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Public School vs. Homeschool Spending and Achievement

Homeschool Progress Report 2009: Academic achievement and demographics
Home School Legal Defense Association
2009

"Another finding demonstrates that individual families do not need the massive budget of a public school to provide their children with a quality education.

In the study, there was an only slight relationship between the yearly cost of education (including textbooks, other teaching materials, tutoring, enrichment services, counseling, testing, and evaluation) and homeschooled student test scores. The median amount spent per child each year was $400–599. Where $600 or more was spent, a slight difference was observed. (See Figure 7.)"

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"Kayla and Emmy are part of the modern generation of home-schooled students, piecing together their education from their mother, a former Fayette County math teacher, other district and university teachers, parent co-ops, and online providers.

Education policymakers and researchers have largely ignored the tremendous growth in home schooling, particularly among these sorts of 'hybrid'...

"I’m going public today with a secret I’ve kept for a year—my husband and I are homeschooling our children. I never dreamed we would become homeschoolers. I wanted my kids integrated and socialized. I wanted their eyes opened to the realities of the world. I wanted the values we taught at home put to the test in the real world. But necessity drove me to consider homeschooling for my 2nd and...

This short research piece presents information on homeschool statistics for 2010. It is often difficult for researchers to determine how many homeschoolers there are due to the unregulated nature of home education. However, according to the best estimates of Brian...

"Eli Ingle says his exam successes show it is possible to be educated at home right up to A-level.

Hundreds of families across the UK every year choose to take their children out of school and teach them at home.

But very few continue this past GCSEs into the traditional sixth-form stage."

Sousa's article touts the benefits of homeschooling in order to argue his point - homeschooling is the best education reform currently on the radar screen. The author believes the success of the homeschool movement lies in the family involvement and strong relationships that many homeschool...

The following is a distillation of some of the characteristics of Waldorf education.

Recognizing that homeschooling is generally carried out by stay-at-home mothers, Wendy McElroy attempts to measure feminist support for home education. McElroy notes that mothers who homeschool are simply following the main mantra of the...

Responding to Lawrence Rudner's study on homeschool academics...

As this article from Belgium testifies to, the freedoms many American homeschoolers enjoy are not always shared by those in other countries. Alexandra Colen reports on the pressures her family has received to teach U.N. principles in their own home, stating that her family is not alone in receiving the...

"Eastern Christian was established six months ago, and with less than three weeks until the start of the academic school year, 54 students are enrolled in grades six through 12. Forty-six are boys, and 46 are on the football team. The staff includes four teachers, a nurse, a minister and seven football coaches. The running backs and defensive backs coach is the director of operations, the de...

"One of the main objections people have to getting government out of the education business and turning it over to the free market is that 'it simply would not get the job done.' This type of thinking is due, in large measure, to what one historian called 'a parochialism in time,' i.e., a limited view of an issue for lack of historical perspective. Having served the twelve-year sentence in...

"Last year was the first really good year we’ve had with homeschooling. That’s because we’re part of a Christian homeschooling co-op that uses the classical education model. In the program, parents and kids meet together once a week on the campus of a large area church for class work (in our co-op, there’s an option to meet a second day for additional enrichment). The kids also get to...

Reporting on the opening of Patrick Henry College, the first college to be geared specifically to homeschooled students, Rebecca Winters notes that homeschoolers are fast becoming coveted college students. According to Winters, the change is happening quickly as more and more...

Although homeschooling is now widely accepted in the United States, it is still illegal in many other western countries. This article describes the rather unprecedented case of asylum granted to a German homeschool family. According to Moore, the...

"For most students in New York City, the end of August means stocking up on school supplies, picking up uniforms or school clothes, and wondering who their new teachers and classmates will be.

But for a growing number of local students, their classroom is their living room and their teacher is their mom or dad, as the number of parents choosing to home school — or even 'unschool' their...

"Until recently, home schooling in the US was mostly practised by white families, but a growing number in the black community are now also turning their back on the public school system and educating their children at home. Why?"

