Homeschooling

Subject classification: this is an education resource.

This is Wikiversity's central resource for Homeschooling.

Homeschooling basics

Homeschooling is a method of childhood education which eschews mainstream mass schooling in the form of government or private schools and keeps the responsibility and implementation of education directly in the hands of the child's own parents. Some homeschoolers believe that the education they provide for their children from home is a better preparation for adulthood than the institutional options available to them. Homeschooling is a diverse movement, stretching across economic, racial, religious and political groups.

As parents vary in their reasons and philosophies of homeschooling, the methods employed are equally diverse, as each family chooses the education that best suits its children and circumstances. Though very few generalizations can be made, perhaps one can say that homeschoolers as a whole:

• find mass schooling an inefficient use of the child's time.
• believe individual and parental rights supersede government interest in the child.
• homeschool out of a desire to give their children a superior education.
• reserve the right to define education for their own family.

Parents who choose to homeschool may do so because they find mass schooling:

• too religious or not religious enough.
• too demanding or not rigorous enough.
• moving too quickly or too slowly for their child.
• unsafe or too confining.
• too intrusive or too unresponsive.

Homeschooling is legal in the United States, though regulated variously. Some states have an entirely hands-off policy while others require differing levels of notification or oversight. All states have many support groups which can provide information, interaction, and learning opportunities.

History and General Information

Perspectives

Methods of homeschooling, which are often combined or modified in practice, include:

• Charlotte Mason- A British educator who invested her life in improving the quality of children's education. Her ideas led to one of the primary methods of homeschooling.
• Networked learning- A process of developing and maintaining connections with people and information, and communicating in such a way so as to support one another's learning.
• Unit Study- It is defined as an in-depth study of a topic (space, trees, cars, etc.) that takes into account many areas of the topic, such as geography, science, history, art, etc. It is a complete immersion into the topic so that the student will see things as a "whole" instead of bits and pieces learned throughout their education.
• Unschooling- unschoolers find that the use of standard curricula and conventional grading methods, as well as other features of traditional schooling, are unnecessary and sometimes counterproductive for maximizing the education of each child. Instead, unschoolers typically allow children to learn through their natural life experiences, including game play, household responsibilities, and social interaction.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Educational Freedom
• Physical Freedom
• Religious Freedom
• Closer Family Relationships
• Stability During Difficult Times
• Well-Rested Kids
• No Busy Work

Cons:

• The Time Restraints
• Financial Restraints
• Limited Interaction With Other Kids
• Being with Your Kids 24/7
• Limited Team Sports
• Living Outside the Norm

Courses and Learning Materials

• Primary school homeschooling resource guide
• Secondary school resource guide
• Portal:Education

Resources

John Holt and His Ideas:

• Growing Without Schools(biography and his books)
• JOHN HOLT AND THE ORIGINS OF CONTEMPORARY HOMESCHOOLING by Patrick Farenga

Home School Legal Defense Association (official site)

• Home School Legal Defense Association (Reconstructionist agenda)
• Home Schooling laws by state (Incomplete and often inaccurate)

Homeschool Curriculum and Homeschooling Information

• International School In Hyderabad (an International Homeschool Program)
• A to Z Home's Cool (contains many ads, inclusive support, free and commercial resources)
• Pro Publica - Homeschool Laws
• Homeschool World (uses popups - contains many ads, Reconstructionist agenda)
• Homeschool.com (contains many ads)
• National Independent Study Accreditation Council (Accreditation for Homeschool Programs)
• Sunland Christian School (an International Homeschool Program)
• Homeschool Base (volunteer-driven resource and homeschooling news)
• National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI conducts homeschooling research)

Other Resources:

• FamilyEducation.com

US Resources by State

• California