Category Archives: International Home Education

SWEDEN: The Govt is trying to make Home schooling illegal

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Apparently there is a new law pending in Sweden to make homeschooling totally illegal.

The Home educators in Sweden have started two Petitions to help in their fight to be able to keep home educating their children.

One Petition is for those in Sweden the other (this link) is for those outside of Sweden:

Welcome to sign our petition – for you living outside of Sweden
The Swedish Government is trying to pull the rug from underneath the home-educated children in Sweden, in their proposal for a new School Law.

We will not sit still and passively watch while our kids are forced (!) to school, after so many years in what they love: To learn in their own pace, in a safe environment, and to develop without social limitations.

A legal and very successful alternative to school is about to be erased, without any grounds or research! Rohus is a review-organisation, and we will write a massive review.

For this reason, we ask you to join in supporting our work – sign the petition! We will use it together with our review, among other things.

To read more and to have your name added to the Petition go to this link:

http://rohus.nu/?English_information:Petition

Please note you have to scroll down the page to be able to add in your email address.

Please pass this information on to others.

Thanks

For more information check out this page:

http://rohus.nu/?English_information

Sensible international comments about the new Swedish school law can be sent to: skollagen@education.ministry.se

How the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child May Soon be Disciplining Your Family

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Uncle Sam in the Nursery?
How the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child May Soon be Disciplining Your Family

Last week over 80,000 families in Great Britain received demoralizing news.  Concerned about the legitimacy of homeschooling, government ministers disclosed plans to control and monitor homeschooling families by requiring them to register with local authorities, present learning plans, and undergo regular inspections. Part of these procedures would allow government officials to interrogate children without a parent present, permitting local authorities to intervene in family affairs in an unprecedented way.

One may ask just how a democratic nation could justify such an appalling exploitation of administrative authority. The answer lies in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), a United Nations document ratified by every country but the United States and Somalia. Outwardly masquerading as a document promoting human rights for children, the CRC actually circumvents parental rights by imbuing governments with the ultimate authority to determine “the best interests of the child.” In Great Britain’s case, the document justifying this type of intrusion into the affairs of British homeschooling families is referred to as the Badman Report, which was submitted to the British parliament earlier this month and now awaits legislative action. The author of the report cited Articles 12 and 29 of the British-ratified CRC to support its position, and further stated:

“I am not persuaded that under the current regulatory regime that there is a correct balance between the rights of parents and the rights of the child either to an appropriate education or to be safe from harm. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) gives children and young people over 40 substantive rights which include the right to express their views freely, the right to be heard in any legal or administrative matters that affect them and the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas. Article 12 makes clear the responsibility of signatories to give children a voice:

‘Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.

Yet under the current legislation and guidance, local authorities have no right of access to the child to determine or ascertain such views,” the report finds.

Therefore, authorities not only must have access to homes and private interviews with children, they should, “secure the monitoring of the effectiveness of elective home education,” Badman wrote.

While outwardly alarming in its own right, this scenario is not a remote possibility on American soil. Though the CRC has not yet been ratified by the United States, the Obama administration publicly announced this week that that “the United States would have to undertake a lengthy review of the Convention on the Rights of the Child,” even while adding that it was “a ‘shame’ the United States stood alone with Somalia in failing to support it.” U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice, made it clear that administration officials are currently discussing “when and how it might be possible to join.”

For any involved and dedicated parent that seeks to raise his/her child according to what he/she believes is right, this statement should send off wild alarms for the following reasons:

1.       The CRC is a treaty which creates binding rules of law that once ratified, becomes compulsory for American families, courts, and policy-makers. In accordance with Article VI of the U.S. Constitution, (also known as the Supremacy Clause), when ratified as a treaty the CRC it automatically overrides virtually all American laws affecting children and families. This would include its ability to override even our own Constitution. Some elements of the document are self-executing, while others would require implementing legislation. The courts, on the other hand, would have the power to determine which provisions were self-executing, and would have the power to enforce the provisions that are self-executing.

2.    Thus far domestic matters have largely been a matter for state or local jurisdiction, yet with the ratification of the CRC; the federal government would now receive power to directly legislate on all subjects (namely families and children) necessary to comply with the treaty. This would create the most massive shift of power from the states to the federal government in American history.