"There was a time when Heather Kirchner thought mothers who home-schooled their children were only the types 'who wore long skirts and praised Jesus and all that.'

That was before the New Jersey resident decided to home-school her own daughter, Anya."

Adam Schaeffer notes that homeschooling could see a surge in adherents as tough economic times force families to live more frugally. This short blog post discusses the cost effectiveness of home education compared to private or even public schools.

"As the government intensifies its persecution of homeschoolers in Sweden, the president of the Swedish Association for Home Education (ROHUS) has finally been forced into exile with his family in neighboring Finland. The battle for human rights and homeschooling in the Scandinavian kingdom, however, is far from over."

"There are many ways to address the subject of homeschool regulation, and I’ve often thought about how to approach it myself. I could cite sources about how successful homeschoolers have been and continue to be, the colleges that actively recruit homeschoolers for their enthusiasm and self-motivation, and gladly offer them scholarships. To those who fear that homeschooling can be used as a...

"Between deciphering college financial aid awards and settling into a shoe-box sized dorm room with a perfect stranger or two, making the move from high school to college can be a shock to the system for even the most put-together teenager.

The transition, many may assume, would be even more jarring for students coming from a home-schooled environment. ...

But parents and...

In reporting about the first homeschooled student to win a prestigious award in athletics, David Boaz notes that growing acceptance of homeschooled students in different arenas has made achievements like the aforementioned possible. Boaz goes on to write that despite the fact...

This article gives an overview of the many issues involved with homeschooling. Some of the topics Lips and Feinberg touch on include the percentage of homeschooled students in America, funding issues, curriculum options, academic statistics, and family issues. Based on these findings, the...

"The most admirable group of entrepreneurs is perhaps the least appreciated. Homeschool parents, or parentrepreneurs, are not waiting for politicians and technocrats to fix broken systems of education. Rather, they are eschewing the status quo and finding innovative ways to advance the intellectual, emotional, and spiritual growth of their children. Unlike their counterparts in the...

In this piece, a homeschooling, feminist-minded mother ponders whether or not home education stifles the feminist mentality of the next generation. The author then uses her article to discuss the allocation of gender roles in traditional and non-traditional homeschooling families.

While insisting that homeschooling can be good in a few remote instances, Russell Shaw opines that those instances should be few and far between. Shaw finds it troubling to realize that many homeschooling parents are instilling beliefs like creationism in their...

"But government is the only institution with the power and scale to intervene in the massive undertaking of better educating American children, 90 percent of whom currently attend public schools. (And it’s worth remembering that schools provide not just education, but basic child care while parents are at work.) Lefty homeschoolers might be preaching sound social values to their children, but...

"Across the United States, Muslims who find that a public school education clashes with their religious or cultural traditions have turned to home schooling. That choice is intended partly as a way to build a solid Muslim identity away from the prejudices that their children, boys and girls alike, can face in schoolyards. But in some cases, as in Ms. Bibi’s, the intent is also to isolate their...

This blog post from a liberal homeschooling parent contains a copy of an article by homeschool critic Michael Apple. Apple explains some of his qualms about homeschooling, but then backs off of his critiques when it comes to African American...

The Montessori method and philosophy began almost a century ago, on January 6, 1907, in a San Larenzo apartment building in Rome, Italy.

This article reports on the arrest of a couple who had failed to register their kids as home-schooled and submit a curriculum for approval, as required by New York state law. They were charged with child endangerment.

This article covers the 2008 ruling by a California court making homeschooling illegal in that state. Mehta and Landsberg describe the shock and outrage that many had over the seeming abolition of parental rights, as well as the affirmation that the ruling received from others like those in teachers' unions...

"A Montreal mother said her son's former school principal threatened to call youth protection services after she pulled her son out of his high school and began home-schooling him.

Emilie Riel enrolled her son Brett Klein, 15, in a US-based online high school program in Februrary, because she said he was falling steadily further behind his classmates at John F. Kennedy High School in...

