‘Declared graduated’: Student plans to elevate homeschool alum voices in research
May 22, 2023 - Carly Bowling
Meg Honnold just wrapped up her first year at The University of New Mexico, but unlike most students on campus, it was also her first year in a classroom. Homeschooled from kindergarten through high school on a fundamentalist family commune in the Ozark woods of Missouri, Honnold did not always plan to attend college. Now, she’s an award-winning undergraduate researcher.
Honnold took first place in the 180-second research presentation category at UROC, the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Conference at UNM, for her literature review, “The American Homeschool Movement: An Analytic Review of Prominent Research Topics, Leading Voices and Emerging Studies.” She hopes to amplify the voices of children in the larger, societal conversation about schooling.
“My hope is ultimately for homeschool reform that ensures it as a safe, vibrant education alternative and currently these gaps in research are letting a lot of students fall through the cracks,” she said. “Studying the homeschool movement, for me, is children’s rights advocacy.”
Public conversations about homeschooling often focus on parent voices and rights. Honnold is interested in re-centering the voices of people who were homeschooled.
“There’s this generation of kids from that 90’s homeschool boom who are now adults who can be interviewed and participate in knowledge production in ways that haven’t been available previously,” she said. “I want to elevate their efforts in this academic research space where their voices have largely been under-prioritized.”
The National Center for Education Statistics estimated nearly 1.7 million children were homeschooled in 2016, with numbers likely increasing since the pandemic, but the true number is difficult to calculate due to homeschooling’s unique, deregulated nature, Honnold said. Her own story began years ago.
“Every homeschooling experience is different,” Honnold said. “Mine involved sheltered socialization and limited education and at 18, I was sort of declared graduated without a GED or diploma.”
Read more at the UNM Newsroom
