History and Background
Homeschooling is defined as being instructed in an educational program outside of established schools. Homeschooling origins began in the 1960s with a counter-culture movement that soon fizzled out and was replaced in the 1970s after the Supreme Court upheld the decision that removing school prayer was not unconstitutional. This sparked the Christian movement to homeschool although at the time illegal in 45 states. Laws slowly changed, and by 1993 homeschooling was recognized as a parent’s right in all 50 states (Neal, 2006, p. 2). As more and more people see the benefits, the numbers have continued to grow; and now the U.S. Department of Education reports that the number of homeschooling students climbed from 850,000 in 1999 to 1.1 million in 2003 (Fagan, 2007, p. 3).
Reasons for Homeschooling
As a homeschooling mother of two I am frequently asked why I homeschool. I believe that Mariette Ulrich (2008) summed up the reason why most families prefer this alternative:
- I prefer to make those [educational] choices myself. Not because I think I know ‘better’ than all those professional educators, but I do think I know my own children best, and consequently which programs and methods would benefit them. Homeschooling is not about rejecting other people and things; it’s about making personal and positive choices for your own family. (1)
While statistics do not show that violence is on the rise, it is hard to ignore stories in the news relating violent school events on a regular basis. Because of these perceptions of school violence, it isn’t difficult to understand why some parents want to educate their children at home. However, this is sometimes viewed as an attempt to shelter their children. Homeschoolers understand that sheltering their children would not do any good; they will still be exposed to the violence in the world through other mediums. Nevertheless, it does help to keep them safe by keeping them away from the current trend of school violence.
While school violence is now a leading factor in many parents’ decisions there are usually many different reasons for choosing to homeschool. The statistics state that 31.2 percent of home-schooling parents say that “concern about the environment of other schools” was their primary reason for home instruction while 16.5 percent stated “dissatisfaction with the academic instruction in other schools,” 29.8 percent said “to provide religious or moral instruction,” 6.5 percent was “because the child has a physical or mental health problem,” 7.2 percent said “because the child has other special needs,” and 8.8 percent gave “other reasons” (Fagan, 2007, p. 4). For my family it was a combination of the first three reasons—academic dissatisfaction being top—along with specific incidents that led us to consideration and the practice of homeschooling.
Next page - Homeschooling Student Performance
Homeschool Teacher Qualifications
Homeschool Student Socialization / In Conclusion
References
