17: You’re About to Get Schooled – Public vs. Private Schools vs. Homeschooling

It’s back to school time! 

We can’t think of a better time to talk about the options you have when it comes to educating your big family. We look at the big three – Public Schools (free! close to home!), Private Schools (high quality! faith formation!), and Homeschooling (environment! flexibility!) – and share our experiences with each.

Show notes:

  • Our homeschooling stats came from the National Home Education Research Institute, and included these figures:
    • There are about 2.2 million home-educated students in the United States.
    • The home-educated typically score 15 to 30 percentile points above public-school students on standardized academic achievement tests. 
    • Homeschool students score above average on achievement tests regardless of their parents’ level of formal education or their family’s household income.
  • If you’re in the Owensboro, Kentucky area, check out Owensboro Catholic Schools, where Lance’s Owensboro Catholic Schoolskids attend. Faith is the biggest priority but the academics are excellent, too. For instance, “from the Class of 2014, 98% of the students took the ACT test and scored an average composite ACT score of 22.9,” compared to a state average of 19.9.
  • Also, we discussed Williamson County (Tennessee) schools, where Bobby’s kids attend. On the show, we said we heard they were some of the best in the state, and indeed they are“Williamson County Schools is once again the highest achieving district in the state based on the 2014 TCAP results.”

You can listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher, or in the player below: