Homeschooling - dangerous?

In last week’s edition of the Alfred Sun, there was a letter to the Editor concerning homeschooling. The letter was much less then flattering, indicating that in the opinion of the writer, homeschooling was actually dangerous to our children. My wife and I homeschool both of our children, and I believe our children are very well adjusted, intelligent kids that can carry on a conversation with most anybody. So I took offense to that letter, and wrote a response, which I sent to the Sun. (In fact, both of my kids wrote responses as well – I suspect they will get a lot of responses on this one!) Here is my response, which may not mean much without seeing the original letter, but it may help explain homeschooling a little:

In the January 24 issue of the Sun, it included a letter to the editor from Elizabeth Frisbie titled, “Homeschooling not Good.”

We homeschool our two children, and have for about eight years now. My experience has been just the opposite in every category mentioned.

First, she talked about the physical and emotional health of the children. Physically, my children are sick far less than our neighbors, who go to public school. As far obesity in homeschool children, I have never seen any studies on that subject. I would be very surprised to hear of any link. In the last eight years we have been involved in at least five homeschool organizations, and met hundreds of homeschool kids, and certainly have not noticed an obesity problem.

As to the physical education, apparently Frisbie isn’t aware of the State regulations that govern homeschooling, and require physical education. Over the years, our children have been involved in soccer, swimming, baseball, basketball, archery, hiking and roller skating, mostly in groups of other homeschoolers. Our children seem to be very fit.

Frisbie’s letter suggests a link with homeschooling leading to obesity, leading to diabetes. I assure you that no such link exists. Obesity is a problem in our culture today, but if I have observed a difference between obesity rates in homeschool students versus public school students, it is the homeschoolers who appear more fit.

Frisbie also talked about the drama, jealousy, and conflict as a good thing. I disagree. These rumors and conflicts cause anxiety that distracts them from their education, and may even lead to depression, a sense of worthlessness, and a loss of value as a person. I think that there is more than enough anxiety in most families to teach kids to stand up for themselves without bombarding them with peer pressure in the public school system.

Lastely, Fristbie brought up socialization. I have heard about this concern as long as we have been homeschooling. Right now, we belong to two local homeschool groups, and get together with other homeschooled children on a regular basis. Our children each have several friends, go to youth groups with a number of other children, some homeschooled and some not. My daughter is involved in dance classes with other children. They each of numerous opportunities to get together with other people each week. For some reason, there is a common misconception that homeschoolers live in cocoons and go through their year without any contact with the outside world, but that’s just not the case.

We homeschool because we want the very best education for our children. We purchase our own curriculum, the same curriculum that many private schools use, and we can spend one on one time with each of them, something public schools just can’t do. In fact, a number of colleges are actively pursuing homeschooled students because they find they do quite well in college.

So I disagree that homeschooling is dangerous to our kids. In fact, I find a number of advantages. So while it might not be for everyone, for those that can, you will be glad you did.

Rev. Steve Dygert
Almond

So that was the letter - comments welcome...