3.    A committee of 18 experts from other nations sitting in Geneva has the authority to issue official interpretations of the treaty that are entitled to binding weight in American courts and legislatures. This effectively transfers ultimate policy authority for all policies in this area to this foreign committee.  And, according to the structural framework of the CRC any reservations, declarations, or understandings intended to modify our duty to comply with this treaty will be void if they are determined to be inconsistent with the object and purpose of the treaty.

4.    According to the text of the CRC, parents would no longer be able to administer reasonable spankings to their children.

5.    Children would have the ability to choose their own religion while parents would only have the authority to give their children advice about religion.

6.    The “best interest of the child” principle would give the government the ability to override every decision made by every parent if a government worker disagreed with the parent’s decision.

7.    A child’s “right to be heard” would allow him to seek governmental review of every parental decision with which the child disagreed.

8.    This treaty has been interpreted to make it illegal for a nation to spend more on national defense than it does on children’s welfare.

9.    Children would acquire a legally enforceable right to leisure.

10…    Teaching children about Christianity in schools has been held to be out of compliance with the CRC.

11.    Allowing parents to opt their children out of sex education has been held to be out of compliance with the CRC.

12.   Children would have the right to reproductive health information and services without parental knowledge or consent.

Note: the aforementioned list has been adapted by one recently compiled by Michael P. Farris, Chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association and President of ParentalRights.org.

What you can do now to stop ratification of the CRC:

If you are also troubled by the current administration’s plans to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, please take action by contacting the following:

1.    Call the White House comments line at 202-456-1111. Tell them you heard the administration wants to ratify the CRC, and you strongly oppose this giving away of U.S. sovereignty to the UN. Also keep in mind that this treaty gives the government jurisdiction to override any decision made by any parent if the government thinks that a better decision can be made-even if there is no proof of any harm. You can also send them a message online at www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/

2.    Call your Congressmen and Senators and insist that they oppose ratification of this treaty. Ask them also to overcome the potential threat by cosponsoring SJRes 16 (for the Senate) or HJ Res 42 (for the House) – the Parental Rights Amendment. (See www.parentalrights.org for details).

3…    Contact Susan Rice’s office

www.usunnewyork.usmission.gov/Issues/contactus.html, the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. and tell her we do not want language in the outcome document that mandates the ratification of the CRC.

4.    Help UFI continue to be able to fight for your parental rights at the U.N. and around the globe by DONATING TODAY!  We cannot do it without your support.

There are 80,000 families in Great Britain who now wish they could have prevented the intrusion that the CRC would have within the walls of their own homes. Take advantage of the opportunity you have today as an American citizen and do your part. Our children and the future of society depend on it!



With Appreciation,
United Families International

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Judge orders homeschoolers into public district classrooms

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http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=91397

YOUR GOVERNMENT AT WORK
Judge orders homeschoolers into public district classrooms
Decides children need more ‘focus’ despite testing above grade levels

Posted: March 11, 2009
11:25 pm Eastern

By Bob Unruh
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

A North Carolina judge has ordered three children to attend public schools this fall because the homeschooling their mother has provided over the last four years needs to be “challenged.”

The children, however, have tested above their grade levels – by as much as two years.

The decision is raising eyebrows among homeschooling families, and one friend of the mother has launched a website to publicize the issue.

The ruling was made by Judge Ned Mangum of Wake County, who was handling a divorce proceeding for Thomas and Venessa Mills.

A statement released by a publicist working for the mother, whose children now are 10, 11 and 12, said Mangum stripped her of her right to decide what is best for her children’s education.

The judge, when contacted by WND, explained his goal in ordering the children to register and attend a public school was to make sure they have a “more well-rounded education.”

“I thought Ms. Mills had done a good job [in homeschooling],” he said. “It was great for them to have that access, and [I had] no problems with homeschooling. I said public schooling would be a good complement.”

The judge said the husband has not been supportive of his wife’s homeschooling, and “it accomplished its purposes. It now was appropriate to have them back in public school.”

“EXPELLED”: Get the hot new documentary that is blowing the lid off censorship of ideas in American universities – particularly anything to do with the fact that God might actually exist.

Mangum said he made the determination on his guiding principle, “What’s in the best interest of the minor children,” and conceded it was putting his judgment in place of the mother’s.

And he said that while he expressed his opinion from the bench in the court hearing, the final written order had not yet been signed.

However, the practice of a judge replacing a parent’s judgment with his own regarding homeschooling was argued recently when a court panel in California ruled that a family would no longer be allowed to homeschool their own children.

