Why are so many US homeschooled children from fundamentalist Christian familes?

Question

I saw this fact somewhere .I was under the impression that the US have LOADS of Christian schools.

Answer 1

I would like to know the statistics.   I don't believe fundamentalist Christians are in the majority in homeschooling but I may be wrong.

I know that Christian school has never been an option for our family because of the expense and because many students who are expelled from public school choose Christian school as an alternative.   This is the way it is in our area of the country.

Edit: Thanks Melissa.  I didn't see your response with statistics  before  I responded.

Answer 2

Personally, because I LIKE my kids and don't see why I should send them away so that someone else can train them.

Answer 3

Where is this "fact" written? I'd like to see the report.

There are close to 2 million home school families. That is a huge number of families each with diverse backgrounds and beliefs.

I happen to be a Christian. I also happen to know that I can't afford private school and I don't like the public system. I believe that a child must be given all sides of a story not just the side the school deems PC. I believe children are smarter than the public system believes them to be. If you give a child options they will choose the right option for themselves. Give a child a choice between an apple and a candy bar and they might just pick the apple (I know mine would every time they love candy but prefer fruit).

This is just one if many many stereotypes. Get the facts straight before you generalize again.

Answer 4

The same things that are wrong with the public schools are often wrong with the private schools.

While the US does have a large population of Christian homeschoolers, there are also many homeschoolers of other faiths also.

Answer 5

just like evan said. uhhuh!?

Answer 6

There are loads of Christian schools, but being private schools they are all expensive and a lot of parents can't afford to send their kids there.  So, they home school.

Answer 7

Well, it's not a fact.  It's an opinion.  The two are very different.

Homeschooling families in the US vary greatly, from fundamentalist Christian to liberal pagan, to atheist and anarchist.  The US does have many Christian schools, but just because someone is Christian doesn't mean they're required to send their kids there.

Those of us who homeschool our kids do so because it's what's best for them, not because of our religious beliefs.  Anyone who tells you different is trying to "prove a point" by skewing the facts to fit their opinion.

I am a Christian homeschooler in the US, but I know plenty of homeschoolers of other beliefs.  Promise, we come in all shapes, colors, and creeds. :)

Answer 8

I think it is because fundamentalist Christian families tend to put their family first rather than money. They tend to see their children as treasure to entrusted to them by God. They feel the need to be faithful stewards of their children, and give them the very best they can.  They are accountable to God for the education of their children.  They give the very best education available not the easiest nor the cheapest.

Answer 9

I don't know why everyone is getting on your case about this, because you just said "so many," not "the majority" or anything.  However, I do believe that the majority of homeschoolers used to be fundamentalist Christians.  Now, however, that has changed.  I read somewhere that most homeschoolers now are homeschooling because of bad school environments/poor education, etc.

Anyway, there are still tons of Christian homeschool families because 1) although there are many Christian schools, they are expensive, and 2) Christians don't all believe in all of the exact same things.  Many families have certain ideals of what a Christian education should be, and just because there is a Christian school in the area, that doesn't mean that school follows the same ideals that the family does.  Also, many Christians are concerned with family closeness and believe it is the parents' duty to raise and teach their children, not the duty of others, even if those others are Christians too.

Answer 10

That's not a fact. If so, I'd like to see your reference. There are over two million homeschooled children in the US, and in fact only 38% of parents cite religious reasons at all  (Bielick, Chandler, & Broughman 2001) much less *fundamentalist* Christian reasons. It also includes Muslims, Jews and agnostics who may home school for 'religious' reasons (of which I know several families who are not Christian and homeschool for religious reasons)

Edit: I am responding to the idea of "So many" children, when 80% of Americans are Christian, and only 38% of home schooled children are being homeschooled for religious reasons, it really isn't so many, is it?

Answer 11

Bible believing Christians homeschool because we believe the Bible is literal truth and should be followed as such. For that reason we take the scripture: "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it" seriously. No school, Christian or otherwise, is able to completely individualize the curriculum for each child in the classroom, to train them up in they way they as a unique creation, are meant to go. So rather than being brought up in the way the individual child is meant to go, they are being brought up in a one-size-fits-all environment. Parents are meant to be the stewards of their children, charged by God with raising them up. He does not give this responsibility to teachers.

Answer 12

Supposing that was true, how many people have the money to send their kids to a private school?  

However, your statement is simply not true.  Yeah, I grew up in the "Bible Belt" and many of my friends are fundamentalists Christians, but most homeschoolers I know are not.  And they would never classify themselves that way.  

If you think about it, many Catholics, Mormons, Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, and and nondenominational people classify themselves as "Christian" giving the Christian believers a wide belief spectrum.  Many of those Christian people would not consider someone of another Christian faith to be fundamentalist.  For example, I highly doubt Mormons and Baptists would consider each other Christian fundamentalists because their belief systems are so different.  Yet many Mormons and Baptists consider themselves to be fundamentalists.  It just depends on your definition of fundamentalist.

Answer 13

First off, many homeschooling families are not very religious, and many come from other religions besides Christianity.

As a Christian homeschooling family, I can tell you that private Christian schools are VERY expensive.  Not only that, but often they carry some of the same problems of Public School.

For example, one of the many things that makes homeschooling an attractive option for my family is that my children would never see their father if they went to Public School, the same holds true for Private School.

My son also has special needs, and tends to regress if we stop schooling for longer than two weeks.  Both Public and Private schools in this area take the entire summer off.

Another problem Private Schools share with Public Schools is that of lumping all kids together based more on age than interest or ability.  An older child who needs to be in a younger grade will be teased mercilessly, and a younger child in an older grade is usually beat up, or at best ignored by the other kids.

Schools also cater to the "middle ground", kids who are gifted end up being bored out their minds, and kids who struggle just become more confused as time goes on.  Its fine for the kids in the middle, anything that is not average doesn't fit.  The result, many gifted kids get so bored they drop out, the struggling kids get so frustrated they drop out.  The average kids stay average, and are never challenged to stretch themselves any further.

There are many other reasons, but what it comes down to is that homeschooled children do better than kids in Public or Private school, so many parents simply pick the BEST educational option available, which is homeschool.