Being Schooled on Homeschooling

Being Schooled on Homeschooling

Homeschooling rates as an alternative for education increased drastically as the years have gone by. There is over a million students starting from Kindergarten up to 12th grade who are currently homeschooled. There are many who disapprove of homeschooling and believe it damages a student’s “normal” social life. However, homeschooling has much more advantages and benefits for students. Homeschooling is more beneficial because it produces a higher success rate, better future experiences, and a better learning environment for students.

To begin with, students who are homeschooled have a higher success rate. These students develop stronger characteristics that lead to their success such as intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is “an essential element of educational success” (Riley 21).  Intrinsic motivation is made up of levels of competence and autonomy. A study presented in “Differences in Competence, Autonomy…between Home Educated and Traditionally Educated...”, examined differences between competence and autonomy in 58 homeschooled students and 41 traditionally educated students. The study showed “strong evidence that on average, homeschooled students tend to have a higher level of competence and autonomy satisfaction compared to traditionally schooled students” (Riley 19).  With these high levels, homeschooled students have a tendency to receive higher standardized test scores than traditionally educated students. With the coming of outstanding grades and scores, it leads to higher graduation rates for homeschooled students as well. Also, another study presented in “The Impact of Homeschooling on The Adjustment of College”, revealed that “homeschooled students are more likely to state that most of their grades in college are A’s” (Drenovsky 29). With this being said, the high success rate does not only apply to students homeschooled in primary and/or secondary schooling, but also to success in higher education like college.

In continuation, homeschooled students have more positive outcomes in college. In “The Impact of Homeschooling on The Adjustment of College”, Drenovsky surveyed 185 students from both public and private colleges and universities. The survey examined students’ ability to adapt and be successful in a college environment. College could be extremely stressful and have a detrimental effect on the mental health of students, even leading to depression. However, the survey resulted that homeschooled students had “significantly lower levels of depression” and “did not have significantly different levels of self-esteem” (Drenovsky 28) compared to those who were traditionally educated. The study exposed that homeschooled students reported that they had “achieved greater academic success and rate their entire college educational experience more positively than those not homeschooled” (Drenovsky 31). As previously stated, Drenovsky presented that college students who have a homeschooling background exhibited mostly A’s in their grades which could also be a result of the healthier mind (29). With this information, it can be concluded that the results in the aspects of depression and self-esteem promote a better college experience. The previously homeschooled students in college proved to be more mentally and academically prepared for their adjustment to a college or university setting opposed to those who were not homeschooled at some point in their education. When there is a better experience is college education, there is a better outlook to what will happen after college, hence having a better career and life in general.