WND reported extensively when the ruling was released in February 2008, alarming homeschool advocates nationwide because of its potential ramifications.

Ultimately, the 2nd Appellate District Court in Los Angeles reversed its own order, affirming the rights of California parents to homeschool their children if they choose.

The court, which earlier had opined that only credentialed teachers could properly educate children, was faced with a flood of friend-of-the-court briefs representing individuals and groups, including Congress members.

The conclusion ultimately was that parents, not the state, would decide where children are educated.

The California opinion said state law permits homeschooling “as a species of private school education” but that statutory permission for parents to teach their own children could be “overridden in order to protect the safety of a child who has been declared dependent.”

In the North Carolina case, Adam Cothes, a spokesman for the mother, said the children routinely had been testing at up to two years above their grade level, were involved in swim team and other activities and events outside their home and had taken leadership roles in history club events.

On her website, family friend Robyn Williams said Mangum stated his decision was not ideologically or religiously motivated but that ordering the children into public schools would “challenge the ideas you’ve taught them.”

Williams, a homeschool mother of four herself, said, “I have never seen such injustice and such a direct attack against homeschool.”

“This judge clearly took personal issue with Venessa’s stance on education and faith, even though her children are doing great. If her right to homeschool can be taken away so easily, what will this mean for homeschoolers state wide, or even nationally?” Williams asked.

Williams said she’s trying to rally homeschoolers across the nation to defend their rights as Americans and parents to educate their own children.

Williams told WND the public school order was the worst possible outcome for Ms. Mills, who had made it clear she felt it was important to her children that she continue homeschooling.

According to Williams’ website, the judge also ordered a mental health evaluation for the mother – but not the father – as part of the divorce proceedings, in what Williams described as an attack on the “mother’s conservative Christian beliefs.”

According to a proposed but as-yet unsigned order submitted by the father’s lawyer to Mangum, “The children have thrived in homeschool for the past four years, but need the broader focus and socialization available to them in public school. The Court finds that it is in the children’s best interest to continue their homeschooling through the end of the current school year, but to begin attending public school at the beginning of the 2009-2010 instructional year.”

The order proposed by the father’s lawyer also conceded the reason for the divorce was the father’s “adultery,” but it specifically said the father would not pay for homeschooling expenses for his children.

The order also stated, “Defendant believes that plaintiff is a nurturing mother who loves the children. Defendant believes that plaintiff has done a good job with the homeschooling of the children, although he does not believe that continued homeschooling is in the best interest of the children.”

The website said the judge also said public school would “prepare these kids for the real world and college” and allow them “socialization.”

Williams said the mother originally moved into a homeschool schedule because the children were not doing as well as she hoped at the local public schools.

In last year’s dispute in California, the ruling that eventually was released was praised by pro-family organizations.

“We’re pleased the appeals court recognized the rights of parents to provide education for their children,” said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice. “This decision reaffirms the constitutional right that’s afforded to parents in directing the education of their children. It’s an important victory for families who cherish the freedom to ensure that their children receive a high quality education that is inherent in homeschooling.”

“Parents have a constitutional right to make educational choices for their children,” said Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Gary McCaleb. “Thousands of California families have educated their children successfully through homeschooling. We’re pleased with the court’s decision, which protects the rights of families and protects an avenue of education that has proven to benefit children time and time again.

The North Carolina ruling also resembles a number of rulings handed down against homeschool parents in Germany, where such instruction has been banned since the years of Adolf Hitler’s rule.

As WND reported, Wolfgang Drautz, consul general for the Federal Republic of Germany, has commented previously on the issue, contending the government “has a legitimate interest in countering the rise of parallel societies that are based on religion.”

“The minister of education does not share your attitudes toward so-called homeschooling,” said a government letter in response. “… You complain about the forced school escort of primary school children by the responsible local police officers. … In order to avoid this in future, the education authority is in conversation with the affected family in order to look for possibilities to bring the religious convictions of the family into line with the unalterable school attendance requirement.”

WND also reported recently when a German appeals court tossed out three-month jail terms issued to a mother and father who homeschool their children. But the court also ordered new trials that could leave the parents with similar penalties, according to the Home School Legal Defense Association.

The case involves Juergen and Rosemarie Dudek of Archfeldt, Germany, who last summer received formal notices of their three-month sentences.

