It was inevitable that we homeschool

A recent research paper has been published by Eric Isenberg, titled: The Choice of Public, Private, or Home Schooling. It is a weighty tome, 36 pages in length and full of algabraic formulas calculating which families are more likely to homeschool or send their children to private school if they are dissastified with the local public school. Some of the of the variables studied include family size, other adults in the home, religion, public school quality,population density, and mother's education.

Situations which increase likelihood of homeschooling:

Low academic public school quality, especially when the parents are well educated

Mother is better educated (when children are young)

Father with higher education

Rural areas with no or few private schools

2 or more school-aged siblings

Families which include an infant and/or a toddler

Religious families (70% of homeschooled children are in very religious families, compared to 61% of private school children and 45% of public school children)

Evangelical Protestants (Catholics are more likely to use private schools)

Mothers with much time and little income (those with little time and much income tend to choose private schools)

The cumulative effects of all these factors can be strong.

The combination of our household having 2 educated married parents, being very religious, having an infant and a toddler at home, and having a mother with lots of time and no income has seemingly made it statistically impossible not to homeschool.

The decision to homeschool is not just a rational one, but emotional as well. Our decision about schooling incorporates what we think and feel about each choice available. We decided long before we had children that we would not send them to public school with its secular humanistic world view, its low academic standards, and the incredible peer pressure among students to be popular rather than smart. We would have considered private school if any offered a genuine Catholic education. However, our local Catholic elementary cost $4500 per child for a watered-down: "Jesus loves me, this I know; but I don't know much else" curriculum. That left homeschooling as our best option.

With 3 years of experience and test results under our belt we feel that we have made the right choice. However, homeschooling is the most challenging school option. It requires sacrifice, pure devotion, and courage to be successful. The more positive examples we hear from veteran homeschoolers the more it strengthens us. The internet has become a wonderful tool in encouraging homeschooling with email groups, bulletin boards, and of course blogs! So, if you know of a family that fits in some of the criteria above tell them your experience, they might decide to take a closer look at homeschooling.