"A judge in Germany has ordered a couple to turn over custody of their four children to the state because their homeschooling practices fail to meet the government’s demand for 'integration.'"

"When the words political refugee are mentioned, Sweden is probably not the first country that comes to mind. But a small number of Swedish families have taken the drastic step to leave their country rather than face heavy fines and other punitive government action for their choice to homeschool their children."

"'It’s a free country' may not continue to resonate with Americans for much longer either. As Obamacare’s individual mandate was predicated on the notion that costs incurred by an individual but borne by society necessitate government intervention, politicians in this country could easily be convinced—by, say, teachers unions—that homeschoolers are no different than the uninsured in the costs...

Framing homeschooling as a Christian fundamentalist movement that could be harmful to the children within it (and to society in general), Robin West argues for more government regulation of home education. According to West, the high academic achievement that homeschoolers are believed to possess is not necessarily true of all homeschooled children. West then...

This article discusses the less-structured form of homeschooling: unschooling. Wilson describes how this concept has been used in both homeschools and institutional schools with apparent success.

Charlotte Mason was a British educator who lived in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

"In a controversial Slate article published last week, the talented education journalist Dana Goldstein laments what she says is the go-it-alone ideology of home-schooling parents, arguing that they harm children in the public school system and do society as a whole a disservice."

"I love my kids, don't get me wrong. I think that they are equal parts brilliant, creative and adventurous (much like any parent thinks of his offspring). But do I want to be responsible for teaching them all that they know? Heck, NO! There are many reasons why, but as homeschooling has grown into a dynamic and engaging alternative to high-priced private schools and failing public schools, it'...

"Socialization is education school code for, 'Give your kid to us. Let us raise her.' I’m not much interested in having the talent, creativity, and faith socialized out of my daughter, so I am happy to play a small part in frustrating the system’s designs on her. Yet I am always mindful that we homeschool only at the pleasure of the state."

"In the beginning, your kids need you—a lot. They’re attached to your hip, all the time. It might be a month. It might be five years. Then suddenly you are expected to send them off to school for seven hours a day, where they’ll have to cope with life in ways they never had to before. You no longer control what they learn, or how, or with whom.

Unless you decide, like an emerging...

Chart or Graph

"A strong school effect is noted for graduates of Christian schools and of religious home education for reporting that they donate at least 10% of their income, as indicated in Figure 7."

"The homeschooling parents’ formal education level was above average. ... (See Figure 4.)"

"Over 74% of home-educated adults ages 18–24 have taken college-level courses, compared to 46% of the general United States population (Figure 1)."

The above graph charts the rise in home educated students from 1999 to 2007.

"However, in this study, the degree to which homeschooling was regulated by state governments had no bearing on student test scores."

"For parents who sometimes wonder whether they are doing the right thing by homeschooling their children, it will be an encouragement to know that 95% of the homeschool graduates surveyed are glad that they were homeschooled (Table 3)."

"Homeschoolers are still achieving well beyond their public school counterparts—no matter what their family background, socioeconomic level, or style of homeschooling."

The first chart compares the composite ACT scores of Public, Catholic, Private, and Homeschool students at a specific college. The second chart demonstrates that reading is the ACT subject in which homeschooled students especially excel.

This chart compares the first and fourth year GPA scores of college students who were homeschooled with the GPA scores of college students who attended a traditional school.

"But in this study, students received slightly higher scores if neither parent had ever held a state-issued teaching certificate than if one or both parents had. (See Figure 2.)"

"It is easy to dismiss the success of home schooling as simply simply further proof of the tenacious link between family background and academic achievement."

"The exact number of students schooled at home is difficult to pin down, but estimated growth is rapid (see Figure 1)."

"A sense of moral or religious obligation to care for the environment is very strong among the Christian school and religious home-educated graduates, as shown in Figure 15."

"States vary widely in monitoring home schooling. Some states require parents of home-schooled children to notify public school officials and then provide test scores or other professional evaluations of their children’s academic progress; others require no parent notification at all."

