Feature ArticleDecember 5, 2001
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Homeschooling: A closer lookThe student who never went to school- Part III in a 3-part series by Meghan BaloghWhat Comes Next?"What am I going to do after I finish high school education?
This question most likely spins in the minds of many teenage homeschoolers. But not only is it prevalent in the minds of the young people, it is also well-voiced in society. Have homeschoolers been adequately taught, directed, and equipped for the rigours of college or university?
A study done in 1994 compared homeschool accomplishment in the standardized achievement tests with that of public schools. In the results, it was stated that the home-educated students scored, on the average, at or above the 76th percentile in all eight categories. The national average for conventional school norms is the 50th percentile (from A Nationwide Study of Home Education in Canada).
Recently I interviewed a young man who, after homeschooling throughout elementary school and high school with the exception of taking four courses at a local high school was accepted into Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, a very prominent school in the United States. Elias just completed his first year majoring in physics, after having his interest aroused in a physics course which he immensely enjoyed at the local high school in his area.
After taking the OAC physics course, he began his search for a college or university. I applied to 12 (US colleges), and I visited about 18, he told me. Though it was overwhelming being there, the visiting really gave me an idea of what it was going to be like. Elias chose a US college because of the abundance of them there. Because (there are so many) the colleges compete for students, as opposed to students competing to get into them.
Being homeschooled his whole life made for quite a difficult transition from home to school, especially to one of Vassars reputation and status. The most difficult, he shared, was developing study skills because he had never had so much required of him. When I went to Vassar, they put me in second year math and physics with the two teachers that give the most homework in the school, he reminisced. I also had one of the hardest English courses that was offered. I really overdid it, but it was wonderful.
Elias also shared with me how homeschooling helped prepare him for college-level education in ways that he would otherwise have lacked in the public schools. One area was his attitude toward teachers. He does not have the negative view toward them, he told me, that some students develop growing up in the school system. Another interesting (and some might say unusual) fact is his attitude toward tests. Not having all the tests that my friends at school always did, I absolutely loved taking tests. Though he lacked in some of the subjects, homeschooling helped Elias develop the ability to learn quickly when needed to figure them out in a night or two. Elias is planning to choose either engineering or architecture as a career.
Going away to college has become a normal thing, even expected, for young people to do. However, the options are more numerous than that. Apprenticeship is becoming more popular in learning a trade, and is a very practical way to gain experience and knowledge in an occupation. Instead of paying high fees for the education, you learn free through everyday work with an experienced tradesperson, and after gaining experience may even receive wages. Another option is distance learning. There are post-secondary schools now that offer their courses via e-mail and Internet access.
Despite the choices that homeschoolers make in regard to their pursuit of knowledge beyond high school, the blessings of home education go beyond education and into real, everyday life. And though homeschooling has downfalls like everything in life, its benefits outweigh them. But perhaps the greatest benefit of homeschooling, besides the academic advantages, is the enhancement of family life. And that alone is worth it to me.
