Published here with permission from The MOORE REPORT INTERNATIONAL - July/August 1999

The Moore Foundation, Box 1, Camas, WA 98607

Questions and Answers

"Why Do Some Dads Like Conventional School?"

QUESTION: How can I get my husband to cooperate, and support us in homeschooling? I don't expect him to teach, but he seems to expect that our children should be moving along like classrooms, even though some are simply too young for formal studies.

ANSWER: The only question asked oftener is "How can homeschoolers possibly be socialized?" Both need information: (1) Ask what kind of children he wants: Typical school kids who get the same stack of books as every other child, or those whose curricula are tailored to their unique interests, needs, aptitudes and abilities as we do in the Moore Formula, and whose parents are guided by master teachers who set records. Does he want peers as his kids' models or your family? Does he know what happens when they are with their age mates more than they are with you, in self worth, optimism and respect for you? Does he know what happens to attitudes, language and morality, responsibility, industry, honesty, kindness and accountability? In every one of these qualities homeschools, on the average, significantly excel.

A well-conducted homeschool is on the average superior to the most elitist, expensive private school. In the case of the Moore Academy it costs less than a tenth as much. Homeschools gave old America its highest level of literacy and creativity, including the Industrial Revolution. After a century, we are back on that road.

As your husband (2) if he likes those who excel. I remind you again of Harvard's Senior Admissions Officer David Illingworth. He says students such as we produce are "a luxury." He was referring to "Moore Formula" kids, yet includes any with a creative balance of study, work and service and learn at least as much about earning a living and serving others as about shooting a basket. An example is Dave and Micki Colfax's three boys who went through Harvard on scholarships and one on a mission to the needy of Sacramento. The boys worked so hard they could hardly wait to study, and learned to serve so unselfishly that they all do the same today.

In all states homeschoolers significantly excel. Any one who things otherwise must be an NEA disciple. They say homeschoolers can't compete in math and reading which reminds us of an Idaho legislator who led us to one of the top four or five laws in the U.S. He found Idaho schools to earn a composite 57 percentile on standardized tests statewide, or 7% higher than the average. Idaho homeschoolers composite was 87, with 88 in math and 89 in reading. Before Idaho had a good law, one family of 11 children, harassed and threatened by authorities, produced the highest number of records and University prizes ever awarded a University of Idaho family. All IU members of college age to date have been on major scholarships: One on a space-physics Ph.D. at Stanford, three on $200,000 MD/Ph.D. awards at Loma Linda University Medical School, etc. all of them able to earn their own living. And that is only the beginning. A reminder that the Moore Formula is really not Moore genius, but the way Christ was schooled, and God blesses it whether or not you're a Christian.

If your husband doesn't like to read, read to him short excerpts of the things you wish he would know and don't forget to pray.