"[T]here is virtually no difference between home schoolers and their peers in terms of income."

This chart demonstrates the various requirements each state has in regard to homeschooling.

"The median home school student in third grade out-performs 81% of the third graders nationwide."

"Math and reading scores for minority home schoolers show no significant difference when compared to whites."

"Respondents were asked for current political views with respect to government involvement in social issues, environmental waste, international security, national economic wellbeing, and health care."

"The independent non-religious school graduate, as shown in Figure 5, is 2.3 times more likely than the government school graduate to be involved in volunteering for a political cause."

"The strongest finding, as illustrated in Figure 8, is that independent non-religious school graduates are strongly and significantly more likely to be in a professional or managerial position compared to government school graduates after controlling for family background variables."

"Another finding demonstrates that individual families do not need the massive budget of a public school to provide their children with a quality education."

When questioned about their motives for homeschooling their children, a large majority of parents responded that the state of school environments and the desire to provide religious training were the two main issues that caused them to pursue the option of homeschooling.

"The data on home school students' activities and community involvement reveal that, on average, these children are engaged in 5.2 activities outside the home, with 98% involved in two or more."

Analysis Report White Paper

This study examines survey data from a representative sample of graduates of Canadian secondary schools aged 24-39. Collected in March 2012, the resulting data were intended to enable better understanding of the outcomes of the various government and non-government schooling sectors.

This piece seeks to produce an updated look at homeschool test scores, economic and family background, religious viewpoints, and a variety of other demographic factors related to homeschool children.

This Note argues that homeschooling must be better regulated. State legislatures should take notice of the potential harm to children educated without standards or oversight and should reexamine the appropriate level of regulation. Most should consider re-regulating the practice.

This study examined the day to day operations of home schools. The case study method was used with four families from a larger pool of families that held membership in a home school organization. Data was gathered using interviews, observations, and artifacts.

In an attempt to provide more than anecdotal evidence about homeschool students, Michael Cogan studied a variety of demographic characteristics of homeschool students at a midwestern college. Cogan found that homeschool students generally have better ACT scores and better GPAs than their non-homeschool counterparts.

First-generation Canadian graduates of home-based education, who were involved in the 1994 study of their homeschooling experiences, were invited to respond to a survey addressing their economic, educational, occupational, social, civic, life satisfaction, and lifestyle characteristics. Their views on their experience with home education were also collected.

The purpose of this study was to determine differences, in first-year college academic performance, between home school and traditional high school graduates, measured by grade point average, retention, ACT test scores, and credits.

This document provides explanations and charts for almost every issue raised in connection with homeschooling. Some of the topics discussed include television viewing, minority achievement, monetary aspects, and curriculum selection.

The paper analyzes the emergence of home education in European post-communist countries after 1989. The case of the Czech Republic representing the development and characteristic features of home education in the whole region is studied in detail.

This paper will examine three very different groupings of home educators and their varying constructions of childhood and the social world, demonstrating the spectrum between home education as an expression of human rights and of fundamentalism.

Home schooling parents, if they have been at it very long at all, have been asked these questions countless times by the curious and the disapproving. But of the customary questions homeschoolers face, 'What about socialization?' is perhaps the most familiar and the most puzzling."

Focusing on research in both the United States and Canada, this paper from the Fraser Institute focuses on the history, growth, and gradual acceptance of the homeschool movement. It especially focuses on the fact that homeschooling is not simply an area dominated by the "Religious Right," as many people seem to automatically assume.

This report pulls together the latest information on home education statistics in the United States. Included in the report are many fascinating charts and graphs which compare homeschoolers to their public school counterparts.

In 1996 the National Center for Home Education, a division of HSLDA, conducted a nationwide college survey: a sampling of the homeschool admission policies in all 50 states. National Center’s liberal definition of 'policy' includes colleges that take into account homeschoolers’ unique capabilities and circumstances.

