DH wants documented proof that homeschooling is beneficial to students. help me show him it's a...

[meg-momto2]

does that make sense? DH is still dead set against homeschooling. he wouldn't even research anything on it and refused to read my links for weeks and weeks. i finally told him he can't say no if he doesn't learn about it. he finally read the few links i gathered from here and a friend. he claims he can't find any documented studies on how beneficial homeschooling is.

DS had a very rough year in Kinder and is not good at containing his temper in the class room. he was still getting into physical fights at the end of the year despite being in a small class with lots of attention. we're supposed to register him on the 5th if we're doing public school so i'm short on time. i'm really not sure why DH is so dead set against it. he seems to have a polar opposite view of what homeschooling is about then i do. you know what really bugs me, DH was fine with us homeschooling DS last year when we were going to pull him out after a few weeks of kindergarten trauma but not now. i got talked into just switching DS into a smaller class instead of withdrawing him.

does anyone have any studies or sites i can check out to sway him towards homeschooling?

[mom2ponygirl]

http://www.fraserinstitute.org/ Go to this site and search homeschool. There will be many scholarly articles about education here along with the very positive homeschool article.
A couple of quotes: "Almost one-quarter (24.5 percent) of home schooled students perform one or more grades above their age-level peers in public and private schools. Grades 1 to 4 home school students perform one grade level higher than their public- and private-school peers. By grade 8, the average home schooled student performs four grade levels above the national average (Ray, 1997a)"

"The long-term outcomes of home schooled children also suggest success. According to Van Pelt’s survey of 1,648 Canadian home education households, home schooled students enjoy a life satisfaction score considerably above the score of their public school peers (2003, p. 7)."

[fruitfulmomma]

http://www.nheri.org/ - They've been doing homeschool-specific research for 20 years.

Also, http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/, for an insiders look on what is wrong with the public schools.

[Lillian J]

I'd take some time to read through the stories and tips people have put into a number of threads in this forum on dealing with skeptical husbands or other relatives. Start with this thread and follow all the links - there's a lot of helpful material in there:
help? need research support for DH. he thinks i'm nuts for wanting to HS!

When you find things you think would be good for him to read, you might print them out rather than sending him to read online - that makes for the opportunity to read them in more relaxed comfort and leisure away from an electronic screen. Two of the things you'll come across over and over in those threads are books by David Guterson (Family Matters: why homeschooling makes sense), who was teaching in a high school while he and his wife were homeschooling their sons, and John Taylor Gatto, who was NY State Teacher of the Year when he walked away from the system and became a homeschooling advocate.

You might also find local support groups right now, on your own, and start meeting some of the families - if you can find some you think he'd relate to, it would be great for him to meet other dads who would relax his ideas about what homeschooling is like. Here are two places to look:
Home Education Magazine, A to Z, Home'sCool.

Good luck - Lillian

[SundayCrepes]

I don't know if any of these links are new or helpful, but here they are:

Homeschooling and Socialization:
http://learninfreedom.org/socialization.html
http://www.homeschool.com/articles/s...on/default.asp

Movie about problems with education system:
http://www.racetonowhere.com/

Do schools kill creativity? Very entertaining video with some good points to ponder: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY

Article on why young kids’ brains aren’t ready for early reading/writing instruction:
http://www.lilipoh.com/articles/2007..._children.aspx

Here’s an article that discusses how children who start academics at later ages do better in the long run:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/2752895.stm

Youtube videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQQyP9WXKk8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIOogqa-5GA

Unschooling definition:
http://www.naturalchild.org/guest/earl_stevens.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unschooling

I did a search on Peter Gray on the Psychology Today website and he has lots of interesting looking articles. Here are a couple I read:

Math:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/...r-own-learning

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/...ath-in-schools


Reading:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/...hemselves-read

Sudsbury School:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/...sudbury-valley

[Lillian J]

Ah! Had another thought! Here's video taken at last years HSC (HomeSchool Assn. of California) conference: Homeschooling?! - it has some interesting and persuasive spontaneous interviews with seasoned homeschoolers. And this is a fabulous promo some teens from the organization put together to show what the conferences is like - just seeing the hundreds of beautifully joyful homeschoolers of all ages playing and learning together has got to have an impact! I mean showing the poor guy this video is almost cheating! Lillian

[2xy]

Where's the documented proof that shows institutionalized schooling is beneficial to students? Has he provided it?

