Are Homeschooled Students More Successful?

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People outside the homeschooling community may see homeschooling as an outdated and old-fashioned way to educate children. However, the homeschooling option is increasingly becoming a more popular way for families to educate today’s children, resulting in homeschooling as a more mainstream concept.

Research shows that homeschooled students are more successful. While students in any kind of schooling can struggle and thrive, homeschoolers have the unique opportunity to grow at their own learning pace. This, in turn, can lead to a higher rate of success.

These successful children bring their characteristics and values such as perseverance and service to communities that expand into their careers, relationships, and grown-up life. Let’s explore why homeschooled students are more successful by looking at the reasons families choose homeschooling, what the research shows, homeschooling in the 21st century, and successful homeschooled adults.

Reasons Families Choose Homeschooling

Let’s take a look at the reasons why families choose to homeschool their children:

Opportunities: Homeschooling offers many unique opportunities, experiences, and qualities that make it superior to traditional schooling. These opportunities can include travel, internships, and specialized learning topics.
Teacher-to-student ratio: Traditional schools offer academic support services, often consisting of small groups of students with varying deficits, scheduled a few times a week. Classroom sizes are typically over 20 students each, where there’s an unspoken need to cater to the neediest students. However, the homeschool environment offers 1:1 instruction and support daily as needed and at their children’s pace of learning.
Curriculum choice: Parents choose curriculums to use, teach, and present information to align with family values and learning styles. Curriculum options also offer remediation and advancement opportunities that are appropriate for the individual needs of their children.
Flexibility in subjects: Flexible curricula can allow parents to focus on individual passions such as marine biology, art, or engineering.
Flexibility in schedules: School is part of the real-word, not a classroom with four walls that someone must sit within for hours and hours with limited scheduled breaks and lunches. Learning can happen on a standard 7:30 am to 3:00 pm schedule or from 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm.
The ability to learn outside a classroom setting: Children can travel and learn at the same time. Some families travel across the country in a camper or visit other countries and teach along the way, learning history with a real-world perspective. Learning spent outside, on walks, or field trips is beneficial too.
Safety: With news of active shooter threats, sexual misconduct on school campuses, racism, and bullying in traditional schools, the home environment is by far safer. When children feel affected by these things, anxiety and depression can set in, which will affect school attendance and achievement levels. Safety is a top reason that parents choose to homeschool.
Community involvement: Homeschooling allows more regular opportunities to get involved in their communities, providing service through volunteerism. Families can also take the time for field trips in their local communities and beyond.
Dissatisfaction: Parents are increasingly becoming dissatisfied with the quality of education their children receive from public schools and are looking for other options in educating their children.
Strong relationships: Homeschooling creates and forms strong familial bonds. Opportunities to serve the community, volunteer, and participate in co-ops and athletics give homeschoolers various positive social experiences.

What the Research Shows

Research provides evidence that non-traditional learning, such as homeschooling, is better for children. The National Home Education Research Institute shares some recent data about the success of those that are homeschooled:

Homeschoolers score 15-30 percentile points higher on tests than students attending public schools. These above-average scores on achievement tests occur higher regardless of their parents’ education or income levels.
Homeschoolers are typically above average on emotional, social, and psychological development measures, including peer interaction, self-concept, leadership, and self-esteem.
Students educated at home score above average on the SAT and ACT tests used for college admissions.
Colleges are actively recruiting homeschooled students. Additionally, homeschoolers graduate at a higher rate from colleges than traditionally schooled children, viewing the college experience favorably overall.

Exploring How Homeschoolers Can Continue To Be Successful in the 21st Century

Academics, technology, and educational opportunities seem to be in constant change. In public schools, curriculums get updated to reflect current times or philosophies. Technology grants and tax resources give schools updated materials such as smart boards, iPads, and digital learning tools. Educational opportunities are presented through guest speakers, grants, and so on.

Homeschooling parents may wonder if they can offer the same at home.