This study examined the influence of pre-entry attributes on the college experience, academic and social integration patterns, and environmental pull factors of college students who were homeschooled in high school. Homeschooled students were equipped to succeed academically and socially.

Homeschooling is continuing to grow, and homeschoolers are enrolling in community colleges in increasing numbers. Predictions suggest that the United States will have almost 3 million homeschooled students by 2010....While many of these homeschoolers will choose to attend four-year institutions, many will also choose community colleges.

This document contains a variety of articles related to homeschoolers and their ability to enter and succeed in college. The various authors examine admission policies for homeschoolers, the social and academic success of homeschool graduates who enter college, and the issue of federal financial aid for homeschooled students.

This article considers the relationship between homeschooling and religious fundamentalism by focusing on their intersection in the philosophies and practices of conservative Christian homeschoolers in the United States.

As homeschooling grows more acceptable in the culture at large, those who originally entered the movement due to religious reasons are seeing a gradual change. The change is due to attempts by public schools and others to slowly assimilate and bring homeschoolers back into the fold of public education through homeschool-friendly policies.

This report compares home educated adults to the general U.S. population in areas such as overall happiness in life, civic and community involvement, and higher education. The report also finds that adults who were home schooled generally have a very positive perception of the process and would continue the practice with their own children.

This report contains the most recent, large-scale overview of homeschooling statistics. It demonstrates the increases in homeschooling since 1999, and also compares homeschool students to those in public and private schools. The authors of this study also researched home school race, income, motivations, and curriculum usage.

This Memo concludes that the majority of states, including Oregon, favor parental rights over state interests, and only states with the highest level of regulation require any state involvement in a homeschooled child’s education.

A notable increase in the number of U.S. families choosing to homeschool their children in recent years has underscored the need to develop more systematic knowledge about this approach to education.

What can be done to assure adequate training in mathematics and sciences specifically for home-schooled girls? In particular, who has the responsibility and the ability to secure legal protection for them? It can be argued that the state constitutional assumption of education as a state function implies that there is in fact recourse when parents take on the functions of the state.

The author seems to believe that the best approach to homeschooling is a combination of the Charlotte Mason method and unschooling, as these two methods encourage “life-long learning” and an individualized education.

"Rudner explains that while the results of the study make homeschoolers look like much better students than their private and public school counterparts, the uncontrolled nature of it can only allow us to conclude "that those parents choosing to make a commitment to home schooling are able to provide a very successful academic environment."

Discussing the high levels of achievement that homeschoolers maintain, this piece relates their success to a non-stifled environment amongst teachers who care about them and encourage their creativity. This piece also discusses the great success homeschooled children experience when they reach college.

This study uses the Social Skills Rating Scale to compare the social skills of twenty-three children, seven of which have been home-schooled, and sixteen of which have been publicly educated. Results of the study indicate that home schooled children scored above average.

The growth of the homeschool movement over the last few decades has caused a steady stream of discussion on whether or not more regulation of this education option is needed. The difference between the three levels of regulation were quite minimal, but interestingly enough, the states with the highest regulations also had the lowest test scores.

A critic of homeschooling, Reich argues for the regulation of this education practice rather than the elimination of it. His reasoning for his position is based on the idea that a child should be raised to be an autonomous person, an objective which he believes a homeschool family may or may not accomplish.

The number of families choosing to home educate their children with disabilities, including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), has increased in Australia in recent years. This qualitative study was designed to explore mothers’ perspectives of home educating a child with ASD.

This study finds that those students with a history of homeschooling did have significantly lower depression scores than those who had never been homeschooled. It also reveals that homeschooled students report that they have achieved greater academic success and that they rate their entire college educational experience more positively than students who were never homeschooled.

This article from The Atlantic Monthly describes the past history of the homeschool movement, including both the conservative Christian brand of Raymond and Dorothy Moore, and the liberal, brand ascribed to John Holt. Talbot takes a detached, outsider's perspective of homeschooling.

