The first step to homeschooling is making your decision to home educate your child. It is important to become informed and knowledgeable about some of the main concerns you may have. Explore these areas of our website to learn more about the initial decision to homeschool.
|
| |
| Making Your Decision |
| |
The reasons people decide to educate their children at home are varied and can be unique to each family. Some look towards a better educational experience, others are concerned with moral and social issues, some are concerned with safety, and still others have special needs that they wish to address. Explore these reasons and others that have led families to homeschooling.
|
|
| Advantages of Homeschooling |
| |
Ask anyone who loves homeschooling what the advantages are, and you'll probably hear a long list of the benefits of educating children in the home. Homeschooling is a journey and an adventure, with benefits and rewards for the entire family. Come find out what these advantages are and decide if homeschooling is right for you.
|
|
| Teaching Your Own Children |
| |
Are you qualified to teach your own children? The answer is yes! It is challenging, but rewarding, to educate your children in your home. Find out what these challenges are and how to address them.
|
|
| Socialization |
| |
"But what about socialization?" So the typical question goes to anyone who homeschools. Find out what socialization means to homeschooling families and strategies to engage your children and your entire family in social activities and connections.
|
|
| Research & Statistics |
| |
Learn about current research and statistics involving homeschooling families, the homeschool movement, and the educational system.
|
|
| Public School Issues |
| |
Many parents are basing part of their decision to homeschool on issues with public schooling, from bullying to poor academic performance to problems with governmental control.
|
|
| Community Outreach |
| |
Want to help homeschooling integrate into the community at large? Are you a homeschool group leader who talks with the media or provides information to new and curious homeschoolers? Here are tips to help you present homeschooling to the public and the media.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Government Cafeteria? |
|
Just suppose for a minute that in addition to our education, government officials suddenly took it into their heads to control what we eat? Some of the big wigs figured that we common ignorant folk were not capable of making good nutritious meals, so they formed a plan and with a huge chunk of our tax dollars, built government run cafeterias (Food Distribution Centers). Sound depressing? Well, take heart, because the American people would never stand for anyone telling them what they can and cannot eat. But wait a minute....isn't this exactly the approach the government has taken with education? |
|
|
|
|
|
U.S. Department of Education Longitudinal Study of 2002: Homeschool Student Questionnaire |
|
U.S. Department of Education |
|
This is a survey sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, with a stated goal of being used by educators and by federal and state policy makers to address important issues facing the nation's schools: educational standards, high school course-taking patterns, dropping out of school, the education of the disadvantaged, the needs of language minority students, and the features of effective schools. We are including this link as an item of interest, to demonstrate what directions institutional survey writers are taking in their approach to homeschooling. In our opinion, it is a completely inadequate attempt to measure homeschooling demographics or success, focusing heavily on cultural notions of "socialization" and structured educational models. It is also invasive in terms of the amount of personal information required. |
|
|
|
The Kingdom That Never Was: Inaccuracies in a Sociological Study of Homeschooling |
|
Larry and Susan Kaseman |
|
A PhD thesis on homeschooling was published recently by Princeton University Press titled Kingdom of Children: Culture and Controversy in the Homeschooling Movement by Mitchell Stevens. This sociological study of homeschooling contains serious misinformation that we homeschoolers need to understand and be able to counter. We may not be able to prevent this book from contributing to the mainstream media's and the academic world's misunderstanding of homeschooling, but if we don't at least respond to these ideas, misunderstanding of homeschooling will increase. |
|
|
|