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Home Schooling, the Right Choice: An Academic, Historical, Practical, and Legal Perspective
This is the number one resource for home schooling that belongs on every parent's reference shelf. Drawing from years of experience as Senior Counsel of the Home School Legal Defense Association, Klicka provides information practical steps to successful home schooling, legal issues and steps to take to protect yourself from over zealous social workers, a candid analysis of public education, higher education's interest in home school graduates, and college success for home educated students. Foreword by D. James Kennedy, Ph.D.
480 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 17, 2008
Before I had children, I admired parents who home schooled their children. It is something that I wanted to do for my (eventual, at the time) children, but did not know if we would be able. Once Hannah was born on April 8, 2004, home schooling her and our future children weighed more and more on our minds. In time, my wife and I became convinced together that home schooling was the right choice for us. That my wife and I had the same conviction was essential. As the primary teacher, my wife had to be dedicated to the decision. At the same time, my wife's dedication would undoubtedly waver if I did not provide the necessary support.
It was after we had made the decision to home school our children that we attended the 2006 Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators (NICHE) annual conference and heard Chris Klicka speak. Klicka is Senior Counsel for the Home School Legal Defense Association. We were struck by his love of the Lord, his sincerity, and his in depth knowledge (built through personal experience) of the home school movement. He is an excellent, inspiring speaker who has also written the excellent book Home Schooling: The Right Choice.
Originally published in 1995 and updated in 2000, Home Schooling is less a defense of home schooling than it is an argument for why you, too, should home school. In one of his speeches at the NICHE conference, Klicka made the point that the most important job we have as parents is to raise our children to know and love Jesus. In Home Schooling, Klicka makes the point that we cannot expect our children to think and act like Christians if they spend their whole day, five days a week, in an environment that teaches them to think and act like a secular humanist.
Home Schooling begins with an indictment of public schools, underscoring its propositional rather than defensive nature. Public schools, in general, are failing our children academically, morally, and philosophically. Particularly enlightening is chapter 3's recitation of the express goals of the founders of state education and of the professors at education colleges and the subsequent manifestation of those goals.
But all of that is just why you should avoid public schools. In Parts II and III, Klicka affirmatively addresses why you should home school. Klicka notes the Biblical principles supporting home schooling, the benefits of home schooling, and the large number of influential Americans who were home schooled. He also sets forth practical steps to successful home schooling--providing the encouragement you need to realize that you can do it--as well as the success home schoolers have in college.
Home Schooling goes on to recite the victories won against those with an interest in a public school monopoly. The victories have come in both the legislative and judicial branches. Klicka has firsthand knowledge of many of them and some of them have been truly miraculous. Included in these sections is a thorough, but easy to understand recitation of home schoolers' rights.
The book also includes a number of helpful appendices, including "The Difference Between Christian Education and Humanistic Education," "Fifteen Reasons to Home School Your Teenagers," and "The Social Worker Skit: How to Handle a Visit From a Social Worker."
Throughout the book, Klicka effectively refutes each of the criticisms directed toward home schooling. Given the documented success of home schoolers versus their public and private schooled peers, no one can legitimately claim academic deficiencies as a basis for opposing home schooling. What about socialization? The question is too simple. What kind of socialization is preferable? As a wise person once told me, proper socialization comes from modeling adults, not other children. The public school environment is an artificial one where our children only interact with, save their teacher, other kids their age. No other setting in society is like that.
The one criticism of the book that I can muster is Klicka's reliance on substantive due process arguments for the constitutional right to home school. "Substantive" due process (an oxymoron) is the underpinning of the U.S. Supreme Court's created right to abortion. Clearly, as an attorney in a court of law defending home schoolers, Klicka should latch onto anything the Supreme Court has given him, but in a book dealing with home schooling history and long-term strategies going forward, substantive due process is not something to rely on. It was made up out of thin air and could vanish just as easily, or could be applied arbitrarily.
In any event, Home Schooling is the perfect book for people already home schooling who will be encouraged that they have made the right decision and will gain a greater appreciation of the sacrifices those who started home schooling in the 1980s made, for people thinking about home schooling but are not sure they can do it, and for people trying to understand why their friends and family are home schooling rather than doing what just about everyone else does. It will remain a valuable part of my library.
