Many public educators doubt the benefits of homeschooling (Butler, 2000). Despite the ever-growing databases of research on the benefits of homeschooling there remains several myths. The most common myths are included below.
1) Homeschooling produces social misfits. The reality is that socialization occurs through daily interactions with friends, sports, and people in the community (Romanowski, 2006). Studies have shown that homeschooled students have greater self-actualization and self-esteem than traditionally schooled students (Rivero, 2002; Romanowski, 2006).
2) Lack of real work experiences. The argument was presented that homeschooling isolates students from the real world especially in terms of political and social issues. Research shows that homeschooled students become citizens who are responsible and active in politics. Statistics show that 71% of homeschool graduates are active in community service activities in comparison of 37% of adults their age. In terms of voting, homeschooled students had a total of 76% of voter turnout compared to 29% of the US population (Romanowski, 2006).
3) Unable to pursue higher education. There is a common belief that homeschooled students are not able to enroll in college because they lack a high school diploma and ACT or SAT test scores. The reality of this matter is that many universities, including prestigious Ivy League College, consider homeschooling to be an asset and actively recruit homeschooled students (Romanowski, 2006). Homeschooled students also show to have test scores that are equal to or higher than that of traditional students (Cogan, 2010; Romanowski, 2006).
4) Only highly religious families homeschool. A stereotype of homeschool families is a conservative Christian family homeschooling for the purpose of sharing their faith. Homeschooling began as a liberal movement in the 1960s and 1970s (Martin-Chang, Gould, and Meuse, 2011; Romanowski, 2006). Homeschooling became known as a Christian movement in the 1980s (Martin-Chang et al., 2011). Today, the face of homeschooling is highly diverse. Parents choose to homeschool for a wide variety of reasons including religion, safety, education content, and lifestyle reasons (Romanowski, 2006).
