Almost 1.1 million children were homeschooled in 2005, according to the National Center For Education statistics, At one time, homeschooling was something radical, similar to a declaration of independence. Conservative Christians first advocated the idea of homeschooling in 1980s and had it legalized in every state.

Today, the typical homeschooler is not motivated by religion. The fact is parents are fed up with public school systems. They see the schools as places where too much learning is compulsory and superficial. Parents also have concerns about the negative and sometimes dangerous school environment, which has problems that range from abuse to drugs to unsavory peer pressure.

The homeschooling advocates of today represent a mix of people from all walks of life. They come from all religious and regional borders with the goal of providing productive and meaningful education to their children. They want their children to learn in ways that strengthen family bonds as well.

Modern homeschooling families are committed to the sanctity of childhood. Children are the primary focus for these families. Many feel that homeschooling lets them raise their children in a more natural and nurturing way. Public schools make these parents nervous, and they believe their children could be come anxious or mean by attending them. The children who receive homeschooling are protected from such negative influences until they are of an age to handle them.

The whole family is involved with modern homeschooling. The practice has a role for everyone. Parents bond with their children, and all experiences can become educational ones. Both mothers and fathers know exactly what their children are doing during homeschooling periods, and they have more control over the type of moral and religious values that impact the children. With homeschooling, even a simple act like watching a movie can become a learning activity. Things like going to the library become educational and recreational alike.

A family that is involved with homeschooling is generally dependent upon the income of a single breadwinner who brings in the money. This fact tends to bring family members closer together because everyone in the family is involved with the process of saving money.

One of the advantages of homeschooling is that one parent is always at home to supervise the children, and to care for and nurture them with love. Every member of the family is involved with the activity of homeschooling, and there is no time for boredom.

There may be problems from time to time, and parents may feel moments of self-doubt and misgiving, but homeschooling families have the satisfaction of knowing that they are always there for each other. Homeschooling represents a very rich experience for the family.



Thanks to Kenneth Scott for contributing this article to our Homeschooling blog:

Homeschool Testing

Not until a little before mid 1800s did institutionalized schooling became the norm. Many of America’s founders were educated by mentors, family and apprenticeships without any state-run education system. This is some of the background information and basis for homeschooling catalyst John Caldwell Holt’s book How Children Fail, which came out in 1964.

The idea of the book, was not on how children were being taught in schools, but how public schooling as a method in itself fails children. This was very controversial at the time and Holt was brought into the public eye very quickly. Holt later produced a follow up book called How Children Learn, which demonstrated his philosophy on the learning processes of children and how institutionalized learning retards this.

However, neither of his books addressed or proposed any alternative to education. Holt basically planted the seed for change and many other education dissenters started producing books and articles supporting the premise soon afterward. Author Harold Bennet had actually written a book that gave suggestions on how parents can keep their children out of school illegally.

Only after parents had written him regarding his teaching, stating they started teaching their kids at home, did Holt start producing literature on homeschooling. His last book Teach Your Own, published in 1980, contains his take on homeschooling.

Beginning Research on U.S. Academics and the Advocacy of Homeschooling

Educational professionals, Raymond and Dorothy Moore were also working on education research. They worked during the same time period as Holt was writing his books, finding similar congruencies.

The Moores concluded that public or formal regimented schooling, before the ages eight to twelve years of age, was actually a detriment to their learning process. They sought and found, according to their studies, a direct relationship to institutional education to such ailments as delinquency, near-sightedness, and a higher enrollment of special education courses.

The Moores also concluded that the time away from family stunted the growth of bonds made at home with parents and stated that it was necessary for a vast majority of children to be educated at home.

Home Schools and Religion

Statistically speaking, the majority of those parents who decide to start homeschooling base their reasons on religious grounds. That is why there is a large portion of available curriculum that is for the Christian homeschool. A great deal of curriculum of a Christian homeschool is not much different than that of a regular homeschool, but there is often supplemental literature on evangelical teachings or belief systems that are shared within the family.

Studies have found that homeschooling parents are of the Christian faith in the U.S. — nearly 90 percent having been polled said as much. However, other faiths have also embraced homeschooling; Muslim believers are a large growing demographic recently.

Since a large percentage of parents are Christian believers and are motivated to homeschool for such reasons, a good deal of Christian homeschool material has been made available throughout the web in the last decade.



Thanks to Art Gib for contributing this article to our Homeschooling blog:

Have you claimed your Genesis site?

The fire alarm wakes you in the middle of the night (you do have one installed in your home, don’t you?).  You have three sleeping children in their upstairs bedrooms. Do you know what to do? Do you have an evacuation plan and have you educated your children as to what to in case of fire?

One hundred sixty two minutes ago, someone just died in a house fire. Thirty-two minutes ago, someone was injured in a house fire.  In 2007, there were 214,000 fires that resulted in 2,895 deaths and 14,000 injuries. Most people die from smoke inhalation or toxic fumes during a house fire. Some of the causes of house fires are cooking (the number one cause), heaters, candles, arson, smoking, children playing with matches and fireplaces. Fires are estimated to cost society an unbelievable 165 billion dollars a year.  Switzerland has the lowest rate of deaths by fire, and the United States has the highest.

The people who are at risk the most are the elderly, children, the poor, African and Native Americans, people living in rural areas or substandard housing or manufactured homes, and please – don’t forget about your pets.

However, there is some good news. These numbers have been on the decline in recent years due to fire education, installation of fire alarms, sprinkler systems, fire code standards, better construction materials, better fire fighter equipment and higher training standards for firemen.