It was after we had made the decision to home school our children that we attended the 2006 Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators (NICHE) annual conference and heard Chris Klicka speak. Klicka is Senior Counsel for the Home School Legal Defense Association. We were struck by his love of the Lord, his sincerity, and his in depth knowledge (built through personal experience) of the home school movement. He is an excellent, inspiring speaker who has also written the excellent book Home Schooling: The Right Choice.
Originally published in 1995 and updated in 2000, Home Schooling is less a defense of home schooling than it is an argument for why you, too, should home school. In one of his speeches at the NICHE conference, Klicka made the point that the most important job we have as parents is to raise our children to know and love Jesus. In Home Schooling, Klicka makes the point that we cannot expect our children to think and act like Christians if they spend their whole day, five days a week, in an environment that teaches them to think and act like a secular humanist.
Home Schooling begins with an indictment of public schools, underscoring its propositional rather than defensive nature. Public schools, in general, are failing our children academically, morally, and philosophically. Particularly enlightening is chapter 3's recitation of the express goals of the founders of state education and of the professors at education colleges and the subsequent manifestation of those goals.
But all of that is just why you should avoid public schools. In Parts II and III, Klicka affirmatively addresses why you should home school. Klicka notes the Biblical principles supporting home schooling, the benefits of home schooling, and the large number of influential Americans who were home schooled. He also sets forth practical steps to successful home schooling--providing the encouragement you need to realize that you can do it--as well as the success home schoolers have in college.
Home Schooling goes on to recite the victories won against those with an interest in a public school monopoly. The victories have come in both the legislative and judicial branches. Klicka has firsthand knowledge of many of them and some of them have been truly miraculous. Included in these sections is a thorough, but easy to understand recitation of home schoolers' rights.
The book also includes a number of helpful appendices, including "The Difference Between Christian Education and Humanistic Education," "Fifteen Reasons to Home School Your Teenagers," and "The Social Worker Skit: How to Handle a Visit From a Social Worker."
Throughout the book, Klicka effectively refutes each of the criticisms directed toward home schooling. Given the documented success of home schoolers versus their public and private schooled peers, no one can legitimately claim academic deficiencies as a basis for opposing home schooling. What about socialization? The question is too simple. What kind of socialization is preferable? As a wise person once told me, proper socialization comes from modeling adults, not other children. The public school environment is an artificial one where our children only interact with, save their teacher, other kids their age. No other setting in society is like that.
The one criticism of the book that I can muster is Klicka's reliance on substantive due process arguments for the constitutional right to home school. "Substantive" due process (an oxymoron) is the underpinning of the U.S. Supreme Court's created right to abortion. Clearly, as an attorney in a court of law defending home schoolers, Klicka should latch onto anything the Supreme Court has given him, but in a book dealing with home schooling history and long-term strategies going forward, substantive due process is not something to rely on. It was made up out of thin air and could vanish just as easily, or could be applied arbitrarily.
In any event, Home Schooling is the perfect book for people already home schooling who will be encouraged that they have made the right decision and will gain a greater appreciation of the sacrifices those who started home schooling in the 1980s made, for people thinking about home schooling but are not sure they can do it, and for people trying to understand why their friends and family are home schooling rather than doing what just about everyone else does. It will remain a valuable part of my library.
March 3, 2020
I've been diving into various homeschooling books, as we've decided to homeschool our daughter in the fall. This was one I grabbed on a whim at the library, and I have conflicting views. While it was incredibly well-researched and has ever statistic you could possibly want about public schools and homeschooling, it was also incredibly one-sided. I don't believe any parent is "bad" if they send their child to public school (we're still considering it depending on how next year goes!), and I felt this book very strongly suggested that if you're a Christian parent, it's your "duty" to homeschool your child, and if you don't, welllll, good luck when you go to Heaven! I'm giving it two stars for the research and statistics, but no more than that because I'm not a fan of making others feel bad to make them believe what I believe.
More reviews: www.brandijolittlewrites.com
More reviews: www.brandijolittlewrites.com
December 16, 2016
Have you ever asked yourself why anyone would homeschool? Well then this is the book for you. I had a friend that was doing a report in college on homeschooling. In the beginning they were anti-homeschooling. After reading this book, and doing additional study they were pro-homeschooling. We all know some people who homeschool. Reading this book might help you understand the reasons a typical parent might choose homeschooling. And understanding is always a good thing.
March 3, 2009
I was only merely leaning toward homeschooling before I read this book. This book made me so much more sure of my decision...we begin homeschool in the fall.
