Updates

I added two new posts to the site to adress some questions. These are additions to the main part of the project

Q & A about Homeschooling

• How many kids are homeschooled?

This is a hard number to count, since not all districts or states require families to register as homeschoolers. Estimates place the numbers of people who homeschool in the U.S.  at 4,000,000 students. But there are most likely more, and the data from the 2010 census is not out yet. At least 100,000 students graduate from home schools each year.

• What do studies show about homeschoolers?

In national Average Percentile scores, composite numbers show that homeschoolers score on average 86%, 36% higher than the public school average of 50%.

• What about socialization?

Socialization is a personal choice. Even in public school, you are going to find that some kids don't feel socialized. But the majority of homeschoolers do have good socialization. They have a wide range of acquaintances and they can meet other peers through community programs like Scouts, 4H, Sports, and Co-ops. (Just like public school kids.) Take a look at articles like "Homeschooled Children: Social Butterflies or Social Misfits?" By Matt Weight (http://www.discovery.org/) or just google homeschool socialization.

News Article about Homeschool Test Scores

Here are some hard facts about homeschooler's national test scores. These statistics are all real. I decided to make this genre like a newspaper article, since educational acheivements are usually a big deal to the media.

THE HERALD

BREAKING NEWS!

Homeschoolers Score Higher on Test Scores

Homeschooling works! Homeschooled Children are more likely to score higher on the ACT than Public schoolers or even Private School attendees. Homeschooled Students average a 22.4 out of 36 as compared to the National average of 21.1. (HSLDA.org)

ACT Testing officials began to track homeschooler’s scores in 1996, and in every year, the homeschoolers have scored higher than the national average.

In fact, this is true for nearly all standard tests.

On the Iowa Basic Skills test the nationwide average for homeschoolers (k-12) is at the 77^th percentile. Which Means homeschoolers score better than 77% of other students who take the test.

A study by wheaton college showed that homeschoolers scored 58 points higher on their SAT scores than their public or private school peers.

Obviously, homeschooling achieves and overacheives the goal of educating children and bringing them up to college standards (as test results show, even better than public and private schools)!

Homeschooling is… beneficial. It’s a proven fact that home school students are as academically capable as public or private school students.

First Genre- Narrative: My Experience

This is a Narrative that I actually wrote about my thoughts on homeschooling. Before I started homeschooling about three years ago, I had attended public school, and a few other school environments. My opinion is that homeschooling is much better than "traditional" methods, and I feel that I have gotten a better education in these past three years because of it.

My Personal Experience

I have heard people say that homeschoolers have no idea of what public school is actually like. I do, because for nine years, I went to public school. I have been homeschooled for about three years now, and I can definitely say that I prefer homeschooling to public school. I went to a small community public school, next to a private charter school, then back to public high school until finally my parents decided to homeschool me. The best thing about homeschooling is that your education is personalized. I am able to take classes at my own pace. I can finish a subject I am good at in under an hour, which leaves time for me to focus on a subject that I might have more trouble with. I don’t have to sit through long lectures of things I’ve already learned, and I don’t have to waste time with class distractions (fire drills, class clowns, student discipline) like one would have in public school.

Some people say that homeschoolers are un-socialized recluses. That is definitely not true. There are lots of homeschoolers all over the United States. Many cities have co-ops, and my family is a member of one in my community. I feel that I have met more people and have had better relationships than any I had ever had in public school. My co-op has social activities at least once every month (but usually more.)

I don’t miss public school at all. With homeschooling I am able to personalize my education and even take college level classes on a college campus during my senior year. I feel that I have learned and retained more because I can work at my own pace. But I do more than just one subject a day. I have a normal class load, and a few years, I‘ve been able to take more classes than I could have during a year in public school. I generally do school work from nine in the morning to four in the evening. Sometimes I go to seven or I end early, it all depends on what I have to do on a certain day.

Sure, homeschooling is different. But I feel that it is different from traditional schooling in a good way. I had learning disabilities, and I feel that my mom was able to work with me to clear those up, which was something that wasn’t being worked on in public school. Homeschooling can be intimidating and it’s a lot of work. Especially for your mom, or whichever of your parents plans your lessons, grades your work, and answers your questions in addition to running the home. I usually have a longer day than one does in public school (but that’s because homeschoolers don’t have homework.) But overall, I feel that I have better social interaction, better educational materials, better understanding of my classes, and a better experience with homeschooling than I ever did in public school.

Homeschooling is… a unique experience. It is different from public school, but not in a negative way. Homeschooling allows you to take control of your education in a more personal way.

Second Genre- Script: A Homeschooler's Conversation With His Friends

I wrote this script to show how a lot of the common

myths about homeschooling are fake. I tried to model

 it after actual conversations that I have had with my

 public school friends. I've met a lot of people who say

 that homeschoolers don't do the same work that

public school students do, that homeschoolers don't

 have any social interactions, etc. Most of those ideas

 are myths and there are some pretty cool aspects to

   homeschooling that you don't get in public school.

Script

Dramatis Personae:

Aaron: Homeschooled student

His Friends:

Steve

      Larry

      Michael

Setting: Local Skate Park

(About 4:00 pm on Tuesday)

Steve: Hey Aaron, wazup, how’d you get here so early?

Aaron: Oh hey man, I just finished my work early today, so I figured I’d head over here and chill.

Larry: What! How’d you finish your homework so qui… oh yeah, you’re homeschooled.

Michael: So what makes homeschooling so cool? ... Is it true you get to sleep in until 12:00?

Aaron: (laughing) Ha-ha. No it’s not true. I might get to sleep in an extra hour or so, but that’s because I can get through my work faster since I don’t have passing periods and I don’t have a set schedule of how long to sit in class.

