This report discusses homeschooling as an option for parents looking for educational choice. Keeping track of homeschoolers is difficult since many return to the public schools. Some estimates claim that in the late 1960s there were 10,000 to 15,000 homeschooled children in the U.S. By 1999, those who were homeschooled ranged in numbers from 640,000 to 958,000--about 2 percent of the school-age population. Opinion polls taken in 1985 revealed that just 16 percent of people surveyed approved of homeschooling. However, this approval rating had risen to 36 percent by 1997. Even with increased acceptance of homeschooling, opinions on homeschooling's effectiveness remain sharply divided with 43 percent believing that homeschooling contributes to raising academic standards and 50 percent believing the opposite. The rising number of homeschooled children has paralleled increasing acceptance of the practice at the state level. Homeschoolers have also been shown to be above average on standardized test scores. Public schools have increasingly reached out to the homeschool community and most colleges are now set up to evaluate and accept homeschooled students. A survey of 513 public and private higher education institutions found that only two lacked policies to critique homeschooled applicants during the 1998-99 school year. (Contains 25 references.) (RJM)