Homeschooling an academic advantage?

Homeschooled children who learn in a structured environment with a set curriculum may actually do better academically than their public school-educated peers, according to a new study published in the Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science.

Researchers at Montreal’s Concordia University and Mount Allison University in New Brunswick followed 74 children between the ages of five and ten: 37 of a the children were homeschooled, while the other 37 attended traditional public school.

"Although public school children we assessed were performing at or above expected levels for their ages, children who received structured homeschooling had superior test results compared to their peers: From a half-grade advantage in math to 2.2 grade levels in reading," explained lead author Sandra Martin-Chang.

"This advantage may be explained by several factors including smaller class sizes, more individualized instruction, or more academic time spent on core subjects such as reading and writing."

Homeschooled children who had no set curriculum or structure – also known as ‘unschooling’ – fell far behind both the structured homeschool learners and the public school students in terms of academic grades.

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