In what way did I end up looking into Bilingual Homeschooling?

Here's what the host asked me about Bilingual Homeschooling on a radio show in 2014. "Do homeschool well as kids who go to school?" Are their social skills going to be hurt by this?

 

At the time, I didn't know much about the subject, so that I couldn't give an accurate answer.

 

There isn't anything I know about that, but I know that people are worried about the social impact on kids. On the other hand, homeschooled kids can participate in extracurricular events like sports in some districts. This allows them to be with their peers.

 

Before and after the interview, I wasn't happy with how little I knew about the subject, so I did my research to let parents and teachers understand the findings.

Before I show you what I found, I want to give you some background information.

I don't think Bilingual Homeschooling is good or bad, but I don't think it is good or bad. I'm just giving you information to help you decide if Bilingual Homeschooling is something you want to do or if someone asks you about it.

 

There was too much information to put into one article, so that I will report on the most recent and thorough research I could find. I want you to do your research if you want to learn more.

 

If you read this article, you learned how to homeschool your kids. It's not the same as a cyber school or a "virtual school."

 

Some people worry that kids won't connect with other people because they have ordinary socialization experiences. Parents aren't teachers, so how can we know that homeschooled kids get a good education?

The research says that homeschooled students do better at school than students who go to school.

They don't matter if you are white or poor. Evidence for Bilingual Homeschooling: A Constitutional Analysis in Light of Social Science Research was written by the Widener Law Review published in 2010. It found that "homeschooled children achieve levels of academic achievement that are similar to or higher than their public school peers."

 

Many studies show that homeschooled students get very high scores on standardized academic achievement tests.

 

Among other things, one national study looked at data from 1,952 homeschooled students across the country and found that on average, the students did well on every test category (i.e., reading, listening, language, math, science, social studies, study skills, etc.).

 

The 50th percentile was the national average for these standardized tests, which differed from the 50th percentile for the rest of the country. Many other studies have the same results. Among 20,760 homeschooled students in grades K-12, a study in the book says that median scores on standardized tests were in the 70th to 80th percentile for most of them. The 50th percentile is a good score.

 

State-level studies have found the same thing. Homeschooled kids in Washington State took the Stanford Achievement Test, and the test showed results of 873 students in the study. The median test scores were in the 65th to 66th percentile.

 

However, several studies done by state departments of education found that homeschooled students did very well on academic achievement tests.

 

A well-known scholar and the head of a non-profit group called National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) did some research in 2008 that looked at 25 years of Bilingual Homeschooling results.

 

To get information from 11,739 homeschooled students from all 50 states, Guam, and Puerto Rico, Dr. Ray used 15 independent testing services. They used three well-known tests: the California Achievement Test, the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, and the Stanford Achievement Test.

 

Overall, the study found that bilingual homeschooling academic achievement has improved a lot. It also found that things like student gender, parents' education level, and family income had little effect on the results of homeschooled students.

 

Even though the data show that homeschooled students do better on standardized tests than students who traditionally go to school, we need to think about other factors behind this.

 

For example, homeschooled students don't always see how standardized tests are given. Depending on the child's grade, the test could be provided at home, in a specific place, or at the public school, the state he lives in, and the test itself.

 

Does it sound like it would be OK to look up information or ask for help when homeschooled kids take tests at home? I don't know.

 

What about kids who are afraid of tests or who get easily distracted? A trial at home may help them, too.

 

Do the scores on their mean that homeschooled students are doing better at school? If you only look at the score, you can't fully figure out what this means. We also know that standardized tests aren't the only way to measure how much you know.

 

Is there anything you think I should know?

 

This is another way to figure out how well homeschooled kids do academically compared to kids who go to school. We can also compare how well homeschooled kids do at college.

 

Research shows that homeschoolers usually have better GPAs than the rest of their class.

 

They have better GPAs in their first semester at college, with 3.37 GPAs for homeschoolers and 3.08 for the rest. With a 3.41 GPA for first-year students and 3.46 for seniors, homeschoolers are better prepared for college than those who go to public school.

