Homeschooling can be challenging. Particularly as children age, parents can find themselves out of their depth trying to teach more advanced coursework. Many families also want their children to be part of a community while still maintaining primary control of their child's education. For them, traditional schools (whether public or private,…

Choice is most frequently realized within the public sector using the mechanisms of residence, magnet schools, and open enrollment systems, whereas the voucher-like systems applauded by choice advocates and feared by opponents are extremely rare. Further, the charter sector is neither large enough nor sufficiently prepared to go to scale to…

Parents of two gifted children are interviewed about their decision to teach their children at home. The parents describe their reasons for taking the children out of school and the benefits of home schooling and offer suggestions for other parents contemplating the idea. (CL)

Argues that while customizing education through home schooling may permit schooling to be tailored for each individual student, total customization also threatens to insulate students from exposure to diverse ideas and people and thereby to shield them from the vibrancy of a pluralistic democracy. (Contains 10 references.) (Author/PKP)

Home schooling has a long cross-cultural history. Parents who teach their children at home have diverse characteristics and rationales: dissatisfaction with public schools, avoidance of conformity, freedom, or concern for their values. (SK)

A home-schooling parent in Maine ran for, and was elected to, the local school board. His goals were to educate other board members about home schooling and serve as an example of a home schooler and a public school board working toward the common goal of educating children. (MLF)

Addresses why families choose home schooling. Summarizes the most common arguments put forth by advocates and critics of home schooling regarding the perceived strengths and limitations of this unique form of education. Concludes that parents have the right to determine what form of schooling best meets the needs of their children. (SG)

Discusses concerns with reliance on virtual classrooms to educate home-schooled students. (PKP)

Home schooling neither isolates children nor harms their academic growth, but approaches the true definition of education: the passing down of culture. Public schools have redefined family values and often fail to take religion seriously. Home-school parents see the family as a superior social institution; many value religion's cultural…

Addresses the litigation giving rise to the right to home school and the emerging right of home-schooled children to attend public schools on a part-time basis. At present, the courts seem unwilling to allow families to use religion to first argue their way out of the public system and then turn around and use the same argument to get back in on a…

Criticizes report by Fraser Institute, located in Vancouver, British Columbia, on home schooling in Canada. Report advocates government funding of home schooling. (PKP)

A family-friendly school incorporates many aspects of school reform going on throughout the country. Parents would be allowed choice in selecting the school, the teacher, calendar, and schedule. Normal operation hours for a school could become 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Lists 12 sources for additional information. (MLF)

Examines the legal issues regarding participation of home-schooled students in the extracurricular-activities program of the public schools. Concludes that parents could attempt to influence state legislatures to enact statutes specifically opening public school programs, including extracurricular activities, to home-schooled students. (70…

An industrial arts teacher explains necessity for teaching seven of his nine adopted children at home. Although his white children were well disciplined and encouraged by teachers, the East Indian, Cambodian, Hispanic, and African-American youngsters received little correction for out-of-line behavior and poor academic performance. Besides getting…

The number of parents who have chosen to educate their children at home has increased dramatically in recent years. Moreover, although less than one percent of school-aged children in the United States are schooled at home, a combination of judicial challenges and legislative activism have allowed advocates of home schooling to make major…