Homeschooling is a legal option for parents in all 50 United States and some countries to provide their children with a learning environment as an alternative to public or private schools outside the home. Parents cite numerous reasons as motivations to homeschool, including better academic test results , poor public school environment, religious reasons, improved character/morality development, the expense of private education, and objections to what is taught locally in public school. It may be a factor in the choice of parenting style . Homeschooling is also an alternative for families living in isolated rural locations or living temporarily abroad.
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 a small elite. Thus, until relatively recently, the vast majority of people were educated by parents (especially during early childhood)<ref name="EoDL"/> and in the fields or learning a trade.
In 1964, John Caldwell Holt , published a book entitled How Children Fail which criticized traditional schools of the time. The book was based on a theory he had developed as a teacher - that the academic failure of schoolchildren was caused by pressure placed on children by adults. Holt began making appearances on major TV talk shows and writing book reviews for Life magazine.&lt;ref name="Christine_Field_Patrick"&gt;Christine Field. The Old Schoolhouse Meets Up with Patrick Farenga About the Legacy of John Holt &lt;/ref&gt; In his follow-up work, How Children Learn , 1967, he tried to demonstrate the learning process of children and why he believed school short-circuits this process.
In these books, Holt had not suggested any alternative to institutional schooling; he had hoped to initiate a profound rethinking of education to make schools friendlier toward children. As the years passed he became convinced that the way schools were was what society wanted, and that a serious re-examination was not going to happen in his lifetime.
Working in a similar vein was Rousas John Rushdoony who focused on education in America and was an advocate of homeschooling, which he saw as a way to combat the intentionally secular nature of the U.S. public school system. He vigorously attacked progressive school reformers such as Horace Mann and John Dewey and argued for the dismantling of the state's influence in education in three works: Intellectual Schizophrenia (a general and concise study of education), The Messianic Character of American Education (a history and castigation of public education in the U.S.), and The Philosophy of the Christian Curriculum (a parent-oriented pedagogical statement). Rushdoony was frequently called as an expert witness by the HSLDA ( Home School Legal Defense Association ) in court cases. Some of the leadership of HSLDA ascribe to Rushooney's theology of Christian Reconstructionism which may have an influence on their political involvement.
During this time, the American educational professionals Raymond and Dorothy Moore began to research the academic validity of the rapidly growing Early Childhood Education movement. This research included independent studies by other researchers and a review of over 8,000 studies bearing on Early Childhood Education and the physical and mental development of children.
They asserted that formal schooling before ages 8-12 not only lacked the anticipated effectiveness, but was actually harmful to children. The Moores began to publish their view that formal schooling was damaging young children academically, socially, mentally, and even physiologically. They presented evidence that childhood problems such as juvenile delinquency, nearsightedness, increased enrollment of students in special education classes, and behavioral problems were the result of increasingly earlier enrollment of students.&lt;ref name=Moore93&gt;Better Late Than Early, Raymond S. Moore, Dorothy N. Moore, Seventh Printing, 1993&lt;/ref&gt; The Moores cited studies demonstrating that orphans who were given surrogate mothers were measurably more intelligent, with superior long term effects - even though the mothers were mentally retarded teenagers - and that illiterate tribal mothers in Africa produced children who were socially and emotionally more advanced than typical western children, by western standards of measurement. &lt;ref name=Moore93/&gt;
Their primary assertion was that the bonds and emotional development made at home with parents during these years produced critical long term results that were cut short by enrollment in schools, and could neither be replaced nor afterward corrected in an institutional setting.<ref name=Moore93/> Recognizing a necessity for early out-of-home care for some children - particularly special needs and starkly impoverished children, and children from exceptionally inferior homes- they maintained that the vast majority of children are far better situated at home, even with mediocre parents, than with the most gifted and motivated teachers in a school setting (assuming that the child has a gifted and motivated teacher). They described the difference as follows: "This is like saying, if you can help a child by taking him off the cold street and housing him in a warm tent, then warm tents should be provided for all children - when obviously most children already have even more secure housing."&lt;ref&gt;Better Late Than Early, Raymond S. Moore, Dorothy N. Moore, 1975&lt;/ref&gt;
Similar to Holt, the Moores embraced homeschooling after the publication of their first work, Better Late Than Early , 1975, and went on to become important homeschool advocates and consultants with the publication of books like Home Grown Kids , 1981, Homeschool Burnout , and others.&lt;ref name =Moore93/&gt;
At the time, other authors published books questioning the premises and efficacy of compulsory schooling, including Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich , 1970 and No More Public School by Harold Bennet , 1972.
