Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

What do the social activities and attitudes of recent homeschool graduates tell us about homeschooling? Mike Smith talks about the results of a study in today's Home School Heartbeat.

Mike Smith:
My guest this week is Dr. Brian Ray. Your new study, Homeschooling Grows Up, Brian, was conducted to see whether homeschool graduates are succeeding in society. What did you learn?


Dr. Ray:
Well, there's so many ways to measure success, it's kind of hard to get started. It's a long report, but what we learned is: number one, these young adults-and some of them not so young—are more involved in community activities than their national peers (they are involved in things like volunteering for some sports teams), but at a higher rate than the general population. They are more likely to vote. They seem to be happier than average when we ask them just some general questions that have been asked of many Americans over time. They're more satisfied with the work that they're doing. And in many, many ways, it looks very rosy for these people who are adults and are now in the world with everybody else.


Mike:
Brian, how did you get homeschoolers to respond?


Dr. Ray:
Well, we put out a notice to tens of thousands of homeschool families, to community organizations; we put out notices to support groups, and then we invited everybody and anybody who was ever homeschooled, regardless of whether they thought it was a horrid thing that had been done to them or if they thought it was a marvelous thing that had been done to them.


Mike:
Well, thank you, Brian. Listeners, join us next time when we continue to talk about homeschool graduates. And I'm Mike Smith.