Home Sweet Homeschool

A new report from the Department of Education’s National Center for Statistics says that homeschooling is growing so quickly that it can hardly be called an exception to the educational rule. Since 1999, the number of students taught at home has increased by a whopping 74 percent!

As the population of homeschoolers swells, so too do the positive results. According to the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI), homeschoolers continue to earn higher marks than their public school peers.

Dr. Brian Ray of NHERI found that on average, children who learn at home score at least 15 percent higher-and in some instances 30 percent higher-than the K-12 public school average. But academic achievement isn’t the only reason families favor homeschooling.

The most popular motive for educating children at home, according to the DOE’s survey, was concern for the negative influence of public school. Eighty-three percent of parents also cited “a desire to provide religious or moral instruction.”

As a homeschooling parent myself, I understand the desire to give children an environment that affirms traditional values. The government has eliminated God from the classroom and too often replaced Him with an anti-life, anti-family curriculum that misses life’s deepest meaning.

Also, more and more parents are finding that homeschooling better suits the educational needs of their children. It’s low-cost, time-efficient, flexible, and conducive to creativity.

FRC is considering the possibility of providing online seminars for homeschooling families. If this would be a helpful tool for your family, please let us know by emailing correspondence@frc.org.

Tony Perkins heads the Family Research Council. This article is excerpted from the Washington Update that he compiles for the FRC.

Tony Perkins
Tony Perkins heads the Family Research Council. This article is excerpted from the Washington Update that he compiles for the FRC.