Most of the following
information is excerpted from the booklet, "First Things
First", published
by Families For Home Education (FHE). This is a booklet that every
Missouri home schooler should have in their library. It is helpful
in letting you know how to conduct your homeschool to meet Missouri's
legal requirements, as well as in offering much sage advice to
guide your homeschool to success. To obtain your copy you can
contact your local Support Group Leader, your
FHE Regional Director, your FHE Statewide
Office, or click
here to order.
Is Home Education a new idea?
Public education as we know it today did not exist in colonial America or in the first decades after the adoption of the Consitution. Education of children was left strictly to parents, who provided the necessary instruction at home or through private (usually church-affiliated) schools. Home education therefore has deep roots in America's history.
Home education was successful. Historical evidence indicates that prior to the introduction of public education and compulsory attendence laws, Americans were probably the most literate people in the world. John Adams observed in 1765 that "A native of America, especially of New England, who cannot read and write is as rare a phenomenon as a comet." A study conducted in 1800 confirmed that literacy was universal in early America.
Many great leaders of the past were home schooled or privately tutored, including:
| John Quincy Adams | Hans Christian Anderson | Benjamin Franklin |
| Abraham Lincoln | Charles Dickens | Thomas Edison |
| Woodrow Wilson | Agatha Christie | Alexander Graham Bell |
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | Pearl S. Buck | Albert Schweitzer |
| Thomas Jefferson | Mark Twain | Albert Einstein |
| William Penn | C. S. Lewis | Booker T. Washington |
| Robert E. Lee | Andrew Wyeth | Andrew Carnegie |
| Stonewall Jackson | John Singleton Copley | Abigail Adams |
| Gen.Douglas MacArthur | Claude Monet | Martha Washington |
| General George Patton | Ansel Adams | Florence Nightingale |
| Winston Churchill | Felix Mendelssohn | Phyllis Wheatley |
| John & Charles Wesley | Amadeus Mozart | Mercy Warren |
plus 5 Governors, 5 U.S. Senators or Congressmen, 3 College Presidents (Yale, Princeton,Columbia), 3 Supreme Court Justices and 6 more famous Preachers & Missionaries.
Why Home Education?
The reasons for home education are varied, but generally fall into one or both of two catagories: (1) moral reasons and religious reasons, and (2) academic reasons. Many homeschoolers are concerned that the traditional school has become a battleground for the minds and souls of America's youth. Youngsters in our nation's schools are increasingly being asked to choose lifestyles and behaviors that are directly opposite those held by their parents. Drug usage, teen pregnancy, suicide, and homosexuality are increasingly the accepted norm in many of our public schools.
The critical role of parents in the academic process is well documented. Parents who home school for academic reasons point to the advantages of one-on-one tutoring and the more personalized, lower stress environment in the home school, which builds self-esteem and leads to improved academic performance.
Studies have shown that many "school-aged youngsters are not ready, either mentally or physically, for formal classroom education". In short, home education provides for the unique needs of each child.
Are ordinary parents qualified to teach?
In another verification of the many other studies done on this subject, Hawk, Coble & Swanson of East Carolina University in their study of all available research evidence concluded that there is little, if any, documentation to support the assertion that the effectiveness of teachers is a function of increased certification requirements (Journal of Teacher Education, May-June, 1985).
It is gratifying that Missouri has recognized the injustice and futility of trying to force state teaching certificates on parents who choose to educate their own children in their own homes and for whom the state certificate was never designed.
Missouri home educators are clearly demonstrating what a half-century of educational research has confirmed -- a total lack of any significant relationship between the teacher's certificate and a pupil's achievement.
What about socialization?
A common misconception is that well-socialized children require the peer group association provided by conventional schools. However, research studies funded by Cornell University found that children who spend more time with their peers than with their parents become peer-dependent, thereby diminishing their self-worth, optimism and respect for parents, all of which are crucial to sound mental health and positive socialization. The child who feels needed and depended upon at home will usually be a social leader because he/she is more likely to be self-directed and independent.
Perhaps the most compelling study to date was done by John Taylor of Andrews University. Mr. Taylor found that the self-concept of homeschooled children was significantly higher than conventionally schooled children as measured on the Pier-Harris Children's Self Concept Scale.
Is Home Schooling legal?
We can answer with a resounding YES! Those people who home school for a religious conviction stand on the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion.
In the landmark case of Wisconsin v. Yoder, the U.S. Supreme Court stated: "The history and culture of Western civilization reflect a strong tradition of parental concern for the nurture and upbringing of their children. This primary role in the nuture and upbringing of their children."
