Difference between revisions of "Homeschooling"

From Conservapedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Line 27: Line 27:
 
*[[Mary Breckinridge]] (1881-1965), pioneering American midwife and founder of Kentucky's Frontier Nursing Service.  Mary's father was a diplomat, and she was educated in America and abroad by private tutors.<ref>Frontier Nursing Service[http://www.frontiernursing.org/History/MaryBreckinridge.shtm] </ref>
 
*[[Mary Breckinridge]] (1881-1965), pioneering American midwife and founder of Kentucky's Frontier Nursing Service.  Mary's father was a diplomat, and she was educated in America and abroad by private tutors.<ref>Frontier Nursing Service[http://www.frontiernursing.org/History/MaryBreckinridge.shtm] </ref>
 
*[[Robert Browning]] (1812-1889), a brilliant English poet.  
 
*[[Robert Browning]] (1812-1889), a brilliant English poet.  
 +
*[[Andrew Carnegie]] (1835-1919), the brilliant American businessman and philanthropist of the late 1800s, his father was a poor weaver and Andrew dropped out of elementary school<ref>http://www.education-reform.net/dropouts.htm</ref> and had only five years of formal schooling.<ref>http://www.carnegieinstitution.org/carnegiemedal/background.html</ref>
 
*[[Thomas Edison]] (1804–1896), the most prolific inventor in world history and the holder of 1093 patents.<ref>http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bledison.htm</ref>
 
*[[Thomas Edison]] (1804–1896), the most prolific inventor in world history and the holder of 1093 patents.<ref>http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bledison.htm</ref>
 
*[[Abraham Lincoln]] (1809-1865), American president. "Though his [formal] education was limited to a few months in a 1-teacher school, Lincoln avidly read books such as the Bible, ''Pilgrim's Progress'' and Weemss ''Life of Washington''."<ref>http://www.civilwarhome.com/lincolnbio.htm</ref>
 
*[[Abraham Lincoln]] (1809-1865), American president. "Though his [formal] education was limited to a few months in a 1-teacher school, Lincoln avidly read books such as the Bible, ''Pilgrim's Progress'' and Weemss ''Life of Washington''."<ref>http://www.civilwarhome.com/lincolnbio.htm</ref>

Revision as of 23:58, May 8, 2007

Homeschooling students get some or all of their education outside of traditional schools. The general term "homeschooling" includes a wide range of educational options and philosophies.

Homeschooling parents oversee their children’s education, usually providing some of the instruction themselves. In addition, they can mix-and-match other instructional approaches, including hiring a tutor; using a correspondence school (or the modern video- or computer-based equivalent); taking classes at local museums or nature centers; joining with other families to share teaching responsibilities in a co-op; and encouraging the student to self-instruct using library books, traditional textbooks or workbooks, knowledgeable mentors and/or hands-on experiences. Some homeschoolers also include local "after school" enrichment programs like scouts, 4-H, sports, music lessons, karate or dance classes, public library programs, and summer camps as part of their educational program.

In the United States, as of 2003, an estimated 1.1 million students - about 2.2% of children in grades K-12 - were homeschooled. [1]

Families who homeschool do so for a number of reasons. The single largest reason that parents homeschool is to protect the Christian faith of their children and to preserve their family values.[2] Other frequently mentioned reasons include concern about safety, drugs, and peer pressure at other schools, dissatisfaction with academic instruction at other schools, the ability to provide religious or moral instruction along with academics, the ability to control what the child is being taught, flexibility in meeting the needs of a child with special needs (such as a physical or mental health problem, a temporary illness, or giftedness), and flexibility in scheduling family life. [3]

In the United States, opting out of public schools is not new. When Thomas Edison's public school teacher said he was "addled," Edison's mother took him out of public school and taught him at home.

Education at public school year-round from about ages 6 to 18 only became common in the 20th century due to compulsory education laws. The first law requiring attendance at public school passed in Massachusetts in 1852; the second such law passed in Washington D.C. in 1864; and most states did not pass mandatory schooling laws until between 1870 and 1917.[4][5]

But even under compulsory education laws in the late 1800s, the school year was only twelve to twenty weeks long. Very few stayed in school from ages 6 to 18. For example, by 1900, only 6% of Americans had graduated from a formal high school. Moreover, these students did not learn basic skills like reading in school; they learned them at home.[6]

An early call for homeschooling in the U.S. was by John Holt and his 1964 book How Children Fail. Holt was "a left-winger who regarded schools as instruments of the bureaucratic-industrial complex."[7] However, the movement was also catalyzed when social conservatives became alarmed at the 1962 U. S. Supreme Court ruling which banned school-sponsored prayer in public schools.