[sha_lyn]

ACT scores: http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/...llegeTests.htm (scroll down to the excel spreadsheet)
Study on Canadian adults who were homeschooled: http://www.hslda.ca/cche_research/2009Study.pdf
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/...s/research.htm
Evidence for Homeschooling: Constitutional Analysis in Light of Social Science Research:
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.c...act_id=1317439
Socialization: http://learninfreedom.org/socialization.html
List of several studies: http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/...s/research.htm
Cases against public school: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/...rced-education

[Lillian J]

I just took a few minutes to look at those two videos again, and I think they might be VERY helpful in your particular case - there are several parents who specifically mention the problems they saw with their children during their first school experiences! And one of the parents who appears in the video is a very articulate homeschoolng dad who works as a teacher but feels that homeschooling is a better choice. - Lillian

[mom2ponygirl]

Originally Posted by 2xy

Where's the documented proof that shows institutionalized schooling is beneficial to students? Has he provided it?

[caefi]

Originally Posted by 2xy

Where's the documented proof that shows institutionalized schooling is beneficial to students? Has he provided it?

This is exactly what I was going to ask.

[Arduinna]

Originally Posted by 2xy

Where's the documented proof that shows institutionalized schooling is beneficial to students? Has he provided it?

That is what I was thinking too.

[meg-momto2]

thanks everyone. you guys are amazing.

Lillian, i sent him that video and it's the one thing he hasn't looked at yet. i think i'll be sending him a long email tonight with lots of links.

Originally Posted by 2xy

Where's the documented proof that shows institutionalized schooling is beneficial to students? Has he provided it?

i'm going to ask him that. thanks. hopefully that'll put a new perspective on it.

[Savoir Faire]

I'd like to see documented evidence that Public School is superior.

[PGTlatte]

I have this book:

Homeschooling: A Path Rediscovered for Socialization, Education, and Family - Paperback (Sept. 8, 2007) by Frank Vahid and Amy Schechter Vahid

It has very basic information that may be good for this situation:

" The book is written in a rational non-confrontational manner, ideally suited for homeschoolers to give to family and friends to inform them of the rationale for choosing this path of raising a child."

[Momma Aimee]

Originally Posted by mom2ponygirl

http://www.fraserinstitute.org/ Go to this site and search homeschool. There will be many scholarly articles about education here along with the very positive homeschool article.
A couple of quotes: "Almost one-quarter (24.5 percent) of home schooled students perform one or more grades above their age-level peers in public and private schools. Grades 1 to 4 home school students perform one grade level higher than their public- and private-school peers. By grade 8, the average home schooled student performs four grade levels above the national average (Ray, 1997a)"

"The long-term outcomes of home schooled children also suggest success. According to Van Pelt’s survey of 1,648 Canadian home education households, home schooled students enjoy a life satisfaction score considerably above the score of their public school peers (2003, p. 7)."

I'd love to find the article for the Ray quote -- but i can't. Anyone have a direct link.

[kgianforti]

Originally Posted by meg-momto2

does anyone have any studies or sites i can check out to sway him towards homeschooling?

What about real life blogs of kids thriving academically in a home school environment? There are plenty of bloggers blogging about home schooling!

[JessicaS]

I think most people should know that many student thrive while being homeschooled.

I would write out a plan for what you want to do. Check out some curriculum from the library so he can look at it; prepare a lesson plan so he can see what you would do in a day. Show him different activities available in your area for homeschoolers.

IMO you only get what you put into homeschooling. I would show him what you plan on putting into it.

If you plan on laying around all day then my dh would not agree to that, but he does like the curriculum we are using. He is even getting up before me on purpose and starting the science experiments so he can do them with dd. (rude! )

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by 2xy

Where's the documented proof that shows institutionalized schooling is beneficial to students? Has he provided it?

Exactly what I was thinking!

[Momma Aimee]

Originally Posted by 2xy

Where's the documented proof that shows institutionalized schooling is beneficial to students? Has he provided it?

note: i agree with you 100% but i fear that apparch is just begging for confglict and not actually moveing forward in the homeschool discussion.