Steve: What? No schedule?

Aaron: Yeah, I can do the work at my own pace. If I finish a subject in thirty minutes, I can go on to the next subject right away. I don’t have to sit in class waiting for the bell to ring, and I don’t have to walk to and from classrooms.

Larry: So like, how many classes do you do every day?

Aaron: I take all the same classes you guys take; Calc, Lit, Health, Art, Gym, all five days of the school week. I really don’t get out of anything. Because I can work at my own pace, I can finish a grade earlier than I would in public school. This semester I’m finishing up high school, so I can take AP classes at college next semester.

Michael: Nice

Steve: Dude! What did you guys gets for lunch today? It sucked!

Larry: Fish-sticks. I can’t wait for tomorrow, chili dogs!

Aaron: (laughing) Sucks for you! I can pretty much have whatever I want. Today I ordered pizza.

Michael: You’re untainted by the horrors of public school food?!

Larry: I think I’m going to Aaron’s school next semester.

Steve: So do you know many other homeschoolers?

Aaron: Oh yeah, my family is in a co-op with several other families, and there’s a whole age group for teens. We have a gym class; we go to events together and all the same stuff I used to be able to do in public school.

Michael: So basically all that stuff about homeschoolers being lazy, not having any friends, not having lives ... that’s all fake?

Aaron: Yeah, all of it. It’s pretty cool once you get used to it.

(Scene ends.)

Homeschooling is… cool. Most myths about homeschoolers are false. Talk to a homeschooler you know or take the time to find out more before you believe anything you hear or see in the media.

 

Third Genre- A Typical Homeschool Day ( Mom's Schedule)

This is similar to what my mom plans out for us to do every day of the week. It is very important to keep records of what classes we do every day, because that helps to keep transcripts accurate and make sure that we can fit the required amount of days into the school year. 

A Typical Day (Homeschooling Schedule)

Today: November 18, 2010

7:00: Wake up the Kids

9:00: Start School Work

9:00-10:00:  English

11:00-11:45: Government and Economics

11:45- 12:25: Lunch

12:30- 1:45: Math (Pre-Calc)

1:45- 2:25: Art History

2:25-3:00: Spanish

3:00-4:00: Elective

4:00-6:00: Check Day’s Work. Extra Time to finish work (if necessary)

Tuesdays:  Co-op Art Class 2:00- 4:00

Fridays: Co-op Gym Class: 1:00- 2:45

Homeschooling is… a structured school environment. A lot of planning goes into homeschooling and the work is the same type that is done in a public school.

Images provided by Google Images and Homeschool Life.com

Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography for Multi Genre Research Project

Kochenderfer, Rebecca. “Welcome to Homeschool.com.”  www.homeschool.com. Homeschool. com, Inc. Nd. Web. 14 November 2010.

Homeschool.com “The #1 Homeschooling Resource” was created to “empower parents to create the ideal school for their child at home!” Rebecca Kochenderfer writes that homeschooling has experienced a boom in recent years and states that “between two and three million children in the United States are learning at home.” The site offers FAQ’s about homeschooling, an article on different homeschooling methods, “The Ten Most Important Things You Should Know About Homeschooling” and more articles and resources to support homeschoolers. It also has forums where homeschoolers can ask questions on virtually any homeschooling topic.


Heritage Builders Home Educators Inc. http://homeschool-life.com/in/hbhe/. Developed and Hosted by homeschool- Life.com. Nd. Web 14 November 2010.

This is my co-op's website and I used it to get pictures of events for my collage. The site is mainly for members of Heritage Builders Home Educators, but it does have informational pages for public viewing. Members use it to interact and to sign their children up for co-op provided classes and social events.  It is provided by Homeschool Life, which creates websites for many homeschool groups. It is a good example of the many co-ops that are all over the nation.


Homeschool Central. www.homeschoolcentral.com.  Site Design and Hosting provided by Abiding Web. Nd. Web. 14 November 2010.

Homeschool Central has existed since 1996, helping all kinds of homeschoolers. The site has information on subjects from Art to Writing and everything in between. They also run a site called Homeschool Simplified, which helps families get on their feet when starting the homeschooling process. This site is very similar to the others.

 Homeschool Legal Defense Association. www.youcanhomeschool.org.  Homeschool Legal Defense Association. Nd. Web. 14 November 2010.

The Homeschool Legal Defense Association is a nationwide group that provides legal defense for homeschoolers in court cases and resources to homeschool families in general. It was founded in 1983 by J. Michael Smith (President) and Michael P. Farris (Chairman). The Introduction to the site contains a summary of the history of homeschooling, touching mostly on the recent increase in homeschooling. It then goes on to offer information about specific aspects of homeschooling and contains links to popular homeschooling sites and curricula sellers. 

Weight, Matt. "Homeschooled Children - Social Butterflies or Social Misfits?" www.discovery.org. The Discovery Institute. 19 May 2006. Web. 16 December 2010.

The Discovery Institute exists to promote ideas in the common sense tradition of representative government, the free market, and individual liberty. Weight's article talks about the myths regarding homeschool socialization and serves as an introduction to Dr. Patricia Lines report on homeschooling. He talks about how homeschoolers have better social interaction with adults and other individual in different age groups.

Zeise, Anne.  A to Z Home’s Cool.www.homeschooling.gomilpitas.com. Ann Zeise. Nd. Web. 14 November 2010.

A to Z Home’s Cool community website offers resources to help homeschoolers teach their kids from preschool through high school with lesson ideas, educational websites, books curriculum and etc.  Over 88.4 million homeschoolers are said to use the site, which consists of Articles written mainly by founder Anne Zeise. This site was incredibly extensive and offered over 60 links to articles. It gives links to blogs, state homeschooling logs, curriculum sites and more.