The federal government conducts National Household Education Surveys every three to four years that focus on a variety of subjects, including  homeschooling.  In the 2023 survey, the top three reasons parents chose to homeschool their children were:

A concern for the environment at schools;

A desire to provide moral instruction; and

A desire to emphasize family life together;

From my perspective these all point to a dissatisfaction with the existing measures of success in schools.  School environments in America today are designed for the academically gifted student.  There is one top scholar at each institution, one valedictorian speech delivered at most graduations, one measure of academic success (A grades) in most classes.  Good character— generosity of spirit, courage to stand up to the bully, persistence through failure, ability to bring students together to form a team— are all valued by teachers but left unrewarded in the traditional system of academic grades in most schools.

It is not surprising to me that parents are looking for a different approach: an environment that focuses on each individual rather than the one top scholar, a commitment to and celebration of moral education, a focus on family.  Schools need to consider how to best structure themselves to reward success at all levels for all students.

All of these are achievable in a homeschool environment.

Next Week: Defining Traits for Success in the Homeschool

From our first posting:

“As parents and teachers, we need to reclaim our traditional role as influencers of our children – not by shouting louder than the influencers our children discover online, but by stressing ideas that are more important than fancy shoes and snappy TikTok tunes. We need to emphasize traits that everyone agrees children will honor.  We need to convince our children that the people who are most important to them have a better understanding of what it takes to be successful in life.”

#charactereducation #successtraits #parentingtips #homeschooling #teachertips