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Home Schooling
Choice in education means not only the right to select the best school for each child but also the right to select no school at all - choosing instead to educate a child at home.
Background on Home Schooling
Home-schooling — the practice by which parents serve as their children's teachers and the home serves as the school — is an educational choice made today by the parents of an estimated 900,000 to 1.7 million children, a number which continues to grow significantly each year.
Parents who prefer the home school option are motivated by a variety of goals. Some seek the chance to teach specific philosophical or religious values. Others see home schooling as a means of developing close family relationships, encouraging high level academics, supporting specific learning needs of children or using alternative approaches to teaching and learning. Other parents choose home education based on concerns they have about the safety and discipline of children in some traditional public schools.
Home Schooling in Action
Interest in home schooling is growing. There are three times as many home schoolers now as in 1990, and nine times the number in 1978. These families come from several different backgrounds. Large numbers of home schoolers are Christian or Mormon, but many other religions are represented as well. There are active home schooling organizations serving Lutherans, Catholics, and Jews. In Washington, Oregon, and California, many of the growing number of new urban home schoolers are not active members of any church.
For all their differences, parents who home school tend to agree on one key benefit: the value of tailoring the curriculum and teaching approach to the needs of an individual child. Research findings consistently report that, on average, home schooled students equal or exceed conventionally schooled students on achievement tests.
To learn more about home-schooling, contact the following organizations
or visit their websites:
National Black Home Educators Resource Association: NBHERA is a resource network that provides support and guidance to families who are educating their children at home and to families who are exploring the benefits of home education. The association offers services and information on getting started in home education, networking with national/local organizations, pairing new home school families with veteran families, and selecting teaching materials and curriculum. NBHERA also provides its members with a quarterly newsletter. Contact NBHERA at 225-778-0169 or [email protected].
Afrocentric Home Schoolers Association: This association represents a small network of African American home schoolers. It also provides information and links to resources to home schoolers who are interested in advancing an Afrocentric curriculum.
Home Schooling Today: This print and on-line magazine provides information for home school educators and parents.
Home School World: This site provides a list of home school organizations across the United States.
K12: Formed by a group of leading K-12 educators to provide a high-quality elementary and secondary education alternative, this program—which will begin in the fall of 2001—is designed for home-schooling families, and providers of before- and after-school programs. In addition, K12 will form partnerships with public and private schools, and charter, alternative, and virtual schools to expand educational opportunities for all children.
The Calvert School: A day school since 1897 and provider of training and resources to home school parents since 1905, this Maryland based educational center is not only a popular school, but it also provides valuable instructional resources, curriculum, and training to parents who educate their children at home.
National Home Education Network: The NHEN exists to encourage and facilitate the vital grassroots work of state and local homeschooling groups and individuals by providing information, fostering networking and promoting public relations on a national level. E-mail NHEN at [email protected].
National Home Education Research Institute: This nonprofit educational organization produces research on home education and serves as a clearinghouse of research for home educators, researchers, and policy makers.
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Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO)
1710 Rhode Island Avenue NW, Floor 12, Washington, D.C. 20036
Phone: 202-429-2236 Fax: 202-429-2237