What Home Schooling Really Is Essay -- Home School Education Learning

What Home Schooling Really Is The educational thesaurus defines home schooling as provision of compulsory education in the home as an alternative to traditional public/private schooling- often motivated by parental desire to exclude their children from the traditional school environment (ERIC [EBSCO]). Home schooling is also defined by The Well Trained Mind website as Home schooling occurs when parents take charge of their children's education -- organizing subjects, teaching lessons or arranging for tutors, evaluating progress, and supervising social contacts. Home school parents believe that one-on-one attention and individualized study produce the best education possible; most also think that peer groups are NOT the best "socializing agent" for their children. Home schooling is legal in all fifty states, and home schooled children consistently score very highly on standardized tests and other measures of academic performance. Although many home school families are two-parent households with one breadwinner and one stay-at-home parent, many other families arrange home schooling around dual careers, single-parent schedules, and other less traditional arrangements ( Wise and Bauer , www.welltrainedmind.com/homeschool.html). Statistics on Home Schooling Surprising statistics on home schooling can be found on many varying websites. Many individuals in society do not understand how many children are being home schooled, how popular home schooling currently is and how much it seems to increase yearly. â€Å"During 2002-2003 school year, an estimated 1.7 million to 2.1 million K-12 level students, or 3-4% of the school-age population, were home schooled† (Old Schoolhouse Magazine, P. 1). Also, â€Å"in nearly every state, the number ... ...l 5, 2005 from www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp?state=MD#2. This source is the home school legal defense association. This site provides the laws pertaining to home schooling, current legislation on home schooling and current cases on home schooling. Laurel Springs School: Personalized K-12 Distance Learning Program. (2005) Retrieved April 17, 2005 from http://www.laurelsprings.com This source allows home schoolers not only to learn at home but to also learn with a curriculum that is especially tailored to them. Well Trained Mind. (1999). Retrieved April 15, 2005 from www.welltrainedmind.com/homeschool.html. This source provided many links to home schooling websites as well as providing an accurate description of what home schooling is. Online Encyclopedia (2005). Home Schooling Information. Retrieved April 17, 2005 from www.encyclopedia.com.