By Dr. Joseph Woodard

The Covid lockdowns saw homeschools doubling in both Canada and the United States, so in the summer of 2021, Harvard University hosted a seven-session video conference on The Post-Pandemic Future of Homeschooling. Harvard is the epicentre of bureaucratic progressivism, so it was an historic opportunity to challenge homeschooling’s opponents. Harvard professor Elizabeth Bartholet, for example, demanded mandatory criminal checks for parents. Her proposals did not survive debate. 

Despite Bartholet’s faith in bureaucratic regulation, public education’s Dirty Little Secret slipped out in the conference’s fifth session on child abuse. The only significant survey on public school sexual abuse found, in 2002, that 9.6 percent of grade 8-to-11 students suffered unwanted advances and contact by teachers or staff. Worse: the conference session participants agreed that, in the fully twenty years since then, the public education establishment – particularly teachers’ unions – have stonewalled any further research on the issue.  

For parents interested in surveying the changing big picture, at the legal, cultural, and home classroom levels, the Harvard conference is seven, one-hour videos jam-packed with information, each with two to three presenters, a commentator, and chat-box questions. The topics discussed are:  

1) Is it Time for a Change to Homeschool Law?

2) Growth and Diversity in Post-pandemic Homeschooling; 

3) Are Homeschoolers Prepared for Life? 

4) Are Homeschoolers Socially Isolated? 

5) Is Child Abuse Greater at Schools or Homeschool? 

6) Is Homeschooling an International Movement? 

7) Parents’ Experiences with Homeschooling. 

Each of the seven videos are found below the session summary. You can easily share individual sessions with family or friends who have questions or issues. 

Session 1:  Is It Time for a Change to Homeschool Law? 

Professor Bartholet demands “protection of children from abuse and neglect.” She admits “relatively few parents” are abusing their kids, but “a significant subset aren’t getting any meaningful education and suffering abuse.” Her only evidence of that subset was a lack of data. She insists that mandatory regulations include:

1. parental criminal screening; 
2. academic testing; 
3. regular attendance at public school activities; and 
4. quarterly visits by public teachers – a child’s only real protector. 

She insists that universal attendance at public schools is essential to give children “the ability to exit their parents’ lifestyle, if the children so choose.” Since one widespread feature of many homeschooling families is “monogamous heterosexuality,” her ultimate interest in enabling children might be worth pondering.  

Homeschool Legal Defense (US) senior counsel Michael Donnelly responded to Bartholet by citing the 20-year trend making homeschooling more accessible, with US courts repeatedly ruling, “the child is not a mere creature of the state.” The UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirmed, “Parents have a prior right to determine how their children are educated,” precisely to prevent totalitarian regimes like China, Cuba, and Nazi Germany from “weaponizing” public education. 

Kennesaw State University’s Eric Wearne, studying hybrid schools and co-ops, says, “the landscape is fracturing,” because parents now demand “more individualized attention” for their kids. Public school militants “are really talking about indoctrination,” and more, “plenty of conventional five-day schools fail the test” of foiling child abuse. Given a new diversity, Wearne concluded, “regulation risks stamping out some interesting innovations.”

Session 2:  Growth and Diversity in Post-pandemic Homeschooling 

The second session focussed on pre-Covid family diversity and post-Covid spread to minorities. Sarah Grady of the National Household Education Survey said the 2016 baseline showed – pre-Covid – 2.3 percent of one-child families homeschooling, but 4.7 percent of those with three or more kids.  The rate was highest among families with a stay-at-home parent, 7.2 percent. No surprise, income levels were slightly lower, but the education of parent-teachers was at least equal to public school parents. 

National Home Education Research Institute (nheri.org) president Dr. Brian Ray cited a body of studies showing that homeschooled students perform above average academically, socially and professionally in adulthood. Post-Covid, U.S. homeschooling kids doubled from five to 11 percent, with homeschooled black students surged from three to 16 percent, and Hispanic and Asian kids almost as much. 

So Ray addressed “perceived barriers” to homeschooling in “fragile communities,” like minority and single-parent families. His recent survey found the first perceived barrier is, Parents “don’t understand the laws.” They then feel uninformed about community support systems, and lack confidence in curriculum selection. 

Session 3:  Whether the Homeschooled Are Prepared for Life 

This session tended to focus on special needs children. Professors Christian Wilkens and Jennifer Jolly shared their frustration at the lack of data (or sparse official interest) on outcomes. Senior conference host Paul Peterson, the Director of Harvard’s Program on Education Policy and Governance, then provided comic relief: “What I’m hearing again and again is: It’s not clear… We don’t know… It’s uncertain… We need better data… But perhaps we have learned from all this… the impacts are so clear that you can say, okay, we do not need to discourage homeschooling… So maybe the public policy conclusion here is that we should leave people alone to lead their own lives.”  

This provoked general agreement that, given homeschools’ exponential growth, more is needed for special needs children than benign neglect. Jolly, now homeschooling her special needs child, sees a “huge spike in homeschooling single parents,” particularly with diverse learners. Though public schools tout “individualized instruction,” they “fall short in meeting differential needs.” So parents need clear “on-ramps and off-ramps” at public schools, so kids can roll in-and-out at different stages of development. 

Session 4:  Whether the Homeschooled Are Socially Isolated 

Professors Daniel Hamlin and David Sikkink presented data on the much-vexed socialization question, from qualitative interviews with homeschooled adults and three major surveys. Compared to public school students, the homeschooled enjoy more conventional activities (sports, libraries, plays, galleries), but also unconventional opportunities (afternoon apprenticeships, carpentry, farming). In 28 of 31 interviews, homeschooled adults celebrated their own parents as “intentional in facilitating social experiences.” Parents were sensitive to any desire to return to conventional schooling, a decision “driven by the children themselves.” 

