Thousands of children are educated at home by their parents. This book is an overview of the phenomenon of elective home education in the United Kingdom. It examines the history of the practice and reveals why more and more parents are choosing not to send their children to school. Simon Webb, himself a home educator, explores in detail the background of the home education debate. He considers why many education professionals are uneasy about its growing popularity and tries to discover why so many home educating parents are hostile to the idea of local authority registration and monitoring. From the safeguarding concerns which prompted the Badman Report on elective home education, to the desire of autonomously educating parents to be left completely alone, the book provides a comprehensive account of this increasingly controversial topic. With the law on home education likely to change in the future so local authorities become legally obliged to register and supervise home educating families, there is an urgent need for a plain and objective survey of the current state of play. Simon Webb identifies key areas of conflict between home educators and local authorities and suggests ways that these can be resolved to the satisfaction of both sides. Chapters of this book include: (1) Home education yesterday; (2) The situation today; (3) What do Home Educators actually do?; (4) The research; (5) The legal situation; (6) Home education--for and against; and (7) Between two extremes--a possible way forward.