Homeschooling

Homeschooling is about parents’ right to choose the education their children will receive. In the United States, 1.5 million children-2.9 percent of the schoolage population-were homeschooled in 2007 according to an Institute of Education Sciences Issue Brief. According to the National Home Education Research Institute, the number of homeschooled children in 2010 is 2,000,000.

Homeschooling was the dominant form of education in the United States until the later part of the 19th century, when compulsory attendance laws led to increased children's attendance at public or private schools. Homeschooling gained momentum again during the 1960s. According to a 2007 Fraser Institute Policy Brief on Home Schooling, two groups of homeschooling advocates have emerged. One group is recognized for its ideological beliefs and known as the Christian Right. The second group is known for its pedagogical beliefs. John Holt, the author of How Children Fail and Teach Your Own, was the founder of the homeschooling magazine Growing Without Schooling and a prominent member of the pedagogical group of homeschool advocates.

Homeschooling is legal in all the states. The passage of legislation favorable to homeschooling has been aided by the work of activists, including homeschool mothers, who had time to organize and act and who were assets to these lobbying efforts. Phone calls and e-mails to legislators are powerful lobbying tools. As a result of the efforts put forth by the activists and lobbyists, homeschools have minimal regulation. In addition, there are legal restrictions concerning the data that can be collected about homeschooling. For this reason, limited data concerning homeschooling [Page 715]exist. The National Household Education Survey provides data on homeschooling, and state data also may be used to identify the number of homeschooled children in a state. However, state data may not be complete, and there is no consistent requirement for the reporting of homeschooling.