Home Schooling

Homeschooling[ or homeschool (also called home education or home learning) is the education of children at home, typically by parents or professional tutors, rather than in a public or private school. Although prior to the introduction of compulsory school attendance laws, most childhood education occurred within the family or community, homeschooling in the modern sense is an alternative in developed countries to formal education.

In many places homeschooling is a legal option for parents who wish to provide their children with a different learning environment than exists in nearby schools. The motivations for homeschooling range from a dissatisfaction with the schools in their area to the desire for better academic test results. It is also an alternative for families living in isolated rural locations and those who choose, for practical or personal reasons, not to have their children attend school.

Homeschooling may also refer to instruction in the home under the supervision of correspondence schools or umbrella schools. In some places, an approved curriculum is legally required if children are to be home-schooled. A curriculum-free philosophy of homeschooling may be called unschooling, a term coined in 1977 by American educator John Holt in his magazine Growing Without Schooling.

Homeschooling is legal in all 50 states, although the laws and regulations vary widely from state to state. The Homeschool Legal Defense Association has a guide to the laws in all 50 states. Homeschooling is an alternative to public or private schooling for a growing number of families. Some families keep their children home because they weren’t getting what they needed at school. Some school them at home because of their religious beliefs. Others think they can give their children a better education.