 

There was a study called College Performance: Homeschooled Vs. Traditional Students looked at how homeschooled students did when compared to the whole group of traditional students without considering any demographics. On average, homeschooled students had more good grades in high school and more good grades in their first year of college. However, they also had a better socioeconomic background.

 

As a result, when the homeschooled students were "compared to a group of traditional-schooled students with similar SES, high school GPA, and SAT score," they "appeared to show no differences in their first year of college GPA."

 

Homeschooled kids with very involved parents or tutors are likely to get a lot more one-on-one time and one-on-one instruction than traditional students. The level of support and the number of resources and opportunities a student has might be more important than whether a student is homeschooled, but that might not be the case.

Do homeschooled students have better social skills than those who go to public school?

A book called Evidence for Bilingual Homeschooling: Constitutional Analysis in Light of Social Science Research says, "studies show that homeschooled students are well-socialized."

 

"Several studies found that there was no big difference in the social skills of homeschooled and non-homeschooled kids." Other studies say that homeschooled kids do better on social development rating scales and questionnaires than kids who go to school.

 

For example, one study used the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale, a well-known diagnostic tool for measuring communication and daily living skills, and found that homeschooled students did a lot better than traditionally schooled students.

 

It was at the 84th percentile for the homeschooled children's overall score on the communication, daily living skills, socialization, and social maturity subscales, compared to the 23rd percentile for the students who traditionally went to school.

 

Another study used a Social Skills Rating System to look at thirty-four pairs of homeschooled and public-schooled kids between five and 18. The system looked at how well each child did in different situations. The researchers found that homeschooled kids did better on this scale than students who traditionally went to school.

 

It is essential to keep in mind that the parents of children fill out these questionnaires. It is hard to tell if the parents' opinions of their child's social skills are genuine. Also, some parents may not have the chance to watch their child play with other kids their age, so what one family thinks is "social skills" may not be what another family thinks.

 

When Richard Medlin, Ph.D., looked at students' social skills and recorded them on a standard measure called the Child Behavior Checklist, he had the same results as the other studies.

 

Dr. Medlin looked at the social behavior of a group of 70 homeschooled and 70 traditional schooled eight to ten-year-olds who were matched on demographic and socioeconomic factors. He found no significant differences between the two groups on measures of self-concept and assertiveness.

 

He found that, based on the checklist, students who were not homeschooled had more problems with their behavior than those who were homeschooled, which is true. Nonetheless, we must remember that the findings come from Dr. Medlin's interpretations, which are just like the parent ratings in that they're based on what the doctor thinks. There is no test to measure social skills. Instead, checklists, questionnaires, and observations are the only things we can use to figure out how good someone is.

 

It's also interesting to note that when former homeschooled college students took a standardized test called the NEO Five-Factor Inventory – 3, they were more agreeable, conscientious, and open than the national sample, which was mostly made up of students who were not homeschooled.

 

It's important to remember that traditional schooling isn't the only way young people can get to know other people. Other options could be music or art classes, boy or girl scouts, volunteer work, religious institutions, sports, playdates, and so on, as well.

Conclusion

There is a lot of research that says Bilingual Homeschooling is good. Studies show that homeschooled students often do better than students who go to school. We need to be careful when we look at this data because factors like the quality of instruction, the resources and support available, and the social outlets available can all affect how well a student does.

 

There are likely a lot of other factors at play, and the tools used to measure social skills aren't very accurate. Another study found that when demographics are taken into account, differences in college GPA are not significant.

 

It's up to each parent to decide whether or not to give bilingual homeschooling to their child, taking into account their child's needs, work/financial situation, time constraints, ability to give the child what they need academically, and instincts.

 

But, the most concrete answer to the question of whether or not homeschooled students will be wrong at school or bad at school is, "The research says no."

 

HomeschoolToGo- New Years Activity Bundle

This activity bundle is perfect for conscious parents and mindful children. 

Contains templates for writing down reflections from 2021, setting goals, and having fun creating a family bucket list for the new year.