In 1976, Holt published Instead of Education; Ways to Help People Do Things Better . In its conclusion, he called for a "Children's Underground Railroad " to help children escape compulsory schooling.&lt;ref name="Christine_Field_Patrick"/&gt; In response, Holt was contacted by families from around the U.S. to tell him that they were educating their children at home. In 1977, after corresponding with a number of these families, Holt began producing Growing Without Schooling , a magazine dedicated to home education.&lt;ref name="BHHS"&gt; http://www.hsc.org/professionals/briefhistory &lt;/ref&gt;
In 1980, Holt said, "I want to make it clear that I don't see homeschooling as some kind of answer to badness of schools. I think that the home is the proper base for the exploration of the world which we call learning or education. Home would be the best base no matter how good the schools were."<ref name = "kwmzdt"> A Conversation with John Holt (1980) &lt;/ref&gt;
Holt later wrote a book about homeschooling, Teach Your Own , in 1981.
One common theme in the homeschool philosophies of both Holt and the Moores is that home education should not be an attempt to bring the school construct into the home, or a view of education as an academic preliminary to life. They viewed it as a natural, experiential aspect of life that occurs as the members of the family are involved with one another in daily living. [ citation needed ]
It is not uncommon for the student to experience more than one approach as the family discovers what works best for them. Many families do choose an eclectic (mixed) approach. For sources of curricula and books, "Homeschooling in the United States: 2003"&lt;ref name="NCES"&gt; Homeschooling in the United States: 2003 - Executive Summary &lt;/ref&gt; found that 78 percent utilized "a public library"; 77 percent used "a homeschooling catalog, publisher, or individual specialist"; 68 percent used "retail bookstore or other store"; 60 percent used "an education publisher that was not affiliated with homeschooling." "Approximately half" used curriculum or books from "a homeschooling organization", 37 percent from a "church, synagogue or other religious institution" and 23 percent from "their local public school or district." 41 percent in 2003 utilized some sort of distance learning , approximately 20 percent by "television, video or radio"; 19 percent via "Internet, e-mail, or the World Wide Web"; and 15 percent taking a "correspondence course by mail designed specifically for homeschoolers."
Individual governmental units, e, g, states and local districts, vary in official curriculum and attendance requirements.<ref name="HSLDA"> HSLDA | Homeschooling-State &lt;/ref&gt;
Unit studies are particularly helpful for teaching multiple grade levels simultaneously, as the topic can easily be adjusted (i.e. from an 8th grader detailing and labeling a spider's anatomy to an elementary student drawing a picture of a spider on its web). As it is generally the case that in a given "homeschool" very few students are spread out among the grade levels, the unit study approach is an attractive option. [ citation needed ]
Unit study advocates assert that children retain 45% more information following this approach.<ref name="TheHomeSchoolMom_Unit"/> [ unreliable source? ]
"All-in-one" curricula, sometimes called a "school in a box", are comprehensive packages covering many subjects; usually an entire year's worth. They contain all needed books and materials, including pencils and writing paper. Most such curricula were developed for isolated families who lack access to public schools, libraries and shops [ by whom? ] . [ citation needed ]
Typically, these materials recreate the school environment in the home and are based on the same subject-area expectations as publicly run schools, allowing an easy transition into school. They are among the more expensive options, but are easy to use and require minimal preparation. The guides are usually extensive, with step-by-step instructions. These programs may include standardized tests and remote examinations to yield an accredited school diploma. [ citation needed ]
Online resources for homeschooling include courses of study, curricula, educational games , online tests, online tutoring, and occupational training. Online learning potentially allows students and families access to specialized teachers and materials and greater flexibility in scheduling. Parents can be with their children during an online tutoring session. Finally, online tutoring is useful for students who are disabled or otherwise limited in their ability to travel. Several well-known programs for gifted children, who need differentiation in their curricular choices, are available: the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth http://cty.jhu.edu/about/index.html and Stanford University's Education Program for Gifted Youth http://epgy.stanford.edu/ both provide challenging materials to students, including both self-paced courses with tutor support and online classroom-based courses. A commercial program of online study in all courses and at all grade levels is available from K12.com http://www.k12.com/ . The K12 curriculum has been