Truancy laws brought pioneering homeschoolers into conflict with local officials. The first New York Times story on "home schooling" appeared in 1974, and concerned two parents charged with "educational neglect" by the Westchester County Department of Social Services. Tests showed that they performed at or about grade level "except for one who is a little slow in reading," and the parents received strong support from a state senator.[8] By the mid-1980s the Times was running articles with titles like "Schooling in the Home: A Growing Alternative" and "There Are Benefits In Homeschooling," and states were legalizing homeschooling[9] A 1997 article said "It's not only Christian fundamentalists any more" and a 2003 article noted "Unhappy in Class, More Are Learning at Home."


Prominent people who were educated at home

Throughout history, a disproportionate number of achievers have benefited from being homeschooled. Here is a growing list of some of them:

  • Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), inventor of the telephone.
  • Mary Breckinridge (1881-1965), pioneering American midwife and founder of Kentucky's Frontier Nursing Service. Mary's father was a diplomat, and she was educated in America and abroad by private tutors.[10]
  • Robert Browning (1812-1889), a brilliant English poet.
  • Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919), the brilliant American businessman and philanthropist of the late 1800s, his father was a poor weaver and Andrew dropped out of elementary school[11] and had only five years of formal schooling.[12]
  • Thomas Edison (1804–1896), the most prolific inventor in world history and the holder of 1093 patents.[13]
  • Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), American president. "Though his [formal] education was limited to a few months in a 1-teacher school, Lincoln avidly read books such as the Bible, Pilgrim's Progress and Weemss Life of Washington."[14]
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945), U.S. President. Was educated by private tutors at home through age 14, then entered Groton, an elite private school in Massachusetts, in 1896. [15]
  • George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), author. Tutored in the classics by a clerical uncle until he entered school at age 10. Left school by age 15. [16], [17], [18]
  • Mark Twain (real name was Samuel Clemens) (1835-1910), American author and satirist who said, "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." Attended school through the 5th grade, where he "excelled only in spelling" and was frequently truant, then worked as a printer's apprentice for a local newspaper. His mother said, "He was always a great boy for history, and could never get tired of that kind of reading; but he hadn't any use for schoolhouses and text books." [19][20]
  • Andrew Wyeth (1917- ), American artist, was tutored at home until he was 18. [21]

Arguably Homeschooled

Lists abound of famous homeschooled achievers.[22][23]. Here are some examples in addition to those above:

References

  1. ↑ [1] Homeschooling in the United States: 2003 Statistical Analysis Report, National Center for Educational Statistics, NCES 2006-042, Feb 2006
  2. ↑ In this government study, the question was in a politically correct form about "religion", but the religion was almost entirely Christianity.[2]
  3. ↑ [3] Homeschooling in the United States: 2003 Statistical Analysis Report, National Center for Educational Statistics, NCES 2006-042, Feb 2006
  4. ↑ Compulsory Education, National Conference of State Legislatures: "More than 150 years have passed since Horace Mann helped Massachusetts establish a statewide system of education that eventually led to the requirement that all children attend public school. In 1852, Massachusetts became the first state to pass compulsory school attendance laws, and by 1918, all states required children to receive an education."
  5. ↑ http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/kellmeyer/050428
  6. ↑ id.
  7. ↑ Micklethwait, John and Adrian Wooldridge, The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America. Penguin, 2004. pp. 190-1
  8. ↑ "Parents Accused in Home Schooling," The New York Times, July 28, 1974, p. 45
  9. ↑ Belluck, Pam (1998), "Life After Home Schooling," The New York Times, November 1, 1998, p. ED26: "Some 15 years after states began legalizing home schooling in earnest, these early graduates are starting to make their way in the world."
  10. ↑ Frontier Nursing Service[4]
  11. ↑ http://www.education-reform.net/dropouts.htm
  12. ↑ http://www.carnegieinstitution.org/carnegiemedal/background.html
  13. ↑ http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bledison.htm
  14. ↑ http://www.civilwarhome.com/lincolnbio.htm
  15. ↑ The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers. "Franklin D. Roosevelt." Teaching Eleanor Roosevelt, ed. by Allida Black, June Hopkins, et. al. (Hyde Park, New York: Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site, 2003). [5]
  16. ↑ Encyclopedia of World Biography on George Bernard Shaw[6]
  17. ↑ Dictionary of Literary Biography on George Bernard Shaw[7]
  18. ↑ George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950 Biographical Sketch[8]
  19. ↑ The Mark Twain House and Museum: Biography of Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain [9]
  20. ↑ The Project Gutenberg EBook of Mark Twain, by Archibald Henderson [10]
  21. ↑ The Homeschooling of Andrew Wyeth, A Conversation with the Artist, Gifted Children Monthly, May 1986, Vol 7 No. 5.[11]
  22. ↑ http://www.eadshome.com/Famoushomeschooled.htm
  23. ↑ http://www.education-reform.net/dropouts.htm

External links

Retrieved from "https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Homeschooling&oldid=150249"