Homeschooling

Hi everyone. I have only posted once, a few months ago to gather information about homeschooling and working FT. Well we have decided to go ahead with the homeschooling next year, when my daughter would be starting kindergarten and we've even started a reading curriculum.
But, anyway, I was actually posting for help with some homework of my own. I am in school myself and taking speech this semester (yuck!). I have decided to do my persuasive speech on the benefits of homeschooling, so I was looking for a little help :) Does anyone know any good websites where I can find statistics on homeschooling (test scores, number of homeschoolers in the US or by state). Also, I was wondering if you ladies could let me know some of the common criticisms or negative comments you hear, to help build my argument. Thanks so much!

-Marybeth-

The HSLDA site should have some statistics links. I'm not sure that you'll find accurate stats on by-state numbers, because each state has its own hsing rules and many states don't require any reporting (let's KEEP it that way!) so there's no way to count.

As for comments, reference these recent threads on this board and I'm sure you'll find plenty ;-)

http://messageboards.ivillage.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=iv-pphschooling&msg=10095.1&ctx=0
http://messageboards.ivillage.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=iv-pphschooling&msg=10110.1&ctx=0

Good luck with your speech.

Thanks for the links :)

Here are a couple of links which you may find useful.

http://www.ishmael.org/Education/writings/unschooling.shtml

http://www.fraserinstitute.org/commerce.web/product_files/Homeschooling2007.pdf

One of the most prevalent myths is that homeschoolers don't have opportunities to socialize and therefore won't have good social skills. Other common myths are that if they aren't taught by someone with a teaching degree or at least a college education, they won't have as thorough an education as publically schooled kids. There's also a fear that they won't be adequately prepared for test taking, university or that they won't be able to get into university without a high school diploma. I think the second link will debunk all of these myths with the studies to back it up. Oh, and then there is the issue of hs kids having gaps in their learning/knowledge that ps kids wouldn't have.

Good Luck!