USA Today newspaper published an update yesterday (http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-05-28-homeschooling_N.htm) on the current profile of families who choose to home-school their children.
•3.9% of white families home-school, up from 2% in 1999.
•6.8% of college-educated parents home-school, up from 4.9% in 1999.
Reasons for homeschooling used to be to provide better character and moral development or better academic preparation and performance. However, now families also believe that their children thrive better socially by mixing with children of all ages and participating in social events through the home-schooling networks.
The increase of bullying in schools as well as more aggressive behavior from peer groups may influence why parents are home-schooling more girls. The current ratio of girls to boys in homeschooling is 58% to 42%.
Just this week, Tara Paterson, my coauthor for Raising Intuitive Children has chosen the homeschooling option for her empathic and psychic child, who feels deeply the emotions around him. By the time he gets home from a 7 or 8 hour school day, the swirling feelings inside of him spin too fast for words and a meltdown can happen. Tara observes that he can be “in a flurry.” These flurries day after day wear down her son and slowly grind down any enthusiasm for learning, paying attention, being with friends or achieving.
I admire parents with the intuition to know whether or not an academic setting like a school classroom is appropriate for their child. I admire their courage to champion their child’s physical and emotional well being. Sensitive children seem to easily go on overwhelm, and without changing the classroom environment for interactive sharing and creative discovery, parents need to find options.
For children with one of the six types of intuitive intelligence, a home schooling option can serve them well by providing a safety net to let their curiosity lead the way and fuel their expressive gifts.
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