About Home School Education
Homeschool education in the United States is once again on the rise. According to a report in the Journal of Academic Leadership, there were roughly 13,000 homeschooled students in the early 1970s in the United States. That figure grew to between 1.5 and 2.4 million by 2008. According to the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI), "It may be the fastest growing form of education in the United States." Home-based schooling is also becoming popular in other countries such as the United Kingdom, Kenya, Japan, Canada, Australia and Hungary.
Other People Are Reading
-
Significance
-
American tax-payer savings is estimated to be $16 billion, since parents of home school education are using their own resources to fund their children's education and are not dependent on public, tax-funded resources. Quality of education, reflected by standardized academic achievement test scores, appears to be another advantage of home-based education. According to NHERI, "Historically, home schooled students seem to have outperformed, on average, non-home schooled students." This institute claims that it is not making the assertion that home-based education is superior to public or private school education but merely conveying facts to show that homeschool education can be successful.
Legal Debates
-
According to the Journal of Academic Leadership, the debate as to whether, and to what degree, government should regulate private education has been debated in the United States since the 1830s and will likely continue for years to come. The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) is the largest home school advocacy organization of its kind, representing about 85,000 member families, mostly in the United States. HSLDA has been studying home school laws since 1983. According to HSLDA, in America, about two-thirds of the states have "specific laws authorizing and regulating homeschooling." The HSLDA provides a summary of state home school laws and regulations for all 50 states and the U.S. territories American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
-
Beginning Home Education
-
The HSLDA makes a number of suggestions when embarking on a homeschool program with children preschool through middle school age. After learning your state regulations, it is important to thoroughly research various styles of homeschooling upon which your curriculum will be built. Styles of teaching include the traditional approach using workbooks and textbooks, following a particular sequence and covering each subject in 180 daily lessons. This is similar to the pattern followed in a school institution. The Classical Approach is focused on teaching children "to think" and teaching them "tools of learning, collectively known as the Trivium," which has three stages corresponding to childhood developmental stages--the grammar stage, the dialectic stage and the rhetoric stage. The HSLDA also suggests attending a state homeschool education convention and local support group meetings sponsored by organizations such as the Academy of Home Education and the NHERI.
Choosing a Curriculum
-
As parents, you likely know your child better than anyone. By observing your child's patterns of behavior, his strengths and weaknesses, and understanding how your child communicates, you can determine the style of teaching and curriculum best suited to your child. The regulations of some states allow you to build your own curriculum by purchasing textbooks and other materials at education stores, or you may choose to use one of the many established programs available. The advantages of enrolling your child in a state-approved program include having a curriculum already outlined for you and thus allowing you to focus more of your attention on teaching, having a "time-tested" method to follow and likely less scrutiny from the state as to whether or not your child is receiving a proper education. Two of the most widely recognized programs are Calvert School and K12.
Calvert School
-
Calvert School is a well-established home education program with a history of more than 100 years but one that has not failed to take advantage of technological advancements. Interactive teaching tools such as online collaborative learning lessons are now offered in addition to traditional textbooks and workbooks. The course includes detailed daily lessons in subjects such as reading, arithmetic, writing, science, history, music, geography and the arts. An advisory teaching service is also offered to evaluate a set of tests eight times throughout the year to make an assessment of your child's academic performance. Calvert is available for children pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. The cost of the course varies; for example, as of 2009, the kindergarten classic course is offered for $575 per year with an additional $295 per year for the optional advisory teaching service, while the fifth-grade course starts at $780 and the eighth-grade course ranges from $930 to $1,320 per year.
K12 Program
-
K12 home school program is accredited by the Commission on International and Trans-Regional Accreditation, a commission that accredits approximately 30,000 public schools in addition to private schools. K12 partners with online public schools that have enrolled more than 56,000 students in the United States. The program is available in 36 countries. With the K12 program, your child can take courses from home as long as you have an Internet connection. One advantage with K12 is that of being assisted by certified teachers in K12's corp or local public school teachers through phone, email, online meetings, field trips and even face-to-face meetings. Teaching tools include books, interactive demonstrations, CDs, videos, hands-on materials for experiments and assessments. Enrollment in online public schools using the K12 program is free. Sometimes, the school system will also provide loaner computers and printers and Internet access. Check with your local school district or through K12's website for availability.
-
Resources
- Photo Credit Manjeet Bawa
