This is the story that the teachers unions wish had never happened. This is the story that proves all their hysterical demands for more money are nothing but a sham. This is the story that makes the unions and education bureaucrats sick to their stomachs. This is the personal story of my daughter Dakota Root.

In each of the books I’ve written, I’ve taken great care to acknowledge my beautiful and brilliant little girl, Dakota. I often noted that Dakota and her parents were aiming for her acceptance at either Harvard or Stanford and would accept nothing less. The easy part is aiming for gold. The hard part is achieving it. “Homeschool to Harvard” is a story about turning dreams into reality.

Dakota has been home-schooled since birth. While other kids spent their school days being indoctrinated to believe competition and winning are unimportant, and that others are to blame for their shortcomings and failures, Dakota was learning the value of work ethic, discipline, sacrifice and personal responsibility. While other kids were becoming experts at partying, Dakota and her dad debated current events at the dinner table. While other kids shopped and gossiped, Dakota was devouring books on science, math, history, literature, politics and business. I often traveled to business events and political speeches with my home-schooled daughter in tow. While other kids came home to empty homes, Dakota’s mom, dad, or both were there every day to share meals and a bedtime kiss and prayer. Despite a crazy schedule of business and politics, I’m proud to report that I’ve missed very few bedtime kisses with my four home-schooled kids.

While others were out learning to drive so they could attend more parties, or experimenting with alcohol and drugs, Dakota was practicing the sport she loves with dedication, intensity and passion- fencing. The result? She became one of the elite junior fencers in America- winning the Pacific Coast Championship and representing the United States at World Cup events in Germany and Austria.

Was all the discipline and sacrifice worth it? A few days ago, Dakota Root achieved her lifelong dream. She was accepted at both Harvard and Stanford. She was also accepted at Columbia, Penn, Brown, Duke, Chicago, Cal-Berkeley, USC and several more of the elite schools in America, an unheard of record for a home-school kid. She actually had the confidence to turn down an offer from the Yale fencing coach before she had gotten her other acceptances. The kid turned down Yale!

Here is the most amazing part of the story: The first classroom of Dakota’s life will be inside the hallowed halls of Harvard. This fall she will fence for the Harvard team- one of America’s best. Only an elite 1% (30,000) of the best of the best high school seniors dared apply to Harvard. Virtually every one was #1 in their class, or a world-class scholar/athlete, or had perfect S.A.T. scores. Out of 3 million high school seniors headed to college, and those 30,000 applicants, only 1500 or so will attend Harvard. That is the lowest acceptance rate in college history. To be accepted at one or two Ivy League colleges is rare- to all, an almost impossible feat!

At a time of educational free-fall, it is a remarkable story. With America’s public school system ranked at or near the bottom of the industrialized world (and Nevada near the bottom of that), with record dropout rates, grade inflation, violence, gangs, drugs, teen pregnancies, and the scandal of graduating high school seniors requiring remedial math and reading before starting at college, Dakota’s story offers hope. Dakota proves the American Dream is alive, if only we’d stop depending on government to save us.

There is no one answer for education- our choice of homeschooling melded parental education with tutoring by hand-picked retired teachers and college professors, combined with a personally-chosen curriculum. It’s called parental freedom. The power to decide how to best educate children belongs with the parents, not teachers unions. School choice, encouraging competition for our failing public school system, and offering vouchers on the state level to give parents the power (and money) to choose among charter schools, private schools, parochial schools or home-schooling is the way to force public schools to improve. Competition works. If it’s good enough for Coke and Pepsi, why not public schools?

The sad reality is that teachers unions and government aren’t the solution – they are the problem. Our public schools get worse every year, yet teachers unions demand more and more money. They get their money, it gets worse yet, and they demand even MORE. That is the definition of insanity. This is “Groundhog Day.” It isn’t working- and hasn’t since the day that government took over education in this country.

Dakota Root proves it doesn’t take a state certified teacher, or a teachers union, or a village to raise a child- it only takes two loving parents who give a damn. One home-schooled girl has driven a stake through the heart of the public school education sham. “Homeschool to Harvard” is a powerful story that every parent should be allowed to offer their children.

You can read the original article from Wayne Allyn Root here.

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Where can I find a list of Christian colleges in our region of the country? And how can I know if they are truly Christian?

This is a loaded question, but one that many homeschooling families share. Every family’s definition of “truly Christian” can vary drastically, based upon their individual beliefs and denomination. Because of this, I don’t know that there is a comprehensive guide that lists which colleges and universities meet these criteria.

