Homeschooling

Home education, also called homeschooling or home school, is the process by which children are educated at home rather than at an institution such as a public or private school. Prior to the introduction of compulsory school attendance in the 19th century, most education worldwide occurred within the family and community, with only a small proportion of the population attending schools or employing tutors.

Especially in the English-speaking nations, homeschooling can be an option for parents who wish to provide their children with a quality of education they believe is unattainable in their local schools. Hamilton College sociologist, Mitchell Stevens, remarked in his book, Kingdom of Children: Culture and Controversy in the Homeschooling Movement, that "home-schooling has become an elaborate social movement, with its own celebrities, rituals and networks, which now encompasses more than a million American children."

Even though homeschooling parents worldwide have different educational backgrounds, lifestyles, and beliefs, for the most part, they possess the parental concern and desire for their children to develop to their full potential and hope to create a nurturing family environment at home.

History of homeschooling

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Thomas Edison attended compulsory school for only three months.

The earliest compulsory schooling in the West began in the late 17th century and early 18th century in the German states of Gotha, Heidelheim, Calemberg and, particularly, Prussia. In the United States, the first state to issue a compulsory education law was Massachusetts, in 1789, but not until 1852 did the state establish a true comprehensive statewide, modern system of compulsory schooling." During this time period it was usual for parents in most of the U.S. to utilize books dedicated to home education such as Fireside Education, Griswold, 1828, or Burton and Warren's Helps to Education In The Homes Of Our Countries, 1863, or to utilize the services of itinerant teachers, as means and opportunity allowed. After the establishment of the Massachusetts system other states and localities began to make school attendance mandatory, but even by 1912, A.A. Berle of Tufts University asserted that the previous twenty years of mass education had been a failure and that he had been asked by hundreds of parents about how they could teach their children at home.

In the early 1970s, the premises and efficacy of compulsory schooling came into question with the publication of books like Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich, 1970, and No More Public School by Harold Bennet, 1972. These ideas developed in the mind of education reformer John Holt to produce, in 1976, Instead of Education: Ways To Help People Do Things Better. After the book's publication Holt was contacted by families from various parts of the country to tell him that they had taken the almost unheard of step of educating their own children at home, and from this point Holt began producing a magazine dedicated to homeschooling, Growing Without Schooling.

Almost simultaneously, in the mid to late 1970s, educators Ray and Dorothy Moore began to document and publish the results of their research into optimizing educational results in children, the principle finding being that children should not be introduced to formal education until at least 10 years of age for optimum social and educational results. The Moores also embraced homeschooling, and became important homeschool advocates with the publication of books like Better Late Than Early, 1975 and Home Grown Kids, 1984.

The 1990's were a time of both internal and external growth of the homeschooling movement. As the number of homeschoolers multiplied so did it's strength and support. Educational materials created for the homeschooling market were produced, online networking developed, organizations started, and homeschooling curriculum sales sprung up offering packaged programs in a variety of learning styles. While the phenomena of homeschooling became accepted and promoted, so did the confrontations of opposing views inside the homeschool networks. One debate was whether the American homeschoolers should gain the support of the government and if the movement should lobby for or against bills. Many homeschoolers feared that American government intervention might structure the options for learning and dominate the freedoms homeschoolers wanted to preserve. On the other hand, other American homeschoolers appreciated government support and felt they could help bring about educational reform. The homeschooling movement also experienced the growing pains of accepting other homeschool families’ beliefs and ideas. Along with the growth in numbers of homeschoolers came successful homeschool graduates, high scoring homeschooler test takers, homeschool winners of awards, and colleges not only accepting homeschoolers but appreciating the study standards of homeschoolers.

Motivations to homeschool

According to a 2003 U.S. Census survey, the parents of 33% of homeschooled children cited religion as a factor in their choice. The same study found that 30% felt the regular school had a poor learning environment, 14% objected to what the school teaches, 11% felt their children weren't being challenged at school, and 9% cited morality.

According to the U.S. DOE's "Homeschooling in the United States: 2003", 85 percent of homeschooling parents cited "the social environments of other forms of schooling" (including safety, drugs, bullying and negative peer-pressure) as an important reason why they homeschooled their children. 72 percent cited their "desire to provide religious or moral instruction" as an important reason, and 68 percent cited "dissatisfaction with academic instruction at other schools." 7 percent of parents cited "Child has physical or mental health problem" as a reason they homeschool, another 7 percent cited "Child has other special needs" and 9 percent cited "Other reasons" (including "child's choice," "allows parents more control of learning" and "flexibility").

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Number and percentage of homeschooled students, by reason for homeschooling: 1999, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)

Other reasons include the allowance of more flexibility in adapting educational practices for children with learning disabilities or illnesses, or for children of missionaries, military people, or otherwise traveling parents. Homeschooling also is sometimes opted for when a child has a significant career hobby, such as acting, circus performance, dancing or violin.

