Students Taught by Mom Achieve at High Levels

Here is the second part to the other post. You will notice it includes not only the section about homeschoolers outperforming traditional schools, but there is also sections on working from the office and home while homeschooling your child; socializing your child (a huge misconception to the non-homeschoolers); the child's choice of schooling and then the cost of homeschooling. Both of these articles from Park Cities helps others to know that we homeschoolers are not weird, that we are normal people just like them. :-P

Issue Date: May 4, 2007, Posted On: 5/4/2007

Students Taught by Mom Achieve at High Levels
Study claims children educated at home outperform those in traditional schools

By Karen Eubank
Special Contributor

Staff photo: Allison Slomowitz
Vanessa Trevino made the transition from being educated at home to classes at SMU.
The most recent and comprehensive study of American homeschooling, done by Dr. Lawrence Rudner of the University of Maryland in 1999, concluded, “In every subject and every grade level of the tests, homeschooled students scored significantly higher than their public and private school counterparts.

“Overall, test scores for homeschoolers fell between the 75th and 85th percentiles. Public school students scored at the 50th percentile, and private school students scores ranged from the 65th to the 75th percentile,” it said Universities around the country, including Harvard, New York University, Purdue, and the University of Texas are welcoming homeschooled students.

Southern Methodist University even has a dedicated admissions counselor in place for homeschoolers, Sarah Spooner.

Spooner urges homeschooled students, as well as those from traditional educational backgrounds, to get in touch with colleges they are interested in during their junior year of high school.

“Get to know your admissions counselor; they are your advocate. Don’t wait until the last minute,” she advised.

SMU typically receives 20 to 30 applications a year from homeschooled students.

Vanessa Trevino is in her first year as a dance major at SMU. She was homeschooled her entire life and said she had no trouble being admitted.

“I just sent in my application and had my dance auditions,” she said. Transitioning into a classroom environment was not a problem, and she loves living on campus.

“Homeschoolers are very bright students and are doing really well,” Spooner said. “I don’t know of one school that would not want a homeschooler.”

HOMESCHOOL AT THE OFFICE
Families have found clever ways of educating kids at home without giving up their jobs.

There have been cases where employers allow older children to come to work with Mom or Dad and “office” down the hall.

The parent checks on progress during coffee breaks and is able to have lunch with their child. Parents have worked out flexible schedules, changed shifts, and hired tutors and nannies to work with kids to enable them to fulfill work obligations and school at home.

Cecile Evans works full time as an analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas. She also manages to educate her son at home.

“We rise at 6 a.m., study until 10, then I go to work from 10:30 to 7:30 [p.m.]. My son works on the lessons and projects that we covered that morning,” she said.

Evans’ son was struggling in ninth grade at a private school. Last October, she found out he was reading at a fifth-grade level. Evans took him out of school, had him tested, found out his learning style, and went to work.

Within four months, she said, he was reading at an eighth-grade level. While she focused on reading, her husband worked on math.

SOCIALIZING YOUR HOMESCHOOLER
The comment that seems to elicit the biggest laugh from homeschooling parents is asking them about the “socialization issue.”

The Fraser Institute, a Canadian independent research and educational organization, reports “The average homeschooled student is regularly involved in 5.2 social activities outside the home.”

David McCullough, a professional artist with a show at the MAC, made a lifestyle choice to homeschool his four sons.

“They all played sports and played with neighborhood kids. If anything, they were more socialized, and in a more sensitive way to the different socioeconomic levels in our neighborhood,” he said.

THE CHILD’S CHOICE
Homeschooled children head back to public and private schools for many reasons. High school is often a time when they want to try out the traditional experience.

Vela Tomba has three daughters. Her oldest is now a sophomore at NYU.

“She had a very successful homeschool career and was offered scholarships to several universities,” Tomba said.

Her youngest daughter ended her homeschooling in eighth grade.

“She did not miss a beat transitioning into a traditional school setting,” Tomba said.

COST OF HOMESCHOOL
You can homeschool with a library card. There are homeschool stores that carry both new and used curriculum, most of which can also be ordered from the Internet. Most families spend an average of $200 per child in the elementary years, and that can double in the high school years.