Just a little post today to encourage anyone on the fence about their ability to home educate their child or whether or not is doing so-called, “enough”. If you doubt your child will be successful, please do not. If you hear people tell you that your child won’t be able to get into college, please do not listen. If others tell you that you’re child will be too sheltered and not be able to make it in society, tune them out. The proof is in the pudding as they say.

A home educated child has just as much opportunity as a public or private schooled student. My now 21 year old who was educated at home by me, a mom who never went to college and graduated from a private Christian school in 1995, not only went to college but is nearly completed now with almost a 4.0 GPA. He is motivated and studies hard and also maintains a part time job. He does still live at home but his life may soon change.

He was just offered a pretty nice deal at a company who does work for many industries, including NASA. This post is not to brag, this post is to encourage you that your home educated child can absolutely get careers. They absolutely can attend and do well at college. I’ve heard it all when I was home educating my children. I heard really disgusting comments like kids need to go to public school otherwise we are harming our kids future. Please do not believe that nonsense.

Of course much depends on the program you put together for your children. There are so many wonderful curriculum choices out there and I have so many posts about them. Not only does the program you create matter, but so does your attitude about what you’ve chosen to do and your willingness to stick to it even when it seems hard. It will sometimes. The journey is worth it and you CAN do it. Maybe your child will resist it at first or even later on but you should stick to it because you are the parent and you know what is best.

I’m not saying kids from public or private schools can’t do well post graduation. They absolutely can and do. A lot really depends on the motivation of the student and how do you foster their goals and interests. The beauty of home education is you get to create a program that works for your child in keeping with law requirements. Make learning fun! Yes you can home educate teenagers. Yes you can graduate them. Yes you can send them off to college and yes, they can get good paying jobs. My young adult is only one of countless others out there.

Don’t pressure them would be my advice. Don’t raise the bar so high they feel overwhelmed or when they can’t achieve your expectations they just feel defeated. Work with them on their skill and interests. Don’t worry about grades. It also doesn’t matter if your child is college bound or not. It’s okay if they just work and hold down a job working towards independence. College can always come later if they choose it. It doesn’t have to be as soon as they graduate. Some kids are just too burnt out by that point. My 18 year old is not choosing college right now and it’s okay. She’s working and she likes her job. She’s actually been working since she was 15.

I am grateful that I was able to provide that education to my kids. I learned a lot right along with them and about my kids. It was time I would not have had if they were in public school for 8 hours a day. I thought there would be a lot of bickering between my kids when I decided to go on this journey. To my surprise, they got along better than when they were in public school. They did many courses together and learned to work with each other. Home educating my kids was so rewarding and my only regret is not doing it from kindergarten.

Stats

According to my search results home education is growing. “As of 2024, approximately 3.7 million students in the United States are homeschooled, accounting for about 6.73% of all school-age children. The most common reasons for homeschooling include concerns about the school environment, dissatisfaction with academic instruction, and the desire for moral or religious education.”

“Research indicates that homeschooled students generally perform better academically compared to their peers in public schools. They typically score between 15 to 25 percentile points higher on standardized tests.”

“Research facts on homeschooling show that the home-educated are doing well, typically above average, on measures of social, emotional, and psychological development. Research measures include peer interaction, self-concept, leadership skills, family cohesion, participation in community service, and self-esteem.”

“50% of peer-reviewed studies on success into adulthood (including college) show adults who were home educated succeed and perform statistically significantly better than those who attended institutional schools.” “The home educated go to college at a similar rate and succeed at college at an equal or higher rate than the general population.”

“Homeschoolers were seen to have an average standardized test score of 87th percentile as per the National Home Education Research Institute’s study. Compared to this, the score of those going to public school was only 50th percentile in certain subjects.”

“A study led by Michael Cogan by the University of St. Thomas revealed that the homeschool graduation statistics is 10% higher than that of students from public schools.”

“Home school enrollment in Pennsylvania has increased 72% since 2019-20.”

References

NHERI | MAGNET ABA | Admissionsly | PA.Gov