Here are the results of a recent nationwide study of homeschoolers. Testing over 11,000 homeschool students from all 50 states, The Progress Report 2009: Homeschool Academic Achievement and Demographics found the following:
National Average Percentile Scores
Subtest Homeschool Public School
Reading 89 50
Language 84 50
Math 84 50
Science 86 50
Social Studies 84 50
There was little difference between the results of homeschooled boys and girls on core scores.
Boys—87th percentile
Girls—88th percentile
Household income had little impact on the results of homeschooled students.
$34,999 or less—85th percentile
$35,000–$49,999—86th percentile
$50,000–$69,999—86th percentile
$70,000 or more—89th percentile
The education level of the parents made a noticeable difference, but the homeschooled children of non-college educated parents still scored in the 83rd percentile, which is well above the national average.
Neither parent has a college degree—83rd percentile
One parent has a college degree—86th percentile
Both parents have a college degree—90th percentile
Whether either parent was a certified teacher did not matter.
Certified (i.e., either parent ever certified)—87th percentile
Not certified (i.e., neither parent ever certified)—88th percentile
Parental spending on home education made little difference.
Spent $600 or more on the student—89th percentile
Spent under $600 on the student—86th percentile
The extent of government regulation on homeschoolers did not affect the results.
Low state regulation—87th percentile
Medium state regulation—88th percentile
High state regulation—87th percentile
Basically, whether homeschooling parents have a college degree, live in a low, medium, or highly-regulated state, spent little or lots of money on books, and is a certified teacher or not, homeschoolers across the board are at least 35% ahead of their public school counterparts. I'm posting this study for those of you considering homeschooling and thinking you maybe can't do it based on financial, educational, or other reasons. If it's on your heart, you'll do a great job teaching your children!
(The full article and results of the study can be found on HSLDA's website at http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/200908100.asp. )
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Making Homemade Butter
As part of our current unit study: The Prairie Primer, we're reading the Little House in the Big Woods. Chapter 2 talks about how the Ingalls make homemade buttter, so our project today was to make it ourselves. This video is very good to watch before doing your own at home. It's so fun; smaller kids can help make (and eat) it and older kids can learn the science behind it from this video. Enjoy!
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