In Pierce v. Society of Sisters, the Court said: "The child is not the mere creature of the state; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right, coupled with the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations."
In Missouri, the compulsory attendance law specifically deals with home schooling. This law, RSMo 167.031, solidly secures the right of parents to home school, with certain guidelines.
What is Home Schooling really like?
As often stated, home schooling is the most private form of private education. It is not designed for isolation, but for privacy -- privacy of living and learning in an intimate family environment. An impressive variety of professionally designed curricula for kindergarten through high school is being used successfully by parent-tutors with only limited formal education. Colleges, universities and correspondence schools provide a wide range of courses for independent study.
The concept of home education raises the question in some minds as to whether home-based schooling prepares students for "real life". Most observers would conclude that the best preparation for real life is to live it everyday as home schoolers do. It is the institutionalized student who is compelled to live in an unreal setting.
The home school commonly provides a much broader daily relationship with the community than does the classroom of the traditional school. Experience indicates that fewer hours of formal instruction and study in basic subjects are required each school day to maintain a student at grade level. The remainder of the day can be available for the pursuit of individual interests:
| field trips | art | music |
| libraries | museums | educational television |
| volunteer work | family responsibilities | hobbies |
| cottage industries | reading | thought / dreams |
Are Home School students prepared for college?
Home schoolers have little difficulty in entering and succeeding in college if they plan wisely and make the most of their opportunities. Most home school programs are uniquely designed and conducted with a stress on independent study, individual responsibility, self-evaluation and the use of diverse resources -- all of which are preparatory for success in college study. Studies of genius indicate that the independent, self-directive, open and undistracted environment of most home schools provides the best setting for the development of gifted and creative minds.
Home educated students have been accepted at many of the major universities in the U.S., including Brigham Young, Harvard, Princeton, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech and Yale.
Why is Home Education necessary?
In a republic with a tradition of free enterprise, educational choice is a vital response to the state's monopoly over the molding of children's minds and character.
Although reasons for turning to home education vary, a common motive is the conviction that the home and family setting can provide for chldren an education superior to that offered via other available and affordable alternatives. The majority are reacting to the fact that government schools no longer allow open recognition and reverence for God or for the divine nature and destiny of man. Others are concerned with the academic deterioration of public education and find that their children attain much better achievement in home schooling.
All are concerned over the modern degeneracy of home and family life, and seek to maintain a close and caring environment for their own children.
What is the future for Home Education?
Author John Naisbett, in his bestseller, Megatrends, cites the growing movement toward home education as a long-term trend in our society, and estimates the number of home-educated students to be as high as one million. [HSLDA now estimates this number to be two million!]
Home education is truly a grass roots movement -- more and more people are rediscovering the value and effectiveness of this ancient and proven educational technique. For more information on family characteristics, student achievement and longitudinal traits, refer to Home Education Across the United States and Home Schooling on the Threshold by Dr. Brian Ray, and "Home Schooling Works", a pamphlet published by the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA).
Movitation
Motivations or convictions about home education vary immensely among individuals. Some of the more prevalent motivations include the following:
* religious / spiritual
* academic
* social / character
* alternative philosophies
* escape from problems in the government system
* and ALL of the above.
The only specific advice that applies to all is this: if you are home educating only to escape something negative or a problem situation in a school environment, it's going to be a long year. In the words of Cathy Duffy, "Home education does not automatically change personalities and family relationships. These things take time, energy and much prayer."
We all need positive goals!
We all need some positive goals...some things we hope to accomplish with our children and our families...our "reasons to be" for doing this in the first place. List goals you want to reach (at least one!), attitudes that need a change, family or spiritual milestones, and keep your prayers and efforts focused on what those goals require of you. You will see your negative motivations gradually replaced by a framework of education for your family that is strong enough to build on for a lifetime.
When your children say, "Why do we home educate?", you'll be able to share some of the reasons with them. You won't be teaching them to run from difficulties they have encountered. Rather, they will see that you are doing this for their eternal good, not just to rescue them from situations that are painful to them.
As the years go by, you will recognize that you have a philosophy of education that is custom tailored to your family, a philosophy that is based on and in harmony with your religious beliefs, academic standards, social/character goals, and/or alternative philosophies. Education will contribute to the life purpose of each family member. It will be much more than school at home!
The most valuable aspects of your first year of home education (and every year) will be what you learn about your family, your children and yourself in relation to God and His purposes for you. Lay a good foundation on eternal values, pray, study, seek encouragement from others, and don't give up!
FAQ's from [John]Holt
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