The 90-day sentences came about when Hesse State Prosecutor Herwig Muller appealed a lower court’s determination of fines for the family. The ruling had imposed fines of about 900 euros, or $1,200, for not sending their children to school

Muller, however, told the parents they shouldn’t worry about any fines, since he would “send them to jail,” the HSLDA reported.

HSLDA spokesman Michael Donnelly warned the homeschooling battle is far from over in Germany.

“There continue to be signs that the German government is cracking down on homeschooling families,” he reported. “A recent letter from one family in southern Germany contained threats from local school authorities that unless the family enrolled their children in school, they would seek fines in excess of 50,000 euros (nearly $70,000), jail time and the removal of custody of the children.”

HSLDA officials estimate there are some 400 homeschool families in Germany, virtually all of them either forced into hiding or facing court actions.

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Previous stories:

Parents rights to direct kids’ education affirmed

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Homeschoolers’ fate hangs on hearing results

Fate of homeschooling in court’s hands

Gov. Arnold: Let homeschooling continue

Homeschoolers in court: We’re constitutional

Teachers union to decide fate of homeschooling?

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Petition seeks rehearing in homeschooling case

Congress outraged by California homeschool case

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2nd petition opposes homeschooling ban

Lawmaker: Reject homeschooling opinion

Gov. Arnold blasts homeschool ruling

Ruling threatens custody of homeschool kids

Parents of 166,000 students could face criminal charges

Court’s homeschool ban creating ‘panic’

Judge orders homeschoolers into government education

California ripped as ‘too queer for school’

‘Mom,’ ‘dad,’ banned; now 600,000 students could go

Lawsuit challenges ban on ‘mom’ and ‘dad’

‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ banished from California

PTA endorses demand to show ‘gays’ positively

‘Mom,’ ‘dad,’ targeted by California bias ban

Parents ask court to stop ‘gay’ indoctrination

Telling kids homosexuality ‘innate’ challenged

State ignores plea to teach sex factually

People born homosexual, say local school officials

Lawmakers pass redefinition of ‘sex’

‘Gay’ activist says ‘We will BURY you’

Ban on ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ considered – again

Parents who spank being made criminals

‘Spanking-ban plan threatens parental rights’

California plan would criminalize spanking

Lawmaker delays jail-for-spanking plan

Californian proposes jail time for spanking

2 more ‘sexual indoctrination’ bills vetoed

Sexual indoctrination bill vetoed

Hundreds rally to threaten Gov. Arnold with ‘veto’

Gov. Arnold urged to cancel sexual indoctrination

California Christians urged to yank kids

Gov. Arnold tosses school moral codes

Dobson: Tell Arnold to halt ‘gay’ agenda

State education chief pushes ‘gay’ pornfest

Wrist slap for ‘Have sex, take drugs’ school seminar

We blew sex seminar, school chief says

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Will homeschooling parents end up behind bars?

Homeschooling parents to appeal prison terms

Parents sent to jail for homeschooling

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Judge: Homeschooling like driving drunk

Amendment protecting parental rights urged

Courts offer homeschoolers zilch, expert says

Court upholds Nazi-era ban on homeschooling

Parents sent to jail for homeschooling

Parents losing custody for homeschooling kids

Girl sent to psych ward for homeschooling, parents billed

Prosecutor wants homeschool parents jailed

Homeschool family reaches England

Parents race to escape before court takes kids

Truancy hearing targets homeschooling mom

Homeschoolers facing $6,300 fine

American missionaries targeted for deportation

Courts offer homeschoolers zilch, expert says

Court gives Melissa back to family

Western homeschoolers need political asylum from democracy

3 families face fines, frozen accounts

‘Youth worker’ lies about homeschool student

5 ‘well-educated’ kids put in state custody

Girl, 15, begs to return to homeschooling parents

Psych tests ordered for homeschooling parents

3rd Reich homeschool prohibition defended

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Homeschooler’s parents allowed 1 visit a week

Court-ordered foster care replaces psych ward

Homeschool student disappears from psych ward

‘Psych ward’ homeschooler case goes international

Court upholds Nazi-era ban on homeschooling

Constitution threatened by homeschool case


Bob Unruh runruh@wnd.com is a news editor for WorldNetDaily.com.

Homeschooling Sees Dramatic Rise in Popularity

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http://www.heritage.org/Research/Education/wm2254.cfm#_ftn1

January 28, 2009
Homeschooling Sees Dramatic Rise in Popularity
by Lindsey Burke
WebMemo #2254
In December, the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics released new estimates on the number of American families homeschooling their children. The new report shows the growing popularity of homeschooling. In view of this trend, it is important that federal and state policymakers safeguard families’ right to educate their children at home.

