Homeschooling in the United States

Homeschooling in the United States constitutes the education for about 3.4% of U.S. students (around 2 million students). It is a subject of legal debate; not about the right to homeschool but about the amount of state regulation and help that can or should be expected.

United States Supreme Court precedent appears to favor educational choice, as long as states set standards.

Originally homeschooling in the United States was practiced mainly underground or in rural areas. In the 1970s, several books called attention to homeschooling, and more families began to homeschool their children. As of 2006, about 1.1 million students were homeschooled.

The United States Department of Education estimates that 1.5 million K-12 students were homeschooled in the United States in 2007 (with a confidence interval of 1.3 million to 1.7 million), constituting nearly three percent of students. In these estimations, students were defined as being homeschooled if their parents reported them as being schooled at home instead of at a public or private school for at least part of their education, and if their part-time enrollment in public or private school did not exceed 25 hours a week, and excluding students who were schooled at home primarily because of a temporary illness. About four out of five homeschoolers were homeschooled only, while about one out of five homeschoolers was also enrolled in public or private school for 25 hours or less per week.

By 2006, increasing numbers of homeschoolers partook in private school and home and public school and home partnerships. Homeschool families opt for them to help teach subjects, such as foreign languages and sciences, that are more difficult to teach. In addition many families do partnerships to help their children compete in academics and athletics with non-homeschooled children. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, around 2006, 18% of homeschooled students attend a public or private school on a part-time basis. Some students take one or two classes at traditional school campuses. Some spend several days per week on campuses that are designed to educate part-time students.

Parents give many different reasons for homeschooling their children. In the 2003 and 2007 NHES, parents were asked whether particular reasons for homeschooling their children applied to them. The three reasons selected by parents of more than two-thirds of students were concern about the school environment, to provide religious or moral instruction, and dissatisfaction with the academic instruction available at other schools. From 2003 to 2007, the percentage of students whose parents reported homeschooling to provide religious or moral instruction increased from 72 percent to 83 percent. In 2007, the most common reason parents gave as the most important was a desire to provide religious or moral instruction (36 percent of students). Typically the religious belief being represented is evangelical Christian. This reason was followed by a concern about the school environment (such as safety, drugs, or negative peer pressure) (21 percent), dissatisfaction with academic instruction (seventeen percent), and "other reasons" including family time, finances, travel, and distance (14 percent). Other reasons include more flexibility in educational practices and family core stability for children with learning disabilities or prolonged chronic illnesses, or for children of missionaries, military families, or families who move often, as frequently as every two years.

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