From Emily Welsh

Brodhead High School student

To the editor:

The pandemic brought students home to learn. For some, homeschooling has always been the best choice. There are many myths about homeschooling that cause people to wonder if homeschooling is a good form of education.

One myth about homeschooling is that homeschoolers don’t learn as much. Each state has requirements for a sequentially progressive curriculum and for a certain number of hours of schooling. While some people do homeschool for religious reasons, according to the U.S Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, the highest rated reason parents choose to homeschool is the negative environment of public school. Another myth is that homeschoolers don’t graduate and go to college. Culvert Education said, “In truth, homeschoolers are more likely to attend college than traditionally schooled students, and once enrolled, are more likely to stay and graduate.”

A study done by Eric Rudner contradicts claims that homeschooling harms public schools. Rudner studied the test scores of over 20,000 American homeschooled students and found that “overall, the structured homeschooling group performed much better than the public school group. In 5 of 7 test areas, homeschoolers were at least one grade level ahead of public schoolers.” The only reason homeschooling is harmful to the school district is because districts get less money from the government.

With parental commitment, homeschooling is a good form of education that helps the next generation of students to become smarter and be more prepared for life.