Growing Homeschooling Movement

The report shows that approximately 1.5 million children (2.9 percent of school-age children) were being homeschooled in the spring of 2007, representing a 36 percent relative increase since 2003 and a 74 percent relative increase since 1999.[1] One private researcher estimates that as many as 2.5 million school-age children were educated at home during the 2007-2008 school year.[2]

The homeschooling survey also reveals the most common reasons cited by families as the basis for their decision to educate their children at home. The most frequently referenced reasons included the ability to provide moral or religious instruction (36 percent), concern about the environment at other schools (21 percent), and dissatisfaction with the academic instruction provided at other schools (17 percent).[3] The number of parents reporting the ability to provide moral or religious instruction as a rationale for homeschooling their children increased by 11 percentage points (from 72 percent in 2003 to 83 percent in 2007).[4]

Additional reasons parents homeschooled their children included “other” reasons (14 percent), desire for nontraditional education (7 percent), special needs (4 percent), and physical or mental health problems (2 percent).[5] There was a 12 percentage point increase in the amount of respondents choosing “other” reasons, from 20 percent in 2003 to 32 percent in 2007. This increase could indicate an expansion in the types of demographic groups homeschooling their children.[6]

Benefits of Homeschooling

The available evidence suggests that homeschooling students perform as well as their non-homeschooled counterparts. In general, homeschooled students perform as well as–and in some cases outperform–their non-homeschooled peers.[7]

Homeschooled students succeed academically regardless of family income or teacher certification of parents.[8] Top-tier colleges and universities also recognize the academic abilities of homeschooled students, with Stanford, Yale, and Harvard among the institutions with the most homeschool-friendly policies.[9]

An additional benefit of homeschooling comes in the form of savings to taxpayers and school systems. Analysts have estimated that homeschooled students save American taxpayers and public schools between $4.4 billion and $9.9 billion annually.[10] Other estimates are as high as $16 billion.[11]

Trends and Anticipated Growth

Homeschooling may be the fastest growing form of education in the U.S.,[12] rivaled only by charter schools.[13] The 74 percent increase in homeschooling since 1999 alone suggests continued future growth. The homeschooling movement has also gained traction among minority students, which represent approximately 15 percent of homeschooling families.[14]

The continued growth in homeschooling is facilitated by organizations that assist families with needs ranging from curriculum and instruction to advancing legislation that ensures the freedom to educate children in the home. These burgeoning networks demonstrate that homeschooling is becoming an increasingly viable option for families.

Homeschooling continues to broaden and grow because of the vast array of education options and flexibility it provides for families. This crucial component of education reform creates an additional alternative for parents and students. It is estimated that more than 1 million children attend charter schools or benefit from voucher programs in the United States–a figure on par with the more than 1.5 million estimated homeschooled students. Economists have found that the competitive effects of school choice programs have prompted improvement in public schools.[15] While more research is needed, the homeschooling movement could be taking part in the same trend.

Protecting Homeschooling

Legal rights to homeschooling have been established nationwide, facilitating the growth of home-based instruction. Presently, homeschooling is legal in every state. Policymakers should protect parents’ rights to homeschool their children and enact reforms that remove barriers to homeschooling. In order to provide meaningful protections to homeschooling families, Members of Congress should avoid restrictive regulations at all levels of schooling and offer tax relief to homeschoolers through education tax credits or deductions. Homeschooling families provide a valuable contribution to American education, often while incurring a significant financial burden in addition to their taxes paid toward public education. Policies should recognize the educational contribution of homeschooling and ensure that the freedom to homeschool is permanently protected and fostered.

In view of all the benefits that homeschooling provides to homeschooled children as well as society as a whole, lawmakers should enact policies that give more families the opportunity to participate in homeschooling. Federal and state policymakers should work to guarantee that families have the freedom to educate their children at home in the future.

Lindsey M. Burke is a Research Assistant in the Domestic Policy Studies Department at The Heritage Foundation.

[1]U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, “1.5 Million Homeschooled Students in the United States in 2007,” December 2008, at http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/2009030.pdf (January 6, 2009).

[2]Brian D. Ray, “Research Facts on Homeschooling,” National Home Education Research Institute, July 2, 2008, at http://www.nheri.org/Research-Facts-on-
Homeschooling.html (January 6, 2009).

