Home Schooling: Is it right for you?

For some parents, the thought of having to teach their kids (when homework wars are already enough!) evokes terror. Among others, though, the idea of home-schooling as a viable, educational alternative to the traditional classroom is catching on.

Parents choose to home-school their children for a variety of reasons. A few examples are:

• Parents choose to home-school because it offers the most flexibility and autonomy in their child's education.
• Some parents choose to home-school because their local schools fail to challenge their children.
• Other parents choose to home-school for moral or religious reasons.
• Parents also choose to home-school because they are concerned about school safety.
• Some home-schoolers choose a different educational focus for their children.

It takes an enormous time commitment to be a successful home-schooler. If you're considering this route, it's best to have at least one parent at home as the hands-on instructor for your children. Working parents without help may find it difficult to devote the time needed to give proper instruction to their children. Whether it be computer resources or curriculum, typically, home-schoolers have costs they need to cover.

Some parents who have tried home-schooling have found that conventional education is better suited for their sons and daughters.

The bottom-line on home-schooling is that it is one of many choices parents have when the one-size-fits all model of American public education is not the right fit for their children.

For more information contact:

• The Home School Legal Defense Association www.hslda.org
• The National Home Education Network www.nhen.org
• K12, Inc. www.k12.com/homeschool
• The Calvert School www.calvertschool.org
• Core Knowledge Sequence, www.coreknowledge.org

Visit our Curriculum area for CER's "Best Bets" in various subject areas.