adopted by a number of public independent study charter schools throughout the country (see, for example, the California Virtual Academies at http://www.k12.com/cava/ , where students use the K12 curriculum for credit under the supervision of a credentialed teacher). A number of other online high schools are also offering diplomas in many states, including some directed specifically at gifted students (see Stanford Online High School at http://epgy.stanford.edu/ohs/ . Students can enroll in a full-time course load leading to a diploma or enroll in particular courses as part of their enrollment in another school or homeschool). Similarly, as more and more universities make content available online, homeschooled families are finding a wealth of materials available, primarily for use as self-study. Although teacher support is not usually provided in open courseware programs, families teaching their own children may, if the study met their requirements, grant credit for the work through their homeschools. The University of California at Berkeley , the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and many other renowned universities have contributed materials in this area. Some commercial organizations publish university-level lecture series on a broad range of subjects. Although the companies typically offer no teacher support or credit, homeschool families can, depending on their legal method of homeschooling, grant credit for work that includes the use of these materials if mastery is demonstrated to the satisfaction of the parents or other persons with oversight responsibility. [ citation needed ] Noted musical educator S. M. Laddusaw has developed an adaptive musical curriculum (based on proprietary software) whereby students can learn piano and basic music theory at the student's own pace. The software recognizes patterns in the student's learning and adjusts the curriculum accordingly.
Homeschoolers often take advantage of educational opportunities at museums, community centers, athletic clubs, after-school programs, churches, science preserves, parks, and other community resources. Secondary school level students may take classes at community colleges, which typically have open admission policies. In many communities, homeschooling parents and students participate in community theater, dance, band, symphony, and choral opportunities. [ citation needed ]
Groups of homeschooling families often join together to create homeschool co-ops. These groups typically meet once a week and provide a classroom environment. These are family-centered support groups whose members seek to pool their talents and resources in a collective effort to broaden the scope of their children's education. They provide a classroom environment where students can do hands-on and group learning such as performing, science experiments, art projects, foreign language study, spelling bees, discussions, etc. Parents whose children take classes serve in volunteer roles to keep costs low and make the program a success. [ citation needed ]
Certain states, such as Maine and New Mexico, have laws that permit homeschooling families to take advantage of public school resources. In such cases, children can be members of sports teams, be members of the school band, can take art classes, and utilize services such as speech therapy while maintaining their homeschool lifestyle. [ citation needed ]
"Natural learning" refers to a type of learning-on-demand where children pursue knowledge based on their interests and parents take an active part in facilitating activities and experiences conducive to learning but do not rely heavily on textbooks or spend much time "teaching", looking instead for "learning moments" throughout their daily activities. Parents see their role as that of affirming through positive feedback and modeling the necessary skills, and the child's role as being responsible for asking and learning. [ citation needed ]
The term "unschooling" as coined by John Holt describes an approach in which parents do not authoritatively direct the child's education, but interact with the child following the child's own interests, leaving them free to explore and learn as their interests lead.<ref name=kwmzdt/><ref name=NCES/> "Unschooling" does not indicate that the child is not being educated, but that the child is not being "schooled", or educated in a rigid school-type manner. Holt asserted that children learn through the experiences of life, and he encouraged parents to live their lives with their child. Also known as interest-led or child-led learning, unschooling attempts to follow opportunities as they arise in real life, through which a child will learn without coercion. An unschooled child may utilize texts or classroom instruction, but these are not considered central to education. Holt asserted that there is no specific body of knowledge that is, or should be, required of a child.<ref name=HSLDA/>
"Unschooling" should not be confused with "deschooling," which may be used to indicate an anti-"institutional school" philosophy, or a period or form of deprogramming for children or parents who have previously been schooled. [ citation needed ]