This paper will examine the reasons for the success of homeschooled children and how families are meeting the needs of their children socially and developmentally.

With home schooling on a sustained, dramatic-growth curve, the Kurowski case is not unique. Indeed, home-schooled families cope with divorce and single parenting like the rest of society. And when separated couples disagree about the decision to homeschool, thorny issues arise, fanned by deeply-held beliefs and strong emotions.

This Note argues that the parental right to direct the education of one’s child is a fundamental liberty, and, therefore, deference should be given to the parent.

Because education in the United States is a matter delegated to the states each state has different provisions for regulating home schooling. This patchwork regulatory environment shows a clear trend across the country, however: regulations that thirty years ago either forbade or strictly regulated home schooling have been lifted or eased.

Video/Podcast/Media

"Across the United States homeschooling has been overlooked and underrated by many. Diving deeper into student performance and the environments of homeschooling households, it is clear that homeschoolers have risen to the occasion and met the expectations of recruiting Universities and American workforce."

This set of podcasts discusses several key Founding Fathers and their connection to home education. Michael Farris then suggests that homeschooling played an overlooked - but very influential - role in the founding of our nation.

Although homeschoolers are often viewed in a positive light, not everyone accepts them or their ideas on education. In this brief clip, Joy Behar expresses her belief that homeschoolers are "demented."

This video offers an archived Focus on the Family episode with Dr. Raymond Moore. Aired in the early 1980s, this episode is believed to have sparked the modern conservative Christian popularization of homeschooling.

"This CBN news footage in Erlangen, Germany shows how oppressive a regime could become when government has the authority to remove children from home. In the Bavarian town of Erlangen, Germany, 15-year old Christian girl Melissa Busekros was taken from her parents in a SWAT-style police raid. German officials consider her family dangerous because her parents home school their daughter. She was...

Although most homeschool families focus on textbooks and high academic standards, some families prefer to greatly individualize their child's education through the process of "unschooling." The concept of "unschooling" is often associated with the progressive-minded John Holt, and this video seeks to examine the concept by looking at the lives of several "...

"William Estrada talked about the rising number of home-schooled children in the United States, that a recent survey puts at 1.5 million students. He talked about what impact current education policy has had on the numbers and what homeschoolers would be looking for under the Obama administration. Topics included funding, taxes, vouchers, and implications for...

This video discusses how the "frontier" idea of homeschooling has now become a reasonable education choice. According to NBC, homeschoolers are doing just fine academically and are often exceeding the expectations of the general public.

"Watch Personal Liberty's Wayne Allyn Root, a home-school father, discuss school choice, home-schooling, parental freedom and the disaster that is the U.S. public school system, in a video titled, 'Homeschool to Harvard.'"

"Have you ever wondered what Homeschooling is really about? This documentary will give you a walk through of the basics of homeschooling in less than 15 minutes! Listen to the journey of parents and students and see their experience of homeschooling."

For parents just beginning to homeschool, choosing a curriculum can be quite daunting. In order to help with this process, Misty Spinelli lays out several goals that homeschoolers should make before they attempt to dig into the myriads of curriculum options.

Dr. Lisa Shulman believes that homeschooling a child with autism "is a very daunting task." Shulman declares that homeschooling an autistic child is possible; however, she highly recommends that parents surround themselves with a strong support system.

In this video, homeschooling father and Home School Legal Defense Association attorney, Mike Donnelly, describes his views on home education. According to Donnelly, homeschooling is a lifestyle choice as well as an education choice. Donnelly also discusses some of the legal cases he has been involved in and their implications for home education.

"An increasing number of Black parents, locally and nationally, are choosing to homeschool their children instead of sending them to public schools."

This video features a public school teacher who decided to homeschool her own children in order to foster a love of learning in them. This teacher follows the John Holt idea of "unschooling," a method in which children determine what they have an interest in, and with the help of their parents, pull together their own education plan of action.