As I have written about before, there are multiple resources available for families to determine which schools meet their selected needs. Additional resources to assist the Christian family can be found at Schools in the USA and College Bound.

One resource that many Roman Catholic families have found to be of the utmost value is the Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College. Every family I’ve spoken with who has purchased this book raves about it.

Although there are many books and websites available to students and parents to help narrow the search for a Christian college, I would always recommend calling up the select school’s admissions office, and inquiring of their institutional philosophy pertaining to both Christianity and education. After doing this, visit the school and ask students and teachers similar questions, specifically on how this philosophy is practically applied in daily activities and campus life. This can often give you the answers you’re looking for.

One final resource to ease the college search process can be found My College Calendar. They list several online search sites which can help make the process a bit simpler.

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When should we begin visiting college campuses?

This is a great question, and one that many parents neglect to ask. It’s never too early to start visiting potential college campuses. But before you hop in the car or jump on the plane to check out your child’s new home and learning environment over the next four years, a couple of preliminary steps should be taken to save both time, money, and headaches.

First off, sit down with your student and make a list of what you’re both looking for in a college. Write down everything you want in a college or university, beginning with the most important aspects, (such as academic major, religious affiliation, location, etc.) and ending with the smallest of details (cafeteria food selection, campus aesthetics, etc.). Leave nothing off the list, no matter how small the detail. After you feel everything you could possibly want in a college is listed, arrange this list numerically in order of importance, with 1 being the most important criteria, 50 being the least, etc.

After you’ve finished, take out another piece of paper and being writing down a list of negatives, those things you’d prefer the college didn’t have; everything from major issues such as things that would absolutely keep your child from attending to smaller things, such as minor inconveniences. Many of the items written on this list may be the opposite of those on your first list. Do the same with this list as the first, arrange all the items numerically in order of importance, with 1 being a complete deal-breaker, to 50 being a minor inconvenience.

(You may be wondering why I haven’t mentioned anything about the cost of tuition in your lists. Well, it’s because the actual cost can vary considerably, depending upon public or private school, in-state or out-of-state, amount of scholarships won, expected family contribution, and grants and loans awarded. Since all these variables will not be known until after your student has applied senior year, look past this criteria for the time being.)

Once both lists are completed, you should have a pretty good idea of what qualities to both look for and avoid in a potential university for your child. Now it’s time to research. Hop online and begin searching for schools that meet your criteria. If location is important, you can perform a radius search by location. If religious affiliation matters, you can search for schools using this criteria. A couple of resources you may find helpful are the University of Texas list of U.S. Universities, the Wikipedia list of American Institutions, and the NCES college navigator. Use these resources to find potential schools, then navigate to their websites to learn more about each school.

There are several websites that offer virtual campus tours. Although not a substitute for a physical, on-campus visit, they can be another tool to use narrowing the list of possible choices. A couple of good options are You University TV and Collegiate Choice. These are two of the most popular options for virtual tours, filmed by outside companies, so there is less of a subjective bias in the presentation.

Another great option to learn more about individual schools are college fairs. These are events where college admissions representatives from various schools across the country set up a booth or table in a large venue to provide information on their institution to potential students and their families. I have personally attended hundreds of these events, both large and small. Since there are typically multiple schools represented at these fairs, it’s best to make a list of questions to ask the admissions representative before arriving. That way, you can systematically evaluate each school based upon your predetermined criteria. The National Association for College Admissions Counseling (NACAC) has a list of these events across the country.

There are now virtual college fairs being offered, where you never have to leave home to learn about possible schools. check out Virtual College Fairs.com to learn more about this up-and-coming alternative.

These resources should help you to make a list of potential colleges and universities to consider. With this new list of possible candidates, you and your student should begin visiting them at the very latest during junior year. Freshman or sophomore year is ideal for a first-time visit, since if a college visited during this time meets your criteria, you’ll want to schedule a return visit during senior year to confirm its viability.

There are several ways to visit a college campus as a potential student. The first one is an unofficial or self-guided tour. You and your student may decide to visit the campus sporadically by yourselves, asking questions of passers-by and taking in the scenery and campus activity to get a feel for the university. This can be done both during the academic school year and during the summer, although the benefits of doing so are higher during the school year, since most college campuses are drastically different places when school is out of session.

The second type visit is a school preview day or open house. During this type of event, which is usually hosted on the weekend, the student and family may be invited to participate in several campus activities, take a guided tour of campus, meet with the admissions staff, professors and students, attend a sporting event, concert, or theatrical play, eat in the cafeteria, etc. This may or may not be an overnight event, depending on the school.

