Re the Apple Store, I think you have a valid complaint, however the same goes for Amazon, Kobo, Logos and so on. On the flip side, the text books are apparently to be cheap, only $14.99 USD max, which is simply amazing. If all the Apologia Science textbooks were available at that price, I would buy them all.

In some ways, it should make us appreciate what we have here in NZ…. It is so easy to get caught up in the current state here in NZ and we forget how ‘good’ we have it…

The last study by the Fraser Institute concludes:

Home schooling continues to grow in popularity among parents in both Canada and the US.

There are good reasons to be suspicious about easy comparisons between the test scores of home schooled and other students, since it is difficult to ensure comparable testing conditions or levels of student participation, among other reasons. However, the number of scholars and studies comparing the two groups continues to grow, bolstering older studies.

Many studies, Canadian, American, and international, have found that home schooled students outperform students in both public and independent (private) schools. One US study found that home and private school students perform comparably well, and that both maintain a strong advantage over public school students.

Home educated children enjoy no significant advantage if one or both parents are certified teachers.

Surprisingly, several studies have found that home education may help eliminate the potential negative effects of certain socio-economic factors. Though children whose parents have university degrees score higher on tests of academic achievement than other home schooled children, home education appears to mitigate the harmful effect of low parental education levels. That is, public schools seem to educate children of poorly educated parents worse than do the poorly educated parents themselves. One study found that students taught at home by mothers who had never finished high school scored a full 55 percentile points higher than public school students from families with comparable education levels.

Despite a widespread belief that home educated students are not adequately socialized the preponderance of research suggests otherwise. The average Canadian home schooled student is regularly involved in eight social activities outside the home. Canadian home schoolers watch much less television than other children, and one researcher found that they displayed significantly fewer problems than public school children when observed in free play.

Though the long-term effects of home schooling are less well studied, both Canadian and American findings on previously home schooled adults are encouraging. Canadian home-schooled students report a life satisfaction score well above their public school peers. American studies have found indications of a wide range of non-academic benefits from home schooling.

Visit http://www.home-schooling-guide.com for more!