What is homeschooling?

Homeschooling refers to the education of children, typically at home, by their parents or other guardians. This is almost always at the family’s expense. Given its non-institutional nature, homeschooling naturally lends itself to a variety of philosophies and approaches.

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Will homeschooling work for my child?

No one answer fits the educational needs of all children. Yet, a growing number of families willing to dedicate the time and resources required by home-based education find it an effective way to educate their children. Homeschooling, however, requires a significant personal commitment by parents and guardians: It’s not a part-time job.

Serious research assessing homeschooling was relatively sparse until recent years, but it’s now finding encouraging results. A 1999 study by Lawrence M. Rudner, published by Education Policy Analysis Archives, found “exceptionally high” scores among 20,760 homeschooled students who took standardized achievement tests.

How widespread is homeschooling?

Homeschooling is legal in all 50 states, though some jurisdictions impose greater regulatory hurdles on it than others. In 2000, the National Center for Education Statistics estimated that 850,000 students were being homeschooled across the United States. That estimate may be low. Education Week, a publication covering K-12 education issues, says that "[t]he consensus among those who study home schooling is that at least 1 million U.S. children were educated at home in 1999."

Doesn’t homeschooling isolate children?

Homeschooled children may be lonely if their parents keep them apart from their peers. But many homeschooling families specifically find ways to give their children social opportunities. Some public schools cooperate in this, allowing homeschooled children to participate in extracurricular activities. In some areas where homeschooling is especially popular, such as parts of Texas, students form their own clubs. There, homeschoolers’ sports teams even compete against teams from traditional public schools.

Some researchers who have studied homeschooled children as they grow into adults find them to be creative, self-reliant and focused. Dr. J. Gary Knowles, of the University of Toronto, says “They're able to move into adulthood with a much better sense of self and have a very good sense as to what they want to do."

How does homeschooling work?

This is perhaps the most difficult question. Families that teach their children at home use such a wide variety of approaches and philosophies of education that it’s hard to say exactly how homeschooling is accomplished.

These are the main approaches:

• Some families essentially replicate the traditional classroom experience, aiming to improve it.
• Other families pool their resources with like-minded homeschooling families to form cooperatives that tap different parents’ expertise. Or they hire tutors.
• Others have their children take Internet-based “virtual” courses offered by private schools, public schools and independent educators.
• Still others practice “unschooling,” a student-directed, unstructured approach advocated by the late homeschooling pioneer, John Holt.

What help can homeschoolers get?

Parents can buy lesson plans in all areas of study from organizations, schools and private companies.

Support groups offer advice and sample lessons reflecting a variety of philosophies.

For homeschooling families dealing with restrictive regulations, or based in jurisdictions that frown on home-based learning, legal assistance is available from groups, including the Home School Legal Defense Association.

What does homeschooling usually cost?

The cost depends largely on the approach taken by parents and guardians. Purchasing lesson plans or hiring tutors rapidly can elevate costs. By contrast, forming cooperatives and making use of public libraries and Internet-based resources may keep expenses down.

As an example: A January 16, 2003 Atlanta Journal-Constitution article on homeschooling in Georgia mentions that one family, with five daughters learning at home, spends “at least $2,000 annually” on homeschooling expenses such as “training sessions, teaching materials and extracurricular activities.”

An indirect cost may be the drop in household income if a parent gives up a job or starts to work only part-time to stay at home and become a home-based teacher.