Produced by a homeschooling father, this video discusses a variety of misconceptions and benefits of home education. The video declares that homeschool students receive an individualized education which amply prepares them for college and life in the real world.

In early 2008, a California court ruled that children had to be taught by accredited teachers. This caused a great deal of consternation amongst the homeschool community, as seen in this clip from ABC news. As this video demonstrates, many homeschool children outperform their public school counterparts, and because of this, many viewed the California ruling as...

"HSLDA is far more than simple legal representation for homeschool families in court. HSLDA has been the leading advocate nationwide for homeschool freedoms and has laid the groundwork for all homeschooling families to train their children without the intervention of the government."

As the title suggests, this video describes three major ways of homeschooling. Although it mainly focuses on classical home education, Three Ways To Home School also discusses and explains "traditional" and "eclectic" homeschool methods.

This clip gives a funny, quick, and rather stereotypical portrayal of many homeschool families. A parody on "The Addams Family" theme song, this video describes both the peculiarities and abilities of homeschoolers.

"Homeschool to Harvard: one student's amazing story - Dakota Root with father, Wayne Allyn Root."

"Dagmar Neubronner, German 2nd chairwoman of the GHEC2012 board, explains her history with home educating her children and the general situation in Germany."

This video features the struggles, concerns, and personal testimonies from parents and children who have been engaged in the homeschool process. Produced by the Home School Legal Defense Association, this video provides firsthand experience from both veteran and fledgling homeschool families.

In this video, Ayn Rand Institute analyst, Thomas Bowden, offers insights on the "Rachel L." homeschool case. For some time, this case threatened to outlaw homeschooling in California, a fact which causes Bowden to wonder whether or not the parent or the...

Primary Document

In an open letter to an Oklahoma state senator, homeschooling parent Brandon Dutcher responds to the senator's proposal that homeschoolers should report their child's progress to the state. Dutcher points out the absurdity of this proposition by imagining what would happen if the tables were turned.

This brief report cites a variety of statistics related to homeschooling and compares them to the same type of research from 1999 and 2003. The resulting information demonstrates that homeschooling is growing at a fairly regular pace. The report also gives data covering reasons why parents choose...

This collection of transcripts from "Homeschool Heartbeat" discusses the regulation ideas put forth by Robert Reich and the implications they have for homeschool families. This particular program believes Reich's assertions are a clever way to maneuver parental rights under the Constitution, and...

"Your Care in sending me the News papers is very agreable to me. I receiv’d by Capt. Barney those relating to the Cincinnati. My Opinion of the Institution cannot be of much Importance. I only wonder that when the united Wisdom of our Nation had, in the Articles of Confederation, manifested their Dislike of establishing Ranks of Nobility, by Authority either of the Congress or of any...

"We signatories of this declaration presented on November 3, 2012 at the first Global Home Education Conference in Berlin, Germany hereby,

Remind all nations that numerous international treaties and declarations recognize the essential, irreplaceable and fundamental role of parents and the family in the education and upbringing of children as a natural right that must be...

"Peter Jennings. Mr. President, one of my first impressions here is that this is an awful lot bigger than what you were used to living in Arkansas.

The President. It's bigger than almost anybody in America lives in, but it's a beautiful house. You know it was started in 1792. President Washington authorized it to be built, and then before it was finished, actually, President Adams and...

"Well, let me begin by thanking Channel One and the Channel One schools and all those who are taking part in this Presidential Webside Chat.

This has a rich history, really. Fifty years ago and more, President Roosevelt used the radio to bring democracy into the homes of the American people, with his Fireside Chats. Thirty years later, President Kennedy regularly used televised press...

"Peter Duro (Duro) initiated this action against the District Attorney of the Second Judicial District of North Carolina (D.A.) alleging that his religious beliefs were infringed by the North Carolina compulsory school attendance law, N.C.G.S. § 115C-378. The district court entered summary judgment for Duro, from which the D.A. appeals. We find that North Carolina has demonstrated an interest...