Some precautions you can implement to minimize the risk of a house fire are check your furnace every year, keep all flammable materials away from the furnace, use extreme caution when using a space heater. You can have your fireplace chimney cleaned and use a screen to prevent sparks from igniting rugs, furniture or anything in the room, keep the lint screen free from lint in your dryer and make sure the dryer vent is outside your home. Don’t overload outlets with power strips, if possible try not to use extension cords as they can overheat easily (and never use one that is damaged or frayed), keep the television away from the wall to prevent overheating, do not smoke when you are in bed, tired, or have been drinking.  Keep matches away from children and never leave them alone when there is a fire in the fireplace or a space heater in the room. And always have a watchful eye when you burn a candle, never leaving one burning while you are sleeping. Place your candles on a surface made particularly for candles.  Since cooking is the number one cause of house fires, never leave a pan unattended on the stove – not even for a minute!

It is good to have on hand a fire extinguisher (and know how to use it), install smoke detectors on every floor, especially near the bedroom, kitchen and laundry room, checking the batteries every year, especially if you live in an apartment that doesn’t have a sprinkler system. And the latest form of protection is to have smoke hoods for everyone in the house which will provide a way to breath safely in the event of a house on fire as the smoke is the most common reason for death in a house fire.

In a matter of moments, you can lose everything or those you love. Time is the most precious thing if there is a house fire. Don’t waste it by being unprepared or uneducated. Start today and take the steps needed to protect you and your loved ones.



Thanks to Safe Home Sue for contributing this article to our Homeschooling blog:

California Homeschool Law

When their child is eagerly learning and pursuing knowledge, parents simply shine in delight. “Unschooling” is an educational method that is intended to harness a child’s nature, that of excitement for learning and curiosity about the world around them.

Tapping into this nature allow the child to continue learning with a sense of wonder and adventure, rather than being forced to learn what is on the school agenda for the day.

After their first few years, most children are shuffled off to public classrooms where a child’s natural curiosity and spark for learning all they can takes a secondary role to the curriculum and lesson plans for the day.

While it is true that schools also want to have students in the pursuit of knowledge, it is also simply part of the institutional structure that by nature focuses and forces children to learn what the school has outlined and in the way that has been approved.

Unfortunately, this is counterproductive for most students and does not serve them well or bring out their best energies for learning. Unschooling is an attempt to turn around that educational model and free student to learn in more natural and effortless way.

Traditional school curriculums are based on the idea that children have to be pursued by knowledge because they are not trusted to ever pursue knowledge for themselves. And, because in a school setting, learning is defined by schoolwork, it is easy for teachers to conclude that children are not eager to learn since most tend to avoid the schoolwork.

As a result, sending a child to school became a way to control children and force them into the learning path decided for them by professional educators. While there are some students who are able to thrive in such settings, many more children become discouraged and unmotivated. Unschooling can help children to regain that spark, curiosity and enthusiasm for learning.

One of the primary ways that unschooling is being implemented is through homeschooling children rather than sending them to primary educational institutions. Homeschooling is a growing trend that promises to continue, not only in the United States, but around the world, wherever institutional education is impinging on children’s natural inclinations to learn.

In a school setting, teachers must use and stick to a standard curriculum that is set out, not by the teachers who have direct interaction with students, by committees that are generally staffed by people who have not set foot in a classroom or interacted with students in years.

However, a homeschool curriculum that is following the principles of the unschool, will be considerably different from what is found in the public schools.

There are some homeschooling resources that advocate following very similar curricula as what is considered standard to schools. However, this means homeschoolers simple experience and change in setting by being taught at home, but not a change in the approach to learning.

The major emphasis of unschooling is to re-ignite a child’s curiosity of the world around them, which is a natural state that is too often squelched by the formal school system. Using a child’s nature to help drive his learning helps him be motivated and feel empowered in their educational pursuits.



Thanks to MIKE SELVON for contributing this article to our Homeschooling blog:

How To Homeschool

Most of the people have difficulties in organizing a homeschool by thinking that they have to teach their child and also doing all the home activities inside the house like cooking meals, cleaning dust and also have to spend some time for their partner. But now there are many non-profit associations who are organizing a homeschool for kids.

To manage homeschooling such organizations are great place to select on. There are great advantageous of such small networks who are organizing a homeschool for there country. In a small group, close relationships can be shaped, examining is easier and interacting in a home is also possible. However as the homeschooling movement increases, so do the social co-operations, support groups and other committees. Some homeschool organizations deteriorate below the weight of larger memberships. Organizing a homeschool in some specific areas have divided so that each group does not become too large. Although further often, social club grow to take the challenge and become more prepared and expand their memberships. They are helping the requirements of more families by raising the number of homeschool organizations.

There are numerous places to get second hand or you can say used homeschooling study materials on the internet. Some homeschool core curriculum supplier has homeschool message boards where you can purchase or list used homeschool books for sale.

To properly organizing a homeschool plan a timetable of when you’ll have school. Many homeschoolers kids have prescribed educational activities five days a week and use the sixth day for outside activities and running errands. You can also employ a yearly calendar to maintain to follow-up your family vacation tours and holidays when you won’t have school. Allocate the beginning and the ending of your educational year. Decide on the quitting time for your school day. This is really works good and then you can plan the rest of your time to utilize on other works although it will also give your children the duty of the work –whatever they don’t finish throughout school hours gets completed later, on their own time.

From time to time you will organize things the mode you want them to be, only to find out that there are not sufficient hours in the day to achieve them all. You require placing main concern on the things that must be done first. Occasionally concerning is easily seen and you know what has to be done contrast to what should be or would be nice to have done.



Thanks to Tamma DeHart for contributing this article to our Homeschooling blog:

Homeschooling Unschooling