Both unschooling and natural learning advocates believe that children learn best by doing; a child may learn reading to further an interest about history or other cultures, or math skills by operating a small business or sharing in family finances. They may learn animal husbandry keeping dairy goats or meat rabbits, botany tending a kitchen garden, chemistry to understand the operation of firearms or the internal combustion engine, or politics and local history by following a zoning or historical-status dispute. While any type of homeschoolers may also use these methods, the unschooled child initiates these learning activities. The natural learner participates with parents and others in learning together. [ citation needed ]
The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject . Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page . (September 2010)
Number and percentage of homeschooled students in the United States, by reason for homeschooling: 1999, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
According to a 2001 U.S. Census survey, 33% of homeschooling households cited religion as a factor in their choice. The same study found that 30% felt school had a poor learning environment, 14% objected to what the school teaches, 11% felt their children were not being challenged at school, and 9% cited morality.<ref name="Kurt_Bauman_US_Trends">Kurt J. Bauman. Home-Schooling in the United States: Trends and Characteristics . U.S. Census Bureau. August 2001.&lt;/ref&gt;
According to the U.S. DOE's "Homeschooling in the United States: 2003", 85 percent of homeschooling parents cited "the social environments of other forms of schooling" (including safety, drugs, sexual harassment, bullying and negative peer-pressure) as an important reason why they homeschool. 72 percent cited "to provide religious or moral instruction" as an important reason, and 68 percent cited "dissatisfaction with academic instruction at other schools."<ref name="NCES"/> 7 percent cited "Child has physical or mental health problem", 7 percent cited "Child has other special needs", 9 percent cited "Other reasons" (including "child's choice," "allows parents more control of learning" and "flexibility").<ref name="NCES"/>
Other reasons include more flexibility in educational practices for children with learning disabilities or illnesses, or for children of missionaries, military families, or otherwise traveling parents.
The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject . Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page . (September 2010)
Lack of socialization with peers of different ethnic and religious backgrounds; [ citation needed ]
The potential for development of religious or social extremism ; [ citation needed ]
Children sheltered from mainstream society, or denied opportunities that are their right, such as social development; [ citation needed ]
Potential for development of parallel societies that do not fit into standards of citizenship and the community. [ citation needed ]
Stanford University political scientist professor Rob Reich [1] (not to be confused with former U.S. Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich ) wrote in The Civic Perils of Homeschooling (2002) that homeschooling can potentially give students a one-sided point of view, as their parents may, even unwittingly, block or diminish all points of view but their own in teaching. He also argues that homeschooling, by reducing students' contact with peers, reduces their sense of civic engagement with their community.&lt;ref&gt; The civic perils of homeschooling Author: Rob Reich Journal: Educational Leadership (Alexandria) Pub.: 2002-04 Volume: 59 Issue: 7 Pages: 56&lt;/ref&gt;
Gallup polls of American voters have shown a significant change in attitude in the last twenty years, from 73% opposed to home education in 1985 to 54% opposed in 2001.<ref> CEPM - Trends and Issues: School Choice &lt;/ref&gt;
Although there are some studies that show that homeschooled students can do well on standardized tests,<ref> HSLDA | Academic Statistics on Homeschooling &lt;/ref&gt; some of these studies compare voluntary homeschool testing with mandatory public-school testing. Homeschooled students in the United States are not subject to the testing requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act .&lt;ref&gt;White House News &amp; Policies No Child Left Behind &lt;/ref&gt; Some U.S. states require mandatory testing for homeschooled students, but others do not. Some states that require testing allow homeschooling parents to choose which test to use.&lt;ref&gt;Oregon Department of Education Guidelines for Homeschooling (Section 3.3)&lt;/ref&gt; An exception are the SAT and ACT tests, where homeschooled and formally-schooled students alike are self-selecting; homeschoolers averaged higher scores on college entrance tests in South Carolina.&lt;ref&gt;Homeschool Legal Defense Association. "Academic Statistics on Homeschooling." http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000010/200410250.asp &lt;/ref&gt; When testing is not required, students taking the tests are self-selected, which biases any statistical results .&lt;ref&gt;Katherine Pfleger. School's out The New Republic. Washington: April 6, 1998. 