In a speech to the Texas Home School Coalition, Governor Rick Perry affirms his support for public, private, and homeschool education. Governor Perry specifically recognizes the effort and commitment given by homeschool parents and pledges to protect them in educational parental choice matters.

"Most home-schooled children, including many who did badly in school, are academically well ahead of their age group. Many have gone to top colleges and done well.

Why does it work so well?"

This transcript of a PBS report on homeschooling covers both the positive and negative viewpoints of this particular education option. While homeschool families give the practice resounding endorsements, others question the fact that their form of education is unregulated and full of...

In this speech, originally given to a 1997 Pennsylvania State University conference, Patrick Farenga presents the philosophies of "unschooling." This term was used frequently by John Holt, the original standard bearer of the liberal version of homeschooling. Farenga, Holt's successor,...

Following a national uproar over a court decree that homeschooling was illegal in California, the appeals court reheard the case and submitted the opinion that "California statutes permit home schooling as a species of private school education." This ruling was considered a major victory for the parental right to choose the homeschool education option.

"I received your kind Letter, at New York, and it is not easy for you to imagine the Pleasure it has given me. I have not found a single Opportunity to write since I left Boston, excepting by the Post and I dont choose to write by that Conveyance, for fear of foul Play. But as We are now within forty two Miles of Philadelphia, I hope there to find some private Hand by which I can convey this...

The 'Manifesto of the Communist Party' was written by Marx and Engels as the Communist League’s programme on the instruction of its Second Congress ..., which signified a victory for the followers of a new proletarian line during the discussion of the programme questions.

John Stuart Mill was a British political philosopher and politician. In this classic essay, he argues that "the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.... Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign."

"The plaintiffs, Peter and Susan Perchemlides, residents of Amherst, seek to educate their eight-year-old son Richard at home pursuant to G.L.c. 76, § 1. That statute exempts from public school attendance requirements a child who is ‘being otherwise instructed in a manner approved in advance by the superintendent or the school committee.’ Both the superintendent and the committee have denied...

In the eyes of John Locke, the education of a child includes more than books and schooling. Indeed, Locke’s thoughts on education cover the whole physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional being of the...

"Under the United States Constitution, parents have a fundamental right to direct the education of their children. In 1925 the Supreme Court recognized that 'liberty,' protected by the Fourteenth Amendment, includes the right to choose a private education. Confronted with an Oregon statute mandating public school attendance, the Supreme Court ruled the statute unconstitutional. Pierce v....

"This indicator examines the number and characteristics of homeschooled students in the United States. Homeschooled students are school-age children (ages 5–17) in a grade equivalent to at least kindergarten and not higher than 12th grade who receive instruction at home instead of at a public or private school either all or most of the time."

This overview of the homeschool legislation in Minnesota describes the regulations parents must comply with in order to teach their children at home. Some of these regulations include testing and reporting to the state at specified intervals.

Locke's Second Treatise develops his descriptions of the state of nature along with natural law. His work was extremely influential in the founding of America and its Constitution.

"All knowledge falls into one of two divisions: the knowledge of 'truths' and the knowledge of 'words:' and if the former is first in importance, the latter is acquired first in order of time. They are not to be commended who, in their anxiety to increase their store of truths, neglect the necessary art of expressing them. For ideas are only intelligible to us by means of the words which...

"A great obstacle to good education is the inordinate passion prevalent for novels, and the time lost in that reading which should be instructively employed. When this poison infects the mind, it destroys its tone and revolts it against wholesome reading. Reason and fact, plain and unadorned, are rejected. Nothing can engage attention unless dressed in all the figments of fancy, and nothing so...

"Respondents, members of the Old Order Amish religion and the Conservative Amish Mennonite Church, were convicted of violating Wisconsin's compulsory school attendance law (which requires a child's school attendance until age 16) by declining to send their children to public or private school after they had graduated from the eighth grade. The evidence showed that the Amish provide continuing...

Books

FAQs

This FAQ provides some background on education in Minnesota, which in turn will help one to understand today's state of education.

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