Home Schooling

This is an era of discontent over the quality and efficacy of compulsory public schooling. Concerned about the education and safety of their children, an increasing number of parents are seeking educational alternatives. The options include private schools, charter schools, and school vouchers. A small, but growing number of parents are forgoing institutionalized schools altogether in favor of home schooling. Estimates of the number of children currently home schooled in the United States range from 1.5 million to 2 million. Though parents vary in their justifications for teaching their children at home, they share [Page 359]a common family structure: most are white, middle-class, with at least two children, a breadwinning father, and a stay-at-home mother. In virtually all cases, the mother is responsible for the ...