4 ms·

What percentage?

EdwardDiego 4y ago
From my experience with homeschooling groups, a great majority of homeschoolers do so for religious reasons, e.g., ensure that they're not exposed to science teaching that contradicts young earth creationism, or sex education, etc. Or just to prevent their children from being infected by "worldly values". You'll often hear them say "Be in the world, but not of the world." There are of course, people who do it to give their children an education that they feel is superior to the regular one, but they are a minority. Of course, I didn't survey all homeschoolers to come up with that, I suspect you'd find clusters of secular homeschoolers in certain areas on the west coast, but elsewhere, Jesus dominates.
- locustous 4y ago
  Or because school sucks. Between bullies, bad teachers, mind numbing uses of time that just kills the natural interest in learning for many.
- sshine 4y ago
  > a great majority of homeschoolers do so for religious reasons, e.g., ensure that they're not exposed to > There are of course, people who do it to give their children an education that they feel is superior to the regular one Another way to cut the cake: - Some want to ensure high quality - Others want to reduce bad influence I fail to see why these motivations are much different whether religious or secular. Kids will grow up and rebel, embrace, and take for granted parts of you they inherit. I’m not Christian, but I’m willing to assume that the reason that Christians like to homeschool is because they care deeply about what kind of person their child becomes; homeschooling is a very conscientious move, like being a Christian. Secular homeschoolers are probably highly conscientious with a different set of norms.
  - jmuncaster 4y ago
    As one of the people whom some on this thread seem to be fine with caricaturing and haphazardly speculating about, I can attest this is the one reply that gets it. I appreciate your intelligent and considered take. Cheers.
- bmj 4y ago
  I live in a Rust Belt city, and most of the homeschoolers within the city are secular, and stridently so (and here there's greater overlap between homeschoolers and unschoolers). There are plenty of Christian homeschoolers as well, and their reasons for that choice are quite varied. So, you are painting with a very broad brush and making assumptions based on cultural stereotypes. Personally, my wife and I homeschooled our kids through junior high school, in a mix of Christian cooperatives and homespun curriculum. One kid went to high school at the local Roman Catholic school, the other to a public school.

What percentage?

From my experience with homeschooling groups, a great majority of homeschoolers do so for religious reasons, e.g., ensure that they're not exposed to science teaching that contradicts young earth creationism, or sex education, etc. Or just to prevent their children from being infected by "worldly values". You'll often hear them say "Be in the world, but not of the world." There are of course, people who do it to give their children an education that they feel is superior to the regular one, but they are a minority. Of course, I didn't survey all homeschoolers to come up with that, I suspect you'd find clusters of secular homeschoolers in certain areas on the west coast, but elsewhere, Jesus dominates.

locustous 4y ago
Or because school sucks. Between bullies, bad teachers, mind numbing uses of time that just kills the natural interest in learning for many.
sshine 4y ago
> a great majority of homeschoolers do so for religious reasons, e.g., ensure that they're not exposed to > There are of course, people who do it to give their children an education that they feel is superior to the regular one Another way to cut the cake: - Some want to ensure high quality - Others want to reduce bad influence I fail to see why these motivations are much different whether religious or secular. Kids will grow up and rebel, embrace, and take for granted parts of you they inherit. I’m not Christian, but I’m willing to assume that the reason that Christians like to homeschool is because they care deeply about what kind of person their child becomes; homeschooling is a very conscientious move, like being a Christian. Secular homeschoolers are probably highly conscientious with a different set of norms.
- jmuncaster 4y ago
  As one of the people whom some on this thread seem to be fine with caricaturing and haphazardly speculating about, I can attest this is the one reply that gets it. I appreciate your intelligent and considered take. Cheers.
bmj 4y ago
I live in a Rust Belt city, and most of the homeschoolers within the city are secular, and stridently so (and here there's greater overlap between homeschoolers and unschoolers). There are plenty of Christian homeschoolers as well, and their reasons for that choice are quite varied. So, you are painting with a very broad brush and making assumptions based on cultural stereotypes. Personally, my wife and I homeschooled our kids through junior high school, in a mix of Christian cooperatives and homespun curriculum. One kid went to high school at the local Roman Catholic school, the other to a public school.