Homeschoolers Excelling at College

Given that I have seen and heard many comments from several secularists either criticizing or outright condemning homeschooling, I thought I should bring to your attention an article by the very respected HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association), which comments on real statistical research about homeschoolers and their success at college.

From what I’ve read, most secularists make very negative comments about homeschooling because the majority of homeschoolers are Christians (it is primarily a Christian movement—even though there are secularists who also homeschool). Most secularists make such negative comments about homeschooling based on their emotional religious-secularist views that are intolerant of Christianity.

Most homeschoolers don’t homeschool just to isolate their children from the public education system (as is often claimed), but they want to ensure their children are taught critical thinking skills (which by and large are sadly lacking in public education—particular in science when it comes to origins), and to teach them a Christian worldview. After all, public education has all but eliminated Christianity and replaced it with naturalism—which is atheism (a religious worldview). Secularists want to impose their naturalistic/atheistic religion on generations of kids—and they often get so angry when there are Christians who won’t allow them to get away with that.

As it is, secularists are imposing their naturalistic/atheistic worldview on the culture (because most people don’t understand there is no neutral position—one is either for or against Christ, as there is no in-between). This naturalistic/atheistic worldview can be seen in the recent decision by the judge in California about the “Gay Marriage” issue, and I will comment more on this on my Sunday blog post.

What I expect is for many secularists to immediately dismiss this research commented on below and without logical reason—except for their intolerance that won’t allow them to accept it.

The HSLDA article is entitled, “New Study Shows Homeschoolers Succeeding in College.”

Here are some excerpts (with a link at the bottom so you can read the entire article):

There is a growing body of research demonstrating the academic success of homeschoolers. The most recent major study is the Progress Report 2009, which surveyed over 11,000 homeschooled students, and showed homeschoolers K–12 scoring an average 37 percentile points above the national average on standardized achievement tests. However, as the homeschool movement has grown—by 7% per year for each of the past 10 years according to the National Center for Education Statistics—there has been little research on the academic performance of homeschoolers once they reach college. . . .

. . . Not only did colleges see that homeschoolers were self-motivated, but they also saw that homeschoolers were high academic achievers. Today, the overwhelming majority of colleges either have a homeschool admissions officer or a homeschooled admissions policy. . . .

Therefore, it was with great interest that we read the new study—Exploring Academic Outcomes of Homeschooled Students, by Michael F. Cogan—which shows homeschoolers succeeding in college. . . .

Some of the major findings include:

• Homeschoolers scored higher on the ACT (26.5) compared with the overall student body (25).
• Homeschoolers earned more college credit (14.7) prior to their freshman year compared to the student body (6).
• Homeschooled students earned a higher fall semester GPA (3.37) when compared to other freshman students (3.08).
• Homeschooled students earned a higher first-year GPA (3.41) when compared to other freshman students (3.12).\
• Homeschooled students earned a higher fourth-year GPA (3.46) when compared to other freshman students who completed their fourth year (3.16). . . .

It is very encouraging to see both the academic results for homeschoolers as well as the ability to stay with a four-year college program.

Devotion

Strength is to sit still

(Isaiah 30:7,15) Their strength is to sit still . . . In returning and rest shall you be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.

When trouble comes our first desire is to put the Lord on hold and fight, fight, fight, but our strength is to not be detracted from trusting the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ken