218(14):11-12.&lt;/ref&gt; Other test scores (numbers from 1999 data in a year 2000 article) showed mixed results, for example showing higher levels for homeschoolers in English (homeschooled 23.4 vs national average 20.5) and reading (homeschooled 24.4 vs national average 21.4) on the ACT, but mixed scores in math (homeschooled 20.4 vs national average 20.7 on ACT, although SAT math section was above average 535 homeschooled compared to 511 for national average of 1999) . Template:Citation needed:inactive link &lt;ref&gt;Golden, Daniel. "Home-Schooled Kids Defy Stereotypes, Ace SAT Test." The Wall Street Journal 11 February 2000. http://www.oakmeadow.com/resources/articles/WSJArticle.htm &lt;/ref&gt; However, advocates of home education and educational choice counter with an input-output theory, pointing out that home educators expend only an average of $500-$600 a year on each student, in comparison to $9,000-$10,000 for each public school student through the United States, which raises a question about whether home-educated students would be especially dominant on tests if afforded access to an equal commitment of tax-funded educational resources. Template:Citation needed:insufficient link &lt;ref name="sutherlandinstitute.org"&gt;"Fostering Educational Innovation in Choice-Based Multi-Venue and Government Single-Venue Settings." http://sutherlandinstitute.org/uploads/Choice-based_Educational_Innovation.pdf (pp. 32 n.21; 35-36 n.27; 42 n.57; 44 n.66)&lt;/ref&gt;
A Washington, D.C. mother who had withdrawn her four children from public school has been charged with their murder. It has been claimed that the homeschooling exemption in the District of Columbia allowed the abuse of the children to occur undetected.<ref> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/12/us/12bodies.html?ref=us Jane Gross Lack of Supervision Noted in Deaths of Home-Schoole d New York Times, January 12, 2008&lt;/ref&gt; Increased regulation of homeschooling in DC has been enacted in response to these events.&lt;ref&gt; http://newsroom.dc.gov/show.aspx/agency/seo/section/2/release/14329 DC State Board of Education Approves Homeschooling Regulations July 16, 2008&lt;/ref&gt; But some legal commentators have noted that child abuse occurs in public school and state social care systems, and that there is no evidence suggesting that abuse among homeschoolers is more pervasive or severe than the considerable dangers encountered in government institutions.&lt;ref&gt; People v. Bennett: Analytic Approaches to Recognizing a Fundamental Parental Right Under the Ninth Amendment, 1996 BYU Law Review 186, 227-34 &lt;/ref&gt; Underlying conflict on this topic stems from the beliefs of two groups of people. One group believes in individual rights and the right of the parent to raise his or her own child in the way that the parent sees as best for the child. The other group believes in communalism, in which the State has a responsibility to ensure optimal development in all children.
Some evidence suggests that homeschooling handicaps students at the college and university level. Homeschooled students may be less likely to gain admittance to certain schools. This may result less from outright bias as concerns about socialization and educational breadth. Also, it's been suggested that candidates seeking professorships who are known to homeschool their children may be less likely to "get the job" than candidates who do not homeschool.<ref>See SuperScholar 's article titled "Can Homeschooling Be a Handicap" on this topic and on the supposed handicap facing homeschooled students seeking college admission.&lt;/ref&gt;
Meighan estimated the total number of homeschoolers in Canada, in 1995, to be 10,000 official and 20,000 unofficial.<ref name="EdOtherwise"/> Karl M. Bunday estimated, in 1995, based on journalistic reports, that about 1 percent of school-age children were homeschooled.<ref> Homeschooling Is Growing Worldwide (Learn in Freedom!) &lt;/ref&gt; In April 2005, the total number of registered homeschool students in British Columbia was 3,068.&lt;ref&gt; BC Ministry of Education &lt;/ref&gt; In Manitoba, homeschoolers are required to register with Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth. The number of homeschoolers is noted at over 1,500 in 2006; 0.5% of students enrolled in the public system. [ citation needed ]
In "The Condition of Education 2000-2009," The National Center for Education Statistics of the United States Department of Education reports that In 2007, the number of homeschooled students was about 1.5 million, an increase from 850,000 in 1999 and 1.1 million in 2003.&lt;ref&gt;National Center for Education Statistics, "Condition of Education 2000-2009" [2] &lt;/ref&gt; The percentage of the school-age population that was homeschooled increased from 1.7 percent in 1999 to 2.9 percent in 2007. The increase in the percentage of homeschooled students from 1999 to 2007 represents a 74 percent relative increase over the 8-year period and a 36 percent relative increase since 2003. In 2007, the majority of homeschooled students received all of their education at home (84 percent), but some attended school up to 25 hours per week.
