SPECIAL REPORT

a division of Home School Legal Defense Association	June 21, 1999

Home School Success Stories

GeoBee Wiz Kid Taught At Home

David Beihl, a 13-year old home school student from Saluda, South Carolina, is the 1999 National Geography Bee champion.

To win the National Geography Bee—along with a $25,000 scholarship, a trip to Australia and a chance to represent the United States in the geography Olympiad in Canada—Beihl beat out 54 other contestants who were quizzed on the names of obscure mountain ranges, rivers and capital cities.

Beihl’s winning question was: The condition characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in equatorial regions of the eastern Pacific is known by what Spanish name? Beihl correctly answered that La Nina (El Nino is the unusually hot temperatures in the equatorial eastern Pacific) was the Spanish name for the weather condition characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the equatorial region of the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Beihl won the South Carolina geography bee in 1998 and 1999. This was his second trip to the national contest.

Home Schooling = Social Misfits? New Study Says, “No!”

“Question: Are families that choose private schools and home education for their children more likely than families involved in public schools to be socially isolated and withdrawn from participation in civic life?

“Answer: Absolutely not. In fact, to the contrary, re-cent survey data from the U.S. Department of Educa-tion show that Catholic, Protestant, and nonreligious private schooling and home schooling families are consistently more involved in a wide spectrum of civic activities than are families of public school chil-dren. From voting to volunteering to visiting the local library, private and home schooling families are very much out in their communities and involved in the affairs of public life …

“Our evidence comes from the 1996 National Household Education Survey (NHES), conducted by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics. This study surveyed a large, nationally representative sample of 9,393 parents of school-age children. The survey used carefully constructed questions to differentiate the public schoolers from Catholic schoolers, non-Catholic church-related schoolers, nonreligious private schoolers, and home schoolers.

“In addition to questions about schooling, the survey asked parents questions about the extent of family involvements in a variety of civic activities. Parents reported whether they were members of a community organization; participated in an ongoing community service activity; went to the public library for books, tapes, lectures, story hours, or to use library equipment; voted in a national or state election in the previous five years; wrote or telephoned an editor or public official or signed a petition in the previous twelve months; attended a public meeting in the previous twelve months; contributed money to a political candidate, party, or cause in the previous twelve months; worked for a political cause in the previous twelve months; or participated in a protest or boycott in the previous twelve months. By comparing differences in family participation in these nine forms of civic involvement, we are able to determine empirically whether private schooling actually is or is not privatizing.

“The results reveal a consistent pattern: Catholic schooling families, other Christian schooling families, nonreligious private schooling families, and home schooling families are consistently more involved in all of the civic activities examined than are families with children in public schools. The only two exceptions are that home schoolers are equally likely as public schoolers to attend public meetings, and that 2 percent fewer non-Catholic church-related schoolers than public schooling families have volunteered for a political cause. Otherwise, private and home schooling families are, by an average margin of 9.3 percent, more likely than public schooling families to engage in all of these forms of civic participation. Some of the larger observed differences in civic participation deserve particular mention. Up to 10 percent more private schooling than public schooling families have attended a public meeting or rally. Up to 13 percent more private schoolers have given money to political causes. Up to 15 percent more have voted in recent elections and have telephoned elected officials to express their views. And up to 26 percent more private schooling families than public schooling families are members of community groups and volunteer at local organizations.” (excerpts from “Is Private School Privatizing?” by Christian Smith and David Sikkink, First Things, April 1999, Number 92, All statistics are published at the authors' web site: www.unc.edu/~cssmith/firstthings/index.htm.)

Rudner Study Promotes Home Schooling Across America

The recently released study, “Home Schooling Works!” by Dr. Lawrence Rudner (see National Center’s March/April leader’s mailing), has been the subject of news all over the United States. Rich Jefferson,HSLDA’s Director of Media Relations, calculates that all verifiable print and electronic media that ran a story on the Rudner study totaled a circulation of over 13 million, and a readership of nearly 29 million. Article discussing “Home Schooling Works!” appeared in such well known periodicals as the Washington Post, the Indianapolis Star, the Chicago Tribune, the Denver Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Detroit News/Free Press, and the Boston Globe.

