Are You a Homeschooling Expert?

Education of Children Outside of a School

• Homeschooling is the education of school-aged children at home or other places outside of a school.

• It is usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or online teacher, using personalized methods of learning.

• Homeschooling can vary from structured forms based on traditional school lessons to more open, free forms such as unschooling.

• There are many reasons for homeschooling, including dissatisfaction with the public school system, better educational opportunities, individualized education, and health reasons or special needs.

• Critics argue that homeschooling may lead to poorer social skills, inadequate guidance, and a lack of exposure to other cultures and worldviews.

• Homeschooled children often score higher on standardized tests, have better relationships with adults, and are less susceptible to peer pressure.

• Before compulsory school attendance laws, homeschooling was a common practice by families and local communities.

• The earliest public schools in modern Western culture were established during the Reformation with the encouragement of Martin Luther in the German states of Gotha and Thuringia in 1524 and 1527.

• The modern homeschooling movement began in the 1960s and 1970s with educational reformists dissatisfied with industrialized education.

• The COVID-19 pandemic led to school closures around the world, which outsourced material to be learned to homes, but was not traditional homeschooling.

• Parents commonly cite dissatisfaction with local schools and interest in increased involvement with their children's learning and development as their motivations for homeschooling.

• Some African-American families choose to homeschool as a way of increasing their children's understanding of African-American history and to limit the harm caused by systemic racism in American schools.Overview of Homeschooling: Reasons, Methods, and Research

• Homeschooling is the practice of educating children at home, either by a parent, tutor, or online teacher.

• Reasons for homeschooling include religious beliefs, dissatisfaction with the traditional school system, wanting to customize education to the child's needs, and health issues.

• Homeschooling methods range from highly structured to open and free, including classical education, Montessori, unschooling, and distance learning.

• Informal learning is a subset of homeschooling that happens outside of the classroom and has no traditional boundaries of education, and can take on many different identities and cultural importances.

• Structured and unstructured homeschooling are the two basic categories of homeschooling, with structured attempting to imitate the structure of traditional school and unstructured allowing the child to pursue knowledge based on their interests.

• Unit studies are a useful approach for teaching multiple subjects simultaneously as they relate to a single topic, while all-in-one curricula provide instructional materials similar to those used in public or private schools.

• Unschooling and natural learning approaches focus on child-led learning and follow opportunities as they arise in real life.

• Autonomous learning is a school of education that sees learners as individuals who can and should be autonomous, and is popular with some who homeschool their children.

• Hybrid homeschooling, or flex-school, is a form of homeschooling in which children split their time between homeschooling and a more traditional schooling environment like a school.

• Homeschool cooperatives provide an opportunity for children to learn from other parents who are more specialized in certain areas or subjects and also offer social interaction.

• Research has shown that homeschooled children often outperform their public school peers on standardized tests, and that homeschooling can help to close performance gaps between minorities and genders.

• However, studies have also found that homeschooled students who have a certified teacher as a parent score one percentile lower on tests than those who do not.Homeschooling: Academic Performance, Socialization, and Legality

• Homeschooled children between ages 5-10 score higher on standardized tests compared to traditionally schooled children.

• Homeschooled students have higher high school GPAs and transfer GPAs than traditionally schooled students.

• Homeschooled children may receive more individualized attention and a structured environment, leading to academic achievement.

• Homeschooled youth are less likely to use and abuse illicit substances and are less likely to be sexually abused than children in public schools.

• Early formal schooling can lead to negative outcomes such as uncertainty, frustration, hyperactivity, and failure, according to the Moores.

• Higher income levels of parents are associated with academic success of homeschooled children.

• Homeschoolers are required to submit college entrance exams despite the ACT and SAT becoming test-optional due to COVID-19.

• Homeschooled students have mixed results in college entrance exams but may excel if they have access to equal educational resources as public school students.

• Critics argue that homeschooling can lead to indoctrination and child abuse, while supporters argue that homeschooling can lead to better social skills and academic success.

• There is no available data on the educational attainment of homeschooled children in the UK.

• Homeschooled children have higher self-concept than traditionally schooled children and are not socially deprived.

• Critics argue that homeschooling can insulate children from diverse ideas and people.

• Attitudes towards homeschooling have become more positive over the years, with more people supporting parents' right to choose homeschooling.