The Decision

Shawn Jr. will stay homeschooled for another year.

If you read this blog you know that Misty and I homeschool all of our children - except for Brittany. Brittany was homeschooled until 2 years ago. Brittany started public school in the 7th grade and will be a Freshman at Rockwall-Heath High School this year. Given that we started Brittany in 7th grade we had considered having Shawn Jr. start public school in the 7th grade as well. After careful consideration, prayer and much debate, we have decided that Shawn Jr. will stay homeschooled this year and we will plan on him entering public school next year - in the 8th grade.

I have had many people ask me why we homeschool. Some people have a preconceived (negative) notions about homeschooled kids. Many people question if our children get enough "socialization" or are too sheltered. All reasonable questions. Others have a more informed view, because they know us or our kids, but are simply curious how we came to the point of deciding to homeschool. Misty and I have many reasons why we believe homeschooling has many serious advantages over any other type of education. But we also know that homeschooling is certainly not an option for every family. To confuse the matter even more, I believe that it is best to only homeschool in the early years. (Let me make a caveat here - this blog is from my (Shawn Sr.'s) perspective. Most of the time, when it involves our children, I feel like I can speak for both Misty and I. Maybe not on this point . . . ) Why is homeschooling good early and not in the high school years. Let me explain.

First, my goal for my children's education is to (1) learn information and, more importantly, (2) learn to understand that information given a certain worldview. School is a means to the ends of getting a good education and living a full life. This is, of course, different from spiritual and moral development. Spiritual development is a goal that is more important than getting a "good education." It is ultimately and immediately more important.

I believe that good homeschooling allows parents to do both of these things - great education and spiritual development. In my view homeschooling is certainly better at spiritual development - particularly at an early age. It allows children to spend more time with their parents and keeps them away from the negative influences of children (and adults) that do not share the same worldview.

However, a some point children need two additional things, from an educational perspective, that homeschooling can not provide:

1. A competitive academic environment where a student is challenged by those other students around them.
2. A real GPA.

Why do they need these? A person is in a better position to achieve whatever their desired occupation or goal in life is if they go to a top university. I now understand the huge power-curve in academia and life. Getting into the "right" school can have huge advantages. This is a lesson I did not learn until applying to top law schools. If a goal for our children from an educational perspective is to get into the best university possible, then this requires three things (in order of priority) - (1) top SAT/ACT scores, (2) high GPA and (3) extracurricular activities.

A private or public school is the only way to get a GPA that schools will accept. Assuming that the other 2 factors are equal (SAT score and extracurricular activities) then GPA is the only advantage. Another aspect of this is, in the state of Texas, a top GPA/class rank will get you automatically admitted into a state school (Like UT or Texas A&M). However, unless you are particularly dedicated, traditional school may also help a student get a better SAT score - because schools have SAT prep classes. In addition, because the SAT is scored on a curve, if a student is pushed by those around them and know where they are at academically, it can help the student understand what they need to do to improve. All that being said, I think the only real advantage for getting into college, is the GPA. But this is a big advantage (likely more than 1/3 of the equation).

So what about top schools that hold spots for homeschool kids? It is like the lottery. You would need to get an outrageous SAT score and then beat out all the other homeschool kids for that spot. Very hard.

If public or private schools provide some advantage for getting into college, then parents (that believe my line of thinking) should have their kids in school from the very beginning unless there are offsetting considerations. Well, there are. First, and foremost, spiritual development. As I said above, I believe that homeschooling is a better platform for spiritual development. Therefore, why sacrifice this for educational goals? The answer is, there is no need to sacrifice if parents are in a position to homeschool. Fundamental spiritual development is (often) formed at a fairly early age - prior to high school. Homeschooling while you are building that spiritual foundation is a terrific advantage. Certainly spiritual development does not stop at a certain age but that foundation is basically established early on. Furthermore, parents can continue to have a substantial influence on that spiritual development throughout the school age years. In fact, it is also good to let children experience temptation and the challenges of the "real world" while still living at home with the positive parental influence.

Therefore, the best of both worlds is to homeschool in the more formative years and have children attend school when they can gain an advantage. Now, this is really only in high school. The GPA and other "advantages" only kick in at the high school level. However, there is an important adjustment period. Brittany and others will tell you it is hard to make the switch from homeschooling to tranditional public/private school. The schedule is different, the distractions are different, everything is different. So is this necessarily a 2 year adjustment period (entering in the 7th grade)? I don’t think so. Based on Brittany’s experience, I think it can be done in 1 year (entering in 8th grade) – but that needs to be evaluated with each child.

While this analysis and philosophy could certainly apply to all of our children. We, of course, consider each of our kids individually.

So will Noelle go to public school? That is a discussion for a different day.