by Karla Perry

Created on: April 20, 2010

Home schooled children make for excellent college students for several important reasons.  In fact, children who have not had the benefit of being home schooled can lack some the necessary skills for doing well in college.  

The primary reason home schooled children make good college students is that they are self motivated and self educated.  Home schooling is really about children learning to learn with the minimal assistance of their parents.  At times they may need more assistance in certain subjects more than others. But the object is to learn to learn. Just as a child learns phonics so that they can read big unknown words by themselves, so does the home schooled child learn to learn so they can do it without depending on a teacher.

This is a huge benefit many college students are lacking. In good colleges, the professors are not going to hold the students hand and spoon feed them knowledge. The students will be expected to be prepared for class, study on their own, and be prepared for exams.   Professors are not usually going to remind students to study or to prepare their essays or research papers. It is expected they will be motivated and responsible on their own and if they are not their grades will reflect it accordingly.

Secondly home schooled children are often more mature having had to be self-disciplined students.  They have had their environment be one of responsibility and respect.  These students will excel and rise to positions of leadership and academic excellence in their colleges. They know the value of hard work and will not be ones to complain to the Professors for challenging them to meet high standards. 

Many colleges, such as Harvard, provide scholarships for home schooled children precisely because they are such very good students.  The stigma of the anti-social scared nerd has been perpetuated falsely for too long.  While there may be one in ten of such home schooled children who have been isolated and babied to the extent where they are out of touch with reality, many more home schooled children are well socialized as well as highly educated.  

Colleges should encourage the enrollment of home schooled children.  In fact, many such children enroll in community colleges before graduating high school and simultaneously acquire their two year associates degree before moving on to a four year university having a huge jump start over their peers.  By the time they enter their third year of college they know what they want to study and are well acclimated to the college world and ready to accomplish their goals. 

In conclusion, home schooled children are certainly welcomed in college and their parents should not be dissuaded by rumors of colleges not accepting them.  Most of this nations Founding Fathers were home schooled and as we know accomplished great achievements of historical notoriety.  

Learn more about this author, Karla Perry.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.