Homeschools

Homeschooling, also known as home education, is the education of children inside the home. Home education is usually conducted by a parent or tutor. Many families use less formal ways of educating. "Homeschooling" is the term commonly used in North America, whereas "home education" is commonly used in the United Kingdom, Europe, and in many Commonwealth countries.

Before the introduction of compulsory school attendance laws, most childhood education was done by the family or local communities. In many developed countries, homeschooling is a legal alternative to public and private schools. In other nations, homeschooling remains illegal or restricted to specific conditions, as recorded by Homeschooling international status and statistics.

According to the US National Center for Education Statistics, about three percent of all children in the US were homeschooled in 2011-2012 school year. The study found that 83 percent were White, 5 percent were Black, 7 percent were Hispanic, and 2 percent were Asian or Pacific Islander. As of 2016, there are about 2.3 million home-schooled students in the United States.

On average, home schoolers score at or above the national average on standardized tests. Critics of homeschooling claim that students lack necessary social skills. But studies have found that 98% of students participated in 2 or more activities outside the home. Homeschool students have been accepted into many Ivy League universities.

For much of history and in many cultures, enlisting professional teachers (whether as tutors or in a formal academic setting) was an option available only to the elite social classes. Until relatively recently, the vast majority of people, especially during early childhood, were educated by family members and family friends.

The earliest public schools in modern Western culture were established in the early 16th century in the German states of Gotha and Thuringia with the encouragement of Martin Luther. However, in the 18th century, the majority of people in Europe lacked formal education. Regional differences in schooling existed in colonial America; in the south, farms and plantations were so widely dispersed that community schools such as those in the more compact settlements were impossible. In the middle colonies, the educational situation varied when comparing New York with New England. In 1647, New England made and provided compulsory elementary education. Until the 1830s, home education and apprenticeship remained the main form of education. Formal schooling in a classroom setting has been the most common means of schooling throughout the world, especially in developed countries, since the early- and mid-19th century.

...
Wikipedia