling is a more economical option. Add in the fact that we are actively paying more than $3,500 annually for one of our daughters to attend preschool for 8 hours each week – the cost wasn’t a deal breaker.
Unified
I hope by now, you see that I was not taking this decision to homeschool lightly. With each conversation, each article read, and each prayer, the Lord changed my perspective on homeschool. God had completely altered my heart. It was truly nothing short of a miracle. Instead of being stubborn towards homeschooling, the Lord had awakened an excitement towards it – I actually wanted to homeschool! Equally as important, the Lord was doing the same exact thing in my husband’s heart.
Our story on why we decided to homeschool is nearing the end. To hear what happens next, click here.