Socialization

Some families feel that the negative social pressures of schools, such as sexualization, bullying, drugs, school violence, and other school-related problems, are detrimental to a child's development. Some such advocates believe that the family unit, not same-age peers, should be the primary vehicle for socialization.

Many homeschoolers participate in a variety of community athletics and membership organizations. In fact, many feel that having friends separate from school results in richer and more successful social lives for them. Technological advances allow students to relate to other students online on parent approved forums, classes, and other networks based on the interests, cultural backgrounds, curriculum, etc. of the students.

Parents or guardians in the home school environment need to create opportunities for the child to learn how to relate with others in order for social skills to develop. This can be done through community organizations or through cooperative homeschooling activities such as park days, field trips, or working with other families to create coop classes.

In 2003, the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) conducted a survey of over 7,300 U.S. adults who had been home-educated (over 5,000 for more than seven years). Their findings included:

• Home-educated graduates are active and involved in their communities. 71% participate in an ongoing community service activity, like coaching a sports team, volunteering at a school, or working with a church or neighborhood association, compared with 37% of U.S. adults of similar ages from a traditional education background.

• Home-educated graduates are more involved in civic affairs and vote in much higher percentages than their peers. For example, 76% of surveyed between the ages of 18 and 24 voted within the last five years, compared with only 29% of the relevant U.S. population. The numbers of home-educated graduates who vote are even greater in older age groups, with voting levels not falling below 95%, compared with a high of 53% for the corresponding U.S. populace.

• Of those adults who were home-educated, 58.9% report that they are "very happy" with life (compared with 27.6% for the general U.S. population). Moreover, 73.2% of homeschooled adults find life "exciting", compared with 47.3% of the general population.

Legality of homeschooling

Home education exists legally in many parts of the world. Countries with the most prevalent home education movements include the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Some countries have highly regulated home education programs which are actually an extension of the compulsory school system, while others have outlawed it entirely. In many other countries, while not restricted by law, home education is not socially acceptable or not considered desirable and, therefore, virtually non-existent.

In many countries where home education does not exist legally, underground movements flourish where children are kept out of the compulsory school system and educated at, sometimes considerable, risk. Still, in other countries, while the practice is illegal, the governments do not have the resources to police and prosecute offenders and, as such, it takes place largely in the open.

Home education in the United States is governed by each individual state and therefore regulations vary greatly from one state to another. In the U.S., homeschooling is legal in all 50 states. In some states homeschooling parents are occasionally faced with prosecution under truancy laws. The U.S. Supreme Court has never ruled on homeschooling specifically, but in Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972)[1] it supported the rights of Amish parents to keep their children out of public schools for religious reasons. Many other court rulings have established or supported the right of parents to provide home education.

Curriculum requirements vary from state to state. Some states require homeschoolers to submit information about their curriculum or lesson plans. Other states (such as Texas) just require that certain subjects be covered and do not require submission of the curriculum. While many complete curricula are available from a wide variety of secular and religious sources, many families choose to use a variety of resources to cover the required subjects. In fact, it is not uncommon for a homeschooled student to earn a number of college credits from a 2- or 4-year college before completing the 12th grade.

Some states offer public-school-at-home programs. These on-line, or "virtual", public schools (usually "charter" schools) mimic major aspects of the homeschooling paradigm, for example, instruction occurs outside of a traditional classroom, usually in the home. However, students in such programs are truly public school students and are subject to all or most of the requirements of other public school students. Some public-school-at-home programs give parents leeway in curriculum choice; others require use of a specified curriculum. Full parental control over the curriculum and program, however, is a hallmark feature of homeschooling. Taxpayers pay the cost of providing books, supplies, and other needs, for public-school-at-home students, just as they do for conventional public school students. The U.S. Constitution's prohibition against "establishing" religion applies to public-school-at-home programs, so taxpayer money cannot lawfully be used to purchase a curriculum that is religious in nature.

Homeschooling demographics

According to U.S. Dept of Education report NCES 2003-42, "Homeschooling in the United States: 2003", there was an increase in homeschooled students overall in the U.S. from 850,000 students in 1999 (1.7 percent of the total U.S. student population) to 1.1 million students in 2003 (2.2 percent of the total U.S. student population).

During this time, homeschooling rates increased among students whose parents have high school or lower education, from 2.0 to 2.7 percent among White students; 1.6 to 2.4 percent among student in grades 6-8; and 0.7 to 1.4 percent among students with only one parent.

Race and ethnicity ratios remained "fairly consistent" in this time period, with 2.7 percent of White students homeschooling, 1.3 percent of Black students, and 0.7 percent of Hispanic students.