[3]National Center for Education Statistics, “1.5 Million Homeschooled Students.”

[4]Ibid.

[5]Ibid.

[6]Janice Lloyd, “Home Schooling Grows,” USA Today, January 6, 2009, at http://www.usatoday.com
/news/education/2009-01-04-homeschooling_N.htm (January 22, 2009).

[7]A 1998 report by Lawrence Rudner of the University of Maryland found that homeschooled students performed well on tests of academic achievement, typically scoring in the 70th and 80th percentiles. Lawrence M. Rudner, “Scholastic Achievement and Demographic Characteristics of Home School Students in 1998,” Education Policy Analysis Archives, Vol. 7, No. 8 (March 23, 1999), at http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v7n8/ (January 22, 2009). See Dan Lips and Evan Feinberg, “Homeschooling: A Growing Option in American Education,” Heritage Foundation Backgrounder No. 2122, April 3, 2008, at http://www.heritage.org/Research/Education/bg2122.cfm.

[8]Ray, “Research Facts on Homeschooling.”

[9]Home School Legal Defense Association, “Home Schoolers in Ivy League Universities,” May 3, 2000, at http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000002/00000234.asp (January 22, 2009).

[10]Lips and Feinberg, “Homeschooling.”

[11]Ray, “Research Facts on Homeschooling.”

[12]Ibid.

[13]Forty states and the District of Columbia saw the introduction of 355 new charter schools during the 2008-2009 school year. Center for Education Reform, “Charter School Facts,” September 18, 2007, at http://www.edreform.com
/index.cfm?fuseAction=document&documentID=1964 (January 27, 2009).

[14]Ibid.

[15]Caroline Minter Hoxby, “Rising Tide,” Education Next, Vol. 1, No. 4 (Spring 2001), at http://www.educationnext.org/20014/68.html (November 2, 2007), quoted in Lips and Feinberg, “Homeschooling.”

Homeschooling goes boom in America

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http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?pageId=85408

Homeschooling goes boom in America

74 percent increase in number of families teaching own children

Posted: January 05, 2009

By Chelsea Schilling
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

A homeschooling movement is sweeping the nation – with 1.5 million children now learning at home, an increase of 75 percent since 1999.

The Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics reported homeschooling has risen by 36 percent in just the last five years.

“There’s no reason to believe it would not keep going up,” NCES statistician Gail Mulligan told USA Today.

A 2007 survey asked parents why they choose to homeschool and allowed them to provide several reasons. The following are the most popular responses:

  • Concern about the school environment, including reasons such as safety, drugs or negative peer pressure – 88 percent
  • A desire to provide religious or moral instruction – 83 percent
  • A dissatisfaction with academic instruction at other schools – 73 percent
  • Nontraditional approach to children’s education – or “unschoolers” who consider typical curriculums and standardized testing as counterproductive to quality education – 65 percent
  • Other reasons, such as family time, finances, travel and distance – 32 percent
  • Child has special needs (other than physical or mental health problems) that schools cannot or will not meet – 21 percent
  • Child has a physical or mental health problem – 11 percent

(Story continues below)

Parents who report that they homeschool to provide religious or moral instruction increased from 72 percent to 83 percent from 2003 to 2007.

Above all other responses, parents cited providing religious and moral instruction as the most important factor in the decision to teach their children at home (36 percent). The second most important issue was concern about the school environment (21 percent), while the third reason was dissatisfaction with academic instruction at other schools (17 percent).

Research has shown the positive effects of homeschooling through the years. While some critics say teaching children at home may stunt their social growth, Dr. Brian D. Ray, president of National Home Education Research Institute, reveals homeschooled students fare well or better than public and private school students in terms of social, emotional and psychological development.

Additionally, homeschoolers earn higher marks than peers who attend public schools. In Academic Leadership, and online journal, Dr. Ray and Bruce K. Eagleson also cite findings from at least three nationwide studies across the United States and two nationwide studies in Canada.

“The home educated in grades K to 12 have scored, on average, at the 65th to 80th percentile on standardized academic achievement tests in the United States and Canada, compared to the public school average of the 50th percentile,” the report states.

Three studies also show that demographics, income and education level of homeschooling parents are generally irrelevant with regard to quality of education in a home setting. On average, homeschoolers in low-income families with less formal education still score higher than state-school averages.