After reviewing Rudner’s work, Forbes Magazine praised home schooling saying, “The Phenomenon of home schooling is a wonderful example of the American can-do attitude. Growing numbers of parents have become disenchanted with government run public schools. … [M]any parents have simply taken matters into their own hands, literally, and their children are getting a first-class education.” (Forbes, April 19, 1999, p.32)

Home Schooled Tennis Phenom Ready To Turn Pro

Monique Viele, a 14 year old home schooler, is ready to show the world her 115 mph serve by joining the professional Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), but is unable to do so until she is given permission to play a full schedule.

Four years ago the WTA enacted age restrictions to limit the number of tournaments that teenagers can participate in. For now, she is tearing up the junior circuit.

Her coach, Rick Macci, who has also coached tennis stars like Jennifer Capriati and the Williams sisters, calls her the best he’s seen. “If given the chance she would move through the ranks faster than anyone.” Macci said.

Her parents are not only involved in her education but also taught her the basics of tennis. She picked up the sport after watching her father play. Rick Viele told her he would teach her the game once she could hit a ball against the garage wall 100 times in a row. “I couldn’t do that so I figured it was pretty impossible,” he said. “She did it the next day,” Look for this home schooled athlete in coming years. (excerpts from “She’s 14 and ready for the real world” by Elizabeth Clarke, Palm Beach Post, February 11, 1999)

Home School Student Accepted to The Citadel

Cyril Prikasky, who has been home schooled most of his life, received an ROTC scholarship to South Carolina’s well-known military college, the Citadel. Prikasky was chosen from 223 applicants nation-wide, said Capt. Robert Clark, a recruiter in St. Louis. After four years at The Citadel, Kaz must serve four years of active duty in the military and has chosen the U.S. Marines. “The big thing we talked about was his strong character. He has very strong values,” Clark said. (from “Home-schooled student accepted at The Citadel” by Yvonne Condes, Belleville (Illinois) News-Democrat, May 3, 1999)

Home School Student Accepted to the U.S. Naval Academy

“When Terry Pruitt enters the United States Naval Academy in July as a midshipman, if someone should ask what high school he graduated from, he could very well respond: “Mom’s Islandia High.”

“The 17-year-old is one of an increasing number of home-schooled children, generally students whose entire elementary and high school education is provided by parents. In Terry’s case, the prestige of being accepted by the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, is an extra tip of the hat to his mother, Phyllis, 43, a single parent for the last seven years, who is also personally educating her two other sons, Charles, 15, and Maurice, 14, at their Islandia home.” (excerpts from “Homemade Midshipman Salutes Mom,” by Bill Kaufman, Newsday, Long Island, NY, April 4, 1999)

Perfection on SAT For Home School Girl

Monique Harris, who spent all but two years as a home schooled student, made a perfect 1600 on her Scholastic Achievement Tests. Harris credits her mother for her educational success saying she wouldn’t have gone to college, let alone scored so well on her college placement exams had it not been for her mother Rhonda, who assumed responsibility of her children’s education early on. “If I were in school, I wouldn’t be able to experience what life is all about,” she said. The 17 year old Vilonia, Arkansas resident chose to attend John Brown University because she expects the education and spiritual offerings at the campus to mirror her home schooling experience. (from “Vilonia student aces national test,” by Shareese Kondo, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, April 4, 1999)

Home Schooling and National Sovereignty

“[L]ike communism, the idea of world government not only goes against human nature but against everything we have learned in history. Already, we see in the European Union, a top heavy bureaucracy imposing its rules and regulations on every facet of economic life. And it is doing the same in education. It is telling individuals that they must conform to the new order or be crushed. They are telling parents that they must surrender their children to the state or lose them.

“Can that happen here? The American home school movement is not only growing in size but in political clout. For example the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) already has a very good presence in the halls of Congress. It may not have the clout of the National Education Association, but it is giving conservative lawmakers the backing they need. That HSLDA is also a Christian organization makes it all that more important. Biblical religion is still a force to be reckoned with in America. It represents the strongest bulwark against humanism and the all powerful state.” (excerpts from “Home Schooling and global tyranny,” by Samuel L. Blumenfeld, World Net Daily, June 10, 1999)