Home > Homeschool Topics > How Does Homeschooling Empower Women and Girls?

At Calvert, we are proud that our homeschool program has educated famous women such as Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Pearl S. Buck, who also became the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize in literature.

In recognition of all our past women graduates and the many young women and girls who are currently enrolled, Calvert has identified several ways in which homeschooling empowers women and girls.
 

Access To Education

When educational resources are hard to find and use, they are avoided. Homeschooling places an emphasis on making learning accessible at all times. This is especially beneficial to girls because it not only sets the foundation for a life-long love of learning, but it encourages girls to discover and learn on their own. Discovery and learning independence helps to increase self-confidence, which is critically important for girls as they get older.
 

Dual Empowerment

When mothers and daughters work together in a homeschool setting, they tend to collaborate more and learn how to teach, learn, and empower one another. While parents are primarily responsible for guiding lessons and providing instruction, there are moments when a child’s insights can open a new avenue of learning. For girls, these moments build essential life skills that will enhance their professional abilities later in life and help to build their inner voice and interests.
 

More Emotional Freedom

While there are some benefits to the large, peer environment of public school, there also are tremendous social pressures. Girls often report high anxieties and stress as they get older in public schools. However, homeschoolers have more emotional freedom. There is no peer pressure, bullying, or other social pressures. Instead, the environment allows girls to be themselves. In the book, A Sense of Self: Listening to Homeschooled Adolescent Girls, by Susannah Sheffer, the author found that homeschooled girls in their teens did not have the same loss of self-esteem, and transitioned in more emotionally mature adults.
 

Homeschool Students Perform Better Academically

There have been many studies which show homeschooled students perform better academically than their peers in public schools. This is often due to the one-on-one learning environment that homeschool provides. As a result, fewer homeschooled girls need to enroll in remedial courses in college, which reduces the cost and time to graduation and makes a college degree more attainable. And we all know that earning a college degree is essential for earning a higher income. Studies have shown consistently that the more education a woman receives during her life, the better her income earning potential will be, and the better educated her children will be.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
 
At Calvert, we believe homeschooling encourages students to work for knowledge and pursue their interests and their dreams. We see so many girls and young women doing that each year through homeschooling that would be impossible in a traditional public school.

We encourage you to read about some of our successful students: http://www.calverteducation.com/why-calvert/success-stories

And to read about Pearl Buck: http://www.calverteducation.com/calvert/pearl-s-buck-calvert-homeschooler