Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Is homeschooling stressing you out? Home School Legal Defense Association Chairman and General Counsel Michael Farris reviews a Vanderbilt University research project outlining homeschooling's impact on family stress levels, this week on Home School Heartbeat.

Michael Farris:
Academic success in home education has been thoroughly documented, but less is known from a research standpoint about the impact of homeschooling on family stress levels.

Doctor of Education Susan A. McDowell from Vanderbilt University set out to study how homeschooling impacts family stress levels. Her research resulted in the study called "The Perceived Impact of Homeschooling on the Family in General and the Mother-Teacher in Particular," published in the National Home Education Research Institute's journal, the Home School Researcher.

To analyze the impact of homeschooling on moms and their families, Dr. McDowell surveyed 125 homeschooling moms attending the June 1997 11th Annual Family Resource Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee. Dr. McDowell also reported on earlier research which shows that stress should be the expected result of changing roles and overload. When a family begins homeschooling, roles are added, and moms can often experience major role overload.

So moms, if you're feeling stressed out, I want you to know you're not alone.

This week on Home School Heartbeat we'll look at stressful elements unique to homeschooling, along with methods to help you manage them. Philippians 4:6 exhorts us to be anxious about nothing. Moms, take heart. God can show you how to bring peace back into your homeschooling family. I'm Mike Farris.