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Home Education Research Facts
Home schooling is legal in all 50 states. Laws concerning requirements differ from state to state. There are currently over 1 million US home schooled students. One researcher (Knoles, 1988) has linked the life histories of parents to their rationales for home educating their children. Teaching specific religious or philosophical values, high level academics, controlling social interactions, and developing close families are the most common reasons for homeschooling.
"Young home school students test one grade level ahead of their counterparts in public and private schools. As they progress, the study shows that home schoolers pull further away from the pack, typically testing four grade levels above the national average by the eighth grade," said Michael Farris, founder and president of the Home School Legal Defense Association (1999). Home educators are able to be flexible and tailor the curriculum to the needs of their children. Dr. Johnson (1991) concluded that home educators carefully address the socialization needs of their children in every area he studied (i.e.: personal identity and destiny, values and moral development, autonomy, relationships, sexuality, and social skills). Dr. Taylor (1986) found that home schooled students are as involved in out-of-school and extracurricular activities that predict leadership in adulthood as are those in private or public schools.
Most colleges, including Ivy league Universities, accept home schooled students. While a high school diploma from a certified school may be helpful in entering college, most institutions will readily accept home school transcripts, portfolios with an assortment of the student's best work, and good ACT scores. If a parent feels insecure about the lack of a diploma from a certified school, they could opt for correspondence courses from such a school during the high school years.
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