In tracing the history of 19th century compulsory schooling laws to the modern education choice movement, the report reminds us that Horace Mann, the proclaimed "father of American public education" who passed the nation's first compulsory schooling statute in Massachusetts in 1852, homeschooled his own three children with no intention of sending them to the common schools he mandated for others.
A 2009 study by researcher Michael Cogan found that retention rates, graduation rates, and initial GPAs were higher among homeschooled versus non-homeschooled students in college.
Contrary to the belief that homeschooling produces anti-social outcasts, the truth is that some of the most high-achieving, well-adjusted students are poring over math problems at their kitchen table, not a desk in a classroom. According to leading pedagogical research, at-home instruction may just be the most relevant, responsible, and effective way to educate children in the 21st century.
If only homeschoolers had a nickel for every time they heard the question, “… but what about socialization?” That infamous socialization question, for any seasoned homeschooler, is quite a humorous one!