Data shows a huge growth of new “micro-communities,” with 77 percent of homeschoolers active with other families. As homeschooling grows, there’s much more movement between home and brick-and-mortar schools. Only 11 percent of students were homeschooled for 10-12 years, with 45 percent at home only one-two years. So session commentator Michael McShane, research director for EdChoice, stressed the spread of cooperatives, discussed in his new book, Hybrid Homeschooling – A Guide to the Future of Education. 

Session 5:  Whether Child Abuse Is Greater in Public Schools or Homeschools

As already mentioned, the fifth session on child abuse, with professors Charol Shakeshaft, Angela Dills and Martin West exposed the scandal of the public schools: unchallenged sexual abuse by school employees. The only significant data is a 2002 survey by the National Association of University Women on student sexual activity, asking “Who?” and “How?” The survey found unexpectedly that 9.6 percent of grade 8-to-11 students suffered unwanted sexual advances or contacts by teachers or staff (with non-contact advances including ‘self-abuse’ in front of a student). 

Since she first discovered that 2002 survey, Prof. Shakeshaft has repeatedly applied for funding to gather more data and has been repeatedly refused.  “I don’t think it’s gotten any better since then,” she said, “but the constant response to my funding applications has always been, ‘If it’s only 10 percent, it’s not a big problem’.” When pressed on the funding agencies’ motives, she amplified: “Every single time, agencies say, ‘I don’t see why we would study this’.” Politically liberal, she’s approached politicians with the problem and been rebuffed: “It seems obvious to me the regulations and procedures in [public] schools are based on the convenience of adults and not the best interests of children… Teachers aren’t reporting their colleagues.” 

Given the proven risks in public schools, the panel discussed the probability that the primary risk to the homeschooled arises in “hybrid situations,” when parents enlist tutors or coaches. This incidentally is confirmed by the most recent significant study by National Home Education Research Institute’s Dr. Brian Ray. Ray found that homeschooled kids are at least twice as likely to suffer abuse in community or public school activities than at home.  

Session 6: Homeschools as an International Movement (including Quebec)

The sample of “international” (non-US) homeschooling included Israel and France, nations where “the movement” is either tiny or lacking data. The French families must be authorized to homeschool and submit to supervision from their home department. Though having detailed files, the 101 departments resist sharing any data with researchers, and why? Despite restrictions, French homeschooling grew from 0.16 percent in 2007 to 0.36 percent in 2016, then 0.5 percent, partly because, in 2019, the mandatory school age was lowered to 3 from 5 years. French homeschools are short-lived, 75 percent lasting less than two years.  

University of Montreal’s Christine Brabant discussed Quebec’s new regulations. In 2016, Quebec had 2565 homeschooled (0.3 percent); they grew to 5964 by 2019 (0.7 percent, one-fifth of Anglo-Canada), then surged to 15,000 during Covid. As a government consultant for its 2017-18 reforms, Brabant developed a matrix of relations between parents, independent groups (like consultants) and state bureaus: “none, support, ‘intervision’ or control.” 

In Quebec’s new law, homeschoolers have access to public school resources like libraries, science labs, art classes and ID cards, and are required to take provincial school exams – all of this “intervision” or cooperation. Following the Covid surge, however, a new education minister decreed use of provincial curricula and testing – “control.” Since the law itself still stresses “intervision” (recognizing groups and consultants) and created a specialized cohort of home monitors, how this works in practice will be the focus of Brabant’s future research.  

Session 7:  Parents’ Experiences with Homeschooling

This panel offered five homeschooling parents of wide diversity: 

• a military veteran mom, born in the “black ghetto,” who classically educated her nine kids over 30 years; 
• a former concert singer who started “crunchy” homeschooling her three “artsy” kids in 2014, so they could travel with her operatic husband; 
• the unschooling mother of two sons who were “hands-on” learners, painfully anxious in public school; 
• a mother from an extremely competitive education background, who wanted to save her five kids from “the boxes”; and 
• a Christian dad who, following his military career, took the lead in teaching his two kids, the oldest severely epileptic.   

Despite their diversity, the five shared common conclusions. They all hit homeschooling cold, with no previous contact. The decision, year-to-year, was kid-driven, particularly by those with different capacities. (“He built his own bike at age eleven; he’s a hands-on guy,” said the unschooling mom, “and that has to be okay.”) 

The new technology is nice, but not essential. They completely agreed that public schools do not provide discerning education for kids, but “boxes.” Regarding “socialization,” they agreed that “institutionalized school socialization” – pack socialization in same-age groups – is “one of the most unnatural ways to socialize kids in history.” One most notable social feature of homeschooled kids is their ability to interact comfortably with adults. About regulation, they agreed it’s a “slippery slope,” and really, “public schools need to fix themselves.” 

Joseph K. Woodard earned a BA at University of Alberta (Pol Phil), MA’s at Dalhousie and St. John’s (Great Books), Greek and Latin diplomas at Berkeley, and a PhD at Claremont. He invested fifteen years as an academic (Bethany, Brock), fifteen as a journalist (Alberta Report, Calgary Herald), and eleven as a tribunal judge (Citizenship Canada). He has helped his wife, Kathy, raise ten children with homeschooling and parent-run school start-ups, and always taught adjunct at independent high schools and colleges. He writes for websites like The Imaginative Conservative and Public Discourse, serves as director of research for the Canadian Centre for Home Education, and moderates Great Books seminars online with Angelicum Academy.