Of course, they can! Homeschooling can also transition and change; it always has been able to do just that! Technology is here to stay, and homeschoolers can benefit from using it for academics and skills used in the workforce.

While technology shouldn’t replace the educator or parent, it can be an excellent resource for students needing multiple learning modalities.

Children taught at home have access to online learning as well. Khan Academy offers free lessons in a large variety of subjects and also provides SAT practice. Parents and students can also receive feedback about their progress on skills.

Outschool.com offers Zoom lessons, courses, and activities on a tremendously large number of topics that appeal to learners from Pre-K through 18 years old. Students can take 1:1 tutoring classes, classes about a specific science topic, learn about an animal or how to cook, or join an online social group to talk about their favorite books or video games.

Online resources can also offer a personalized, innovative computer tool that instructs based on student performance. These “smart” programs will review skills as needed to ensure that students master them. Here are a few examples:

IXL – is a smart computer program. This tool offers skill practice and support for mathematics, language arts, science, social studies, and Spanish. Students from Pre-K through 12 grade can use this tool, and IXL can even be used for preparation for the ACT or SAT.
Raz-Kids – also known as Reading A-Z, provides thousands of downloadable books and activity sheets, projectable content, and teacher materials along with online activities. Students also can read books online through the program and are rewarded earning stars to customize a robot and space station. Reading A-Z also offers support for science, writing, and vocabulary.
MobyMax – is another online interactive tool that can be used for differentiated and adaptive learning with engagement and assessment opportunities. The technology will help identify learning gaps to help improve student outcomes and promote growth. They offer 27 subjects for grades K-8, including mathematics, phonics, reading, writing, social studies, and science.

Also, it may be beneficial to utilize publishing tools on a computer. The workforce may need employees who know how to use word processing templates and documents and spreadsheets for data collection. Employees may need to know how to create, save, and organize virtual files.

Homeschoolers can learn how to type on the computer and create powerpoints and presentations. Suppose they take a local community college course. In that case, they’ll need to know how to navigate online resources for the library, teaching platforms such as Google Classroom or Blackboard, and how to use and access digital textbooks.

With homeschooling in the modern-day, parents can offer an even more personalized education with available online resources. Traditional classrooms have access to these as well. Still, there’s a contingency on funding to provide these resources to an entire student population that could hinder them in accessing some of these resources. This may not be an issue for the homeschooling classroom.

Homeschooled Students Turn Into Successful Grown-Ups

Abraham Lincoln, Margaret Mead, Gloria Steinem, and Thomas Edison were homeschooled and successful adults. While the definition of success as a grown-up varies based on personal values and goals, homeschooling provides a strong foundation for a successful path.

Generally, many adults that were homeschooled experience a reasonably high success rate.

If you talk to a successful person, you may find them reflecting on how an opportunity during their youth drove their passion for their work as adults. Homeschoolers often have the time to pursue those individual passions early in life. They can continue to develop them because they have the time and flexibility in their day to do so.

This can lead to success in college and beyond. Some may even create and build businesses out of the passions of their youth.

There’s no definitive research that shows that homeschooled children turn into socially awkward or inept adults. Many homeschooled children have opportunities to build strong social skills with various people through real-world experiences, bonding with families, co-ops, athletic and young-centered groups, and people in community service projects.

These experiences help children become confident and successful adults capable of positive personal and working relationships.

The National Home Education Research Institute offers research findings on homeschooled adults:

Adults educated at home succeed and perform statistically and significantly better than those who attended traditional institutional schools in their careers.
Homeschooled adults participate in local community service more often than the general population.
Home-educated adults tend to vote and attend public meetings more often than the general population.

Conclusion

There’s ample evidence that homeschooled students are more successful. The home environment provides safe and foundational support for children to learn and grow in a customized way just for them. This, in turn, gives them the confidence and ability to gain skills to become successful and contributing members of society.