The third type of campus visit is an official overnight stay in a dormitory with another student. This is usually scheduled on a week day, so your student can attend a class or two in order to gain a feel for collegiate and academic life. Your student will also eat in the cafeteria, attend campus events, work out in the gym, etc. Often times overnight campus visits are scheduled in conjunction with preview days or open houses.

The last type of campus visit is an unofficial overnight stay where your child stays in the dorms with a friend or relative already attending the college. Since it is unofficial, there are no scheduled events to attend, therefore, your student may get a more realistic idea of just what the university is all about.

When should you not visit college campuses? Holidays, fall and spring break, exam weeks, and other dates that the college might be closed. (It never hurts to call the admissions office and ask when the best and worst times to visit are.)

Well, originally this question was about WHEN to begin visiting college campuses, not HOW to go about it. Hopefully though, by answering the how, I’ve made the when easier to understand!

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Are colleges looking at homeschoolers differently?

It depends upon what you mean by “differently,” and whether or not you think it’s a good thing that they do or don’t, but the short answer is yes, they do look at homeschoolers differently.

Just a few years ago, when a homeschooled student applied to college, he was greeted with suspicion and a small amount of disdain. (Ok, maybe a lot of disdain, depending on the school!) These days however, many universities actively recruit homeschooled students, because of their higher than average test scores, strong work ethic, and recent history of collegiate success. Even so, there is still an attitude that homeschooled students need to “prove” themselves before they can be admitted. This generally takes the form of standardized test scores and dual enrollment courses being weighed higher, due to the perception of parental subjectivity regarding the student’s GPA.

So, in order to counter this attitude, make sure to prepare your students well, so that their ACT/SAT scores adequately reflect their GPA.

How does my child go about choosing a college?

Sit down with your student with a pen and paper and make a list of the qualities he or she is looking for in a college. Big school or small. Public or private. Religious affiliation or secular. Close to home or far away. Liberal arts college, or technical school. After asking these questions and listing which factors are important, begin researching what schools fit these criteria and if they have the program of study or major your child is interested in.

This process should begin informally freshman year. Very often, your student’s interests will change over time, and what he wanted in a college freshman year might now be different come senior year. Visit as many colleges as you can. Preferably during the school year, as it can be a vastly different environment than during the summer. Meet the admissions office. Take a tour. Stay overnight in the dorms with another student. Ask as many questions as possible. It never hurts to be overly informed. Keep a checklist of likes and dislikes at each school. Compare the list from one school to another.

Senior year, apply to all those schools which meet your criteria. Your student might not be admitted to every one, so this will further help to eliminate options. From there, see which school is the best fit, both academically, financially, and socially. Make your choice and begin the new adventure!

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How do I go about finding scholarships for my child?

First thing to do is go to FastWeb.com and create a profile. See what your student qualifies for. Do the same at ScholarshipExperts.com. These sites list outside scholarships given out by companies and organizations which don’t come from the individual colleges your son or daughter is applying to. It’s quite possible that your student will not meet the requirements for a good majority of these non-institutional scholarships. Even so, with the thousands that are available, he or she will most likely be in qualification for several. The requirements are all different. Some are academic based. Others are need based. Still others required you to be a female of french decent living in Oklahoma. These obscure ones can be hit or miss. It never hurts to apply for any of them, sometimes the committee who decides who to reward them to will choose someone who doesn’t meet all the requirements, but only if no one else does either.

Your local public library is another good resource. Most libraries have numerous books on scholarships.

Make sure to fill out the FAFSA form to see what federal and state aid you qualify for. Although not technically “scholarships,” there are many grants available that don’t need to be paid back. Usually these are based upon academic merit or need.

Lastly, check with each school your student is interested in applying to. They will usually have a scholarship list on their website or course catalog. Look into this and see what you qualify for. You never know, you just might get the whole thing paid for!

When should we start visiting colleges?

Although it’s never too early to begin visiting colleges, I probably wouldn’t start until at least freshman year of high school. Make a list, along with your student, of the potential schools interested in, and try to attend as many open houses or preview days as possible at these schools. If you’re going to be vacationing or traveling somewhere near one of your potential universities, stop by to check out the campus. Meet with the admissions office to take a tour. make a list of your likes and dislikes. By senior year, hopefully the list will be narrowed down enough to be able to make a good decision.

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