August 29, 2021
Overall I’m glad I read this. I enjoyed the arguments for homeschooling, and especially the section which discusses a bunch of historical figures who were home educated. It’s honestly incredible how far we have fallen as a society in search of “equality” in education.
As a Christian, I strongly agreed with the author’s arguments about the moral dangers of the government schools. We’re Catholic, but the Catholic schools here in Canada have largely become woke indoctrination centres for the state and I’m not comfortable sending my children to them, either.
“Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.”
-Vladimir Lenin
This book is pretty dated, but still quite applicable. I’m knocking off two stars because it’s so heavily America-focused, which wouldn’t be a problem except that more than half of the book is a recounting of various legal battles, discussions on lobbying, and principles of constitutional law. It’s just a lot, but I’m glad I read the whole thing - it’s quite a valuable history of the legal climate surrounding homeschooling in the USA.
I just wish it was a little more balanced with some of the other information.
As a Christian, I strongly agreed with the author’s arguments about the moral dangers of the government schools. We’re Catholic, but the Catholic schools here in Canada have largely become woke indoctrination centres for the state and I’m not comfortable sending my children to them, either.
“Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.”
-Vladimir Lenin
This book is pretty dated, but still quite applicable. I’m knocking off two stars because it’s so heavily America-focused, which wouldn’t be a problem except that more than half of the book is a recounting of various legal battles, discussions on lobbying, and principles of constitutional law. It’s just a lot, but I’m glad I read the whole thing - it’s quite a valuable history of the legal climate surrounding homeschooling in the USA.
I just wish it was a little more balanced with some of the other information.
July 16, 2022
Everything about homeschooling: why it's important, how it grew, how freedoms were protected by grassroots effectively calling legislators. Written in 1995, the decay of public schools that was fully revealed by 2021 was well predicted.
August 31, 2016
There are two main problems with this book.
1) Over half of the book (more than 200 pages) focuses on UN treaties, social workers, many historical legal cases, political action, etc. Goodness, there were over 60 pages just on social workers! This seemed out of proportion with the title of the book and should have been pared down significantly. Most of this seems like it would have more appropriately belonged in the author's book The Right to Home School: A Guide to the Law on Parents' Rights in Education.
2) It's dated. The most recently updated version is from 2002, and as the author is deceased, it will probably not be updated again. But, this book works very hard to make its case for homeschooling by citing many studies and also references many legal cases, then current state laws, etc. But, much of it is now out of date and will only become more so.
3) His primary point in advocating for homeschooling, or at least where he begins is with the failings of public schooling. In fact, that is what the first 100 pages focuses on: citations of various bad events in public schools, studies, public school history. Then after page 100, homeschooling is presented as the answer. I'd have prefered he'd begun with the positive (and Biblical) reasons to homeschool and spent a lot less time on the public schools.
This book really should have been edited down to be less than half the length that it is and would have been much better for it.
1) Over half of the book (more than 200 pages) focuses on UN treaties, social workers, many historical legal cases, political action, etc. Goodness, there were over 60 pages just on social workers! This seemed out of proportion with the title of the book and should have been pared down significantly. Most of this seems like it would have more appropriately belonged in the author's book The Right to Home School: A Guide to the Law on Parents' Rights in Education.
2) It's dated. The most recently updated version is from 2002, and as the author is deceased, it will probably not be updated again. But, this book works very hard to make its case for homeschooling by citing many studies and also references many legal cases, then current state laws, etc. But, much of it is now out of date and will only become more so.
3) His primary point in advocating for homeschooling, or at least where he begins is with the failings of public schooling. In fact, that is what the first 100 pages focuses on: citations of various bad events in public schools, studies, public school history. Then after page 100, homeschooling is presented as the answer. I'd have prefered he'd begun with the positive (and Biblical) reasons to homeschool and spent a lot less time on the public schools.
This book really should have been edited down to be less than half the length that it is and would have been much better for it.
March 24, 2009
Hard-core, right wing, Christian look at homeschooling with loads of studies and statistics referenced. The copy I read was written in 1995, so it's a little outdated, but since I've read more current HSing books, I know the stats are likely legit. My main hangup with this book is that I have an issue with the viewpoint that any Christian parent who doesn't homeschool is considered sinful. That's not for the author to decide. (Author is Senior Counsel for HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Assoc.), and works for the rights of homeschooling parents in America.)
January 10, 2009
If you are interested in homeschooling (I was homeschooled), this would be a great book to start with.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews