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Of course, homeschooling is not for everyone. Many parents will not feel that they are able to provide their children with an adequate education at home, and others may not have the financial means to homeschool their children. Additionally, students who are taught by parents without college degrees score significantly lower than those who are taught by one or more parents with a college education, and those in the lowest income brackets score lower than those in the middle class (although the average student in each of these groups scores higher than the national average on standardized tests).
Nevertheless, it is a great testament to the parents of homeschoolers that so many of them are willing to sacrifice their time and treasure to ensure that their children receive a high level of education, a proper sense of civic responsibility, and a sound set of moral values to prepare them for adulthood. America has benefited and will continue to benefit from their hard work and sacrifice.
At the same time, the success of homeschoolers is made possible in large measure because of the freedoms we enjoy in our democratic society. The freedom of parents to teach their children at home (a freedom not granted in many other countries) has produced a smarter, more civic-minded generation of young people.
In a day when many adults define themselves in terms of their "job" or "career," the number of mothers and fathers who are willing to sacrifice both to ensure the quality of their children's education is impressive. Many of these parents will have a more positive impact on our country than a host of the most successful business people and politicians.
Abraham Lincoln reportedly said, "The philosophy of the school room in one generation is the philosophy of government in the next." If that's true, let’s hope that in the future our government will be populated with plenty of homeschool grads.
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