The first step to homeschooling is making your decision to home educate your child. It is important to become informed and knowledgeable about some of the main concerns you may have. Explore these areas of our website to learn more about the initial decision to homeschool.
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| Making Your Decision |
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The reasons people decide to educate their children at home are varied and can be unique to each family. Some look towards a better educational experience, others are concerned with moral and social issues, some are concerned with safety, and still others have special needs that they wish to address. Explore these reasons and others that have led families to homeschooling.
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| Advantages of Homeschooling |
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Ask anyone who loves homeschooling what the advantages are, and you'll probably hear a long list of the benefits of educating children in the home. Homeschooling is a journey and an adventure, with benefits and rewards for the entire family. Come find out what these advantages are and decide if homeschooling is right for you.
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| Teaching Your Own Children |
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Are you qualified to teach your own children? The answer is yes! It is challenging, but rewarding, to educate your children in your home. Find out what these challenges are and how to address them.
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| Socialization |
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"But what about socialization?" So the typical question goes to anyone who homeschools. Find out what socialization means to homeschooling families and strategies to engage your children and your entire family in social activities and connections.
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| Research & Statistics |
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Learn about current research and statistics involving homeschooling families, the homeschool movement, and the educational system.
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| Public School Issues |
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Many parents are basing part of their decision to homeschool on issues with public schooling, from bullying to poor academic performance to problems with governmental control.
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| Community Outreach |
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Want to help homeschooling integrate into the community at large? Are you a homeschool group leader who talks with the media or provides information to new and curious homeschoolers? Here are tips to help you present homeschooling to the public and the media.
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Homeschooling Grows in the Black Community |
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Michael Smith |
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The best research on homeschooling indicates the total number of children who are homeschooled is 1.5 to 2 million, and that number is growing by 10 to 15 percent per year. But not everyone recognizes the academic and social success of homeschoolers and some criticize the movement as being white and elitist. While it's true that the large majority of homeschool children are white, the number of black homeschoolers is growing rapidly. Brian Ray, president of the National Home Education Research Institute, estimates that there are 30,000 to 50,000 black children being homeschooled today. Others estimate that black homeschoolers make up 5 percent of the total homeschool population. Most importantly black homeschool movement is growing at a faster rate than the general homeschool population.
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Dispelling the Stereotype of Ethnic Prejudice in Homeschooling |
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Hank R. Kraychir |
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There is a prevailing stereotype in the United States that homeschool education is racially prejudice; that is, that white parents decide to homeschool their children because of their discriminatory opinions of other races. However, an interesting aspect of homeschooling is its universal appeal to all ethnic groups. Homeschooling has become mainstream in many ethnic communities, with more people of color now choosing to homeschool their children. Taking this into consideration, the stereotype of white racist homeschoolers must be reexamined alongside the more feasible reasons for homeschooling, including the failing condition of America’s public education system. In doing so, white homeschoolers will be revealed not as racists, but concerned parents with their children’s best interests in mind. |
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Socialization: A Great Reason Not to Go to School |
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Karl M. Bunday |
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This "Learn in Freedom" article provides research supporting the positive socialization homeschooled children receive. Discusses research supporting the conclusion that homeschooled children have higher levels of self-esteem and communication skills, and fewer behavioral problems, than other children. |
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Early Years: Child's Learning Assets |
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Linda Dobson |
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Homeschooling gives natural childhood energy a chance to flow instead of damming it through compliance to the unnatural behavior government school requires of this age group. Unhindered, this energy bubbles to the surface as curiosity, creativity, imagination, enthusiasm, a sense of wonder and joy of discovery. These traits, so helpful to the little "information sleuth" your early-years child is, are without doubt his most important learning assets, much more important than a computer, state-of-the-art classroom, or any other "thing" you might provide for his learning.
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Homeschool Resource Center in a Public Library |
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Kathy Wentz |
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Libraries can provide more than just books. Kathy Wentz shares the example of how homeschoolers worked with library staff in Johnsburg, Illinois, to create a Homeschool Resource Center (HRC). This project was funded with a grant by the Illinois Secretary of State's office for "New and Innovative Programs." The HRC provides resources and materials, including microscopes, telescopes, math and science manipulatives, foreign language tapes, and more. |
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