Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Michael Farris:
Why is homeschooling growing so rapidly?

First, public school reforms aren’t working. Parents have longstanding concerns about the direction of public schools, but no matter how bad things get, centralized-education bureaucrats will never embrace any education reform that does not require more centralized-education bureaucrats. The failure of centralized education is a primary reason why more and more families are looking for educational alternatives.

But why do so many choose homeschooling?

This can be best explained by a process I call the great kid/average parent syndrome. By now almost every parent of school-aged children knows at least one homeschooling family, and in most cases, this acquaintance has convinced them that homeschooled kids are great kids. When they look at their parents, they say, “These are just average parents. If they can produce great kids I think I can, too.” Whether it’s academics, morality, or spirituality, it’s the success of our children which is drawing tens of thousands of new families each year into the homeschooling movement.

I’m Michael Farris.