As in 1999, homeschooling rates were highest in families with three or more children (3.1 percent), and higher in families with two children (1.5 percent) than only one child (1.4 percent). Not surprisingly, there were more homeschool students from families with two parents (2.5 percent) than only one parent (1.5 percent), and students from two parent families where only one parent worked were more than twice as likely to be homeschooled (5.6 percent).

By 2001, according to the Canadian based Fraser Institute, Muslim Americans were the fastest growing subgroup in the homeschool movement, and were predicted to double in number every year for the following eight years after.

The number of homeschoolers worldwide have been increasing inspite of the fact that some countries still haven't accepted homeschooling as legal. One of the catalysts for the spread of homeschooling is the internet where families receive information on the legal status of homeschooling in their country as well as support. According to the Home School Legal Defense Association, there are homeschoolers in these countries: Australia, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, France, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, Ukraine, Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Macau, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Romania, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.

Homeschooling methodology

There is a wide variety of home education methods and materials. Home education families may adopt a particular educational philosophy such as:

• Charlotte Mason education
• Classical education
• Eclectic Homeschooling
• Literature Based Learning
• Moore Formula
• Montessori method
• Principle Approach
• Theory of multiple intelligences
• Traditional, pre-packed, or boxed curriculum
• Umbrellas, Co-Ops, Charters, Tutoring, Dual-Enrollment
• Unit Study Approach
• Unschooling
• Virtual Schooling
• Waldorf education

For sources of curricula and books, "Homeschooling in the United States: 2003" found that 78 percent of homeschool parents utilized "a public library"; 77 percent used "a homeschooling catalog, publisher, or individual specialist"; 68 percent used "retail bookstore or other store"; 60 percent used "an education publisher that was not affiliated with homeschooling." "Approximately half" used curriculum or books from "a homeschooling organization", 37 percent from a "church, synagogue or other religious institution" and 23 percent from "their local public school or district." 41 percent of homeschoolers in 2003 utilized some sort of distance learning. Approximately 20 percent by way of "television, video or radio"; 19 percent via "Internet, e-mail, or the World Wide Web"; and 15 percent taking a "correspondence course by mail designed specifically for homeschoolers."

Because home education laws vary widely according to individual government statutes, official curriculum requirements vary.

Home educators take advantage of educational programs at museums, community centers, athletic clubs, after-school programs, churches, science preserves, parks, and other community resources. Many families have memberships in health clubs such as the YMCA or take classes such as martial arts to participate in regular exercise. Secondary school level students often take classes at community colleges, which typically have open admission policies.

Criticism of homeschooling

Opposition to home education comes from varied sources, including organizations of teachers and school districts. One example is the National Education Association, a teachers' union, which is the largest labor union in the United States. They are on record as opposing homeschooling outright; though, in recent years they have not been as outspoken in this opposition. Opponents state concerns falling into several broad categories, including: academic quality and completeness; reduced government money for the publicly-run schools; socialization of children with peers of different ethnic and religious backgrounds; and fear of religious or social extremism. Gallup polls of American voters have shown a significant change in attitude in the last twenty years, from 73% opposed to home education in 1985 to 54% opposed in 2001.

Opponents view home-educating parents as sheltering their children and denying them opportunities that are their children's right, reducing the amount of government funds publicly-run schools would receive if more children were attending the publicly-run school, and providing an unfair advantage to home-educated children over students whose parents lack the time or money for home education. With regard to the latter point, however, parents choosing to homeschool often intend that to be the case.

Two recent studies by the Home School Legal Defense Association, a home education advocacy group in the United States, dispute the claim that the academic quality of home education programs is substandard.

Research results

Academic findings

Some studies have suggested the academic integrity of home education programs, demonstrating that on average, home-educated students outperform their publicly-run school peers by 30 to 37 percentile points across all subjects. Moreover, the performance gaps between minorities and gender that plague publicly-run schools are virtually non-existent amongst home-educated students.

Some critics argue that while home-educated students generally do extremely well on standardized tests, such students are a self-selected group whose parents care strongly about their education and would also do well in a conventional school environment.

Some opponents argue that parents with little training in education are less effective in teaching. However, some studies do indicate that parental income and education level affect home-educated student performance on standardized tests very little.

Home-educated student curricula often include many subjects not included in traditional curricula. Some colleges find this an advantage in creating a more academically diverse student body, and proponents argue this creates a more well-rounded and self-sufficient adult. Increasingly, colleges are recruiting home-educated students; many colleges accept equivalency diplomas as well as parent statements and portfolios of student work as admission criteria; others also require SATs or other standardized tests. Some opponents argue that home education curricula often exclude critical subjects and isolate the student from the rest of society, or presents them with their parents' ideological world views - especially religious ones - rather than the publicly sanctioned worldviews taught at state schools.

The results of home education with gifted and learning-disabled children have not been as thoroughly studied.

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