Homeschooling: A Family’s Journey

These factors affect everyone, but some of them affect homeschoolers more than most. For example, because so many homeschoolers are entrepreneurial, we weigh a state’s entrepreneurship climate somewhat more heavily than other “Best Places to Live” rankings in the popular press. See the spreadsheets for info on all of the factors used and how the states rank on each factor.

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As readers of Homeschooling: a Family’s Journey may recall, we have always paid close attention to the relationship between homeschooling, economics, and lifestyle. The global financial crisis that began shortly after publication of our book led us attempt to identify the best places to live for homeschoolers. The reason was simple: income was uncertain [...]

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The school systems in CA had been faltering even before the financial crisis. They were faltering because the operated on the same Rust Belt model as the auto companies and the other big, uncompetitive, obsolete institutions that we now see failing all around us… Homeschoolers have built a new model. The homeschooling model builds social capital in co-ops and other grass-roots organizations. The homeschooling model makes excellent and effective use of technology. The homeschooling model is economically efficient, spending far less per pupil than school systems…If the financial crisis breaks the backs of the interest groups that have exploted school budgets for their own economic advantage, and leads to approaches more like homeschooling, it will prove to be a salutary example of what Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter called “Creative Destruction” and the country will be better for it.

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When the teacher is in the home, children learn better.  When tests are puzzle games, children excel. Who’d have expected to read this in the NY Times:
AS Department of Education officials consider how best to spend billions from the economic stimulus plan, they would be wise to pay attention to which programs actually help children’s [...]

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Insight into (British) government’s perspective on education. It’s disturbing that forcing 16-18 year olds back into school is Gordon Brown’s knee-jerk response to worries about hordes of unemployed and under-educated teens roaming the streets. The article cites a study by King College researcher Alison Wolf that finds these under-educated teens are making a sound financial [...]

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When I was applying to college I considered Rutgers, the NJ state school, in part because I qualified in test scores and GPA for their merit scholarship. I soon discovered that these were only available for school kids (public and private). I knew a couple of homeschooled kids who dealt with this issue–one of them [...]

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Although research shows that homeschooling gives children a better education than public schools, many families think that they can’t afford it. They worry about losing the paycheck of the parent who stays home to homeschool the kids. But giving up that paycheck could be a smart money move. Here are three reasons why.

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In economic terms, a large part of the cost of homeschooling is opportunity cost — the amount a homeschooling parent can earn in the job market. Combine a lower opportunity cost with an increasingly undesirable public school alternative, and homeschooling becomes a much more attractive economic proposition. Click the “Resources” tab at the top of this page for information on free homeschooling resources. You can cut costs without sacrificing the quality of your homeschool curriculum.

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Our homeschooling friends remind each other of upcoming book sales and compare finds. We would love to hear from any gentle readers who would like to share a book sale triumph. What is your favorite book sale? What is your favorite/ best find so far?

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