Friday, January 09, 2009

1.5 Million Homeschoolers in the U.S.

homeschooling mom
American Parents Lose All Confidence in Public Schools

7 comments:

Leticia said...

As a former Jersey girl, are you aware that this statistic of 1.5 million is the SAME number of public school students in New Jersey?!

Anonymous said...

Esther,
I teach in a public university. I would really like to know why those who are so opposed to public education, do not enroll their children in Catholic parochial schools, of which I am a 'product' of and also where I sent my own children too. Please let me know why homeschooling is supposed to be 'better' than parochial schools? What is it that homeschoolers are against parochial schools....I can understand the issues of secularism in public schools, but not the spiritual upbringing of parochial schools.
Thanks!

EC Gefroh said...

Anonymous, I can only speak for my family. My son attended public school, then homeschool. He also attended Catholic school for two years before returning to homeschooling. There were two main reasons for choosing Catholic homeschooling over Catholic school. One is financial, the tuition for Catholic school is expensive. Which leads to the second reason. Orthodoxy. Some of the Catholic schools...maybe many of the Catholic schools water down the faith. Maybe it is because like one teacher told me, she didn't want to offend her non-Catholic students. If the Catholic schools had been strong in teaching the Catholic faith, my husband and I would not have hesitated to send our son to Catholic school, even if it meant making financial sacrifices to do so.
With homeschooling, he got a very Catholic education. He defends the faith and also evangelizes, etc. His school hours were flexible and more enjoyable. He didn't have negative influences from peers. In fact, the other homeschoolers were always a positive influence on each other.
I hope this helps.

Alexandra said...

If you tend toward orthodoxy in your Catholic faith, homeschooling may be the only way to go. I can only speak for the Catholic schools in my area(SE U.S.A.) - they are not so Catholic, especially the high school of which mostly non-Catholics attend. We aren't even the most orthodox of Catholic homeschoolers, and found the Catholic schools lacking in faith education, and commitment on the part of the teachers to adhere to the Magisterium.

The available Catholic homeschool curricula is fabulous and VERY Catholic(conservative). They steer away from secular curricula. Our curriculum is completely Christian(Bible based and Catholic), something which was very important in our home.

Like Esther, cost is an issue with us. My children are getting a superior education based on conservative values for a fraction of the cost.

EC Gefroh said...

..."My children are getting a superior education based on conservative values for a fraction of the cost."

So is our son Alexandra.

Alexandra said...

Yes, Seton is awesome!

I meant to begin my comment above with "I agree with Esther", but I'm sure you figured that out. ;)

EC Gefroh said...

yeah, I did :-)