The Compulsory Education Law states that the community, schools and families shall safeguard the right to compulsory education of school-age children and adolescents, and, compulsory education is defined as attending a school, which is holding a schooling licence granted by the government. Therefore, homeschooling is deemed to be illegal. The law does not apply to non-citizen children (those with foreign passports). [ citation needed ]
However, due to the large population of hundreds of millions of migration workers, alongside with their children, it rarely happens that the government inspects if a child is attending a licensed school or not. Thus there usually is no punishment to parents who homeschool their children. [ citation needed ]
Attendance at school is compulsory and free for students aged six to fifteen in Hong Kong. Parents who fail to send their children to school can be jailed for 3 months and fined HK$10000. In 2000, a man named Leung Jigwong (梁志光) disagreed with Hong Kong's education policy and refused to send his 9-year-old daughter to school. Instead, he taught her Chinese, English, French, Mathematics and The Art of War at home. After 2.5 years of discussion, the Education Department finally served an "attendance order" on him and his child was required to attend a normal school.&lt;ref&gt; http://www.epochtimes.com/b5/2/8/20/n209638p.htm &lt;/ref&gt;&lt;ref&gt;http://www.edb.gov.hk/index.aspx?nodeid=136&amp;langno=1&amp;UID=10546&lt;/ref&gt;&lt;ref&gt;http://www.hklii.org/hk/legis/en/ord/279/s78.html&lt;/ref&gt;
The legal position is complex; as homeschooling is uncommon, local officials may claim it is illegal but this is not actually the case.<ref> http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~ja8i-brtl/Legal_Issues.htm &lt;/ref&gt; Over 100,000 children refuse school, but the number of homeschoolers is much smaller, though it is increasing.
Homeschooling is legal in Austria. However, every homeschooled child is required to take an exam, administered four times per year, to ensure that he or she is being educated at an appropriate level. If the child fails the test, he or she must attend a state school the following year.<ref name=Spiegler />
Children have to be registered as home-educated. In Wallonia, the French-speaking part of the country, they are tested at 8, 10, 12, abn 14. [ citation needed ]
The tests are new and there is still a lot of confusion on the tests and the legal situation around them. In Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of the country, the law is different: the tests are optional.
In Finland homeschooling is legal but unusual. The parents are responsible for the child getting the compulsory education and the advancements are supervised by the home municipality. The parents have the same freedom to make up their own curriculum as the municipalities have regarding the school, only national guiding principles of the curriculum have to be followed.
Choosing homeschooling means that the municipality is not obliged to offer school books, health care at school, free lunches or other privileges prescribed by the law on primary education, but the ministry of education reminds they may be offered. The parents should be informed of the consequences of the choice and the arrangements should be discussed.<ref> Law on primary education (Swedish) , 26 §&lt;/ref&gt;&lt;ref&gt; Ministry of Education: Homeschooling (Swedish)&lt;/ref&gt;
The inspection is carried out to check that the child's knowledge has progressed as a comparison from the previous inspection; sometimes it involves written tests, though those are illegal, in both French and Mathematics, the first of which is used as a benchmark to check what level the child is. The tests are carried out with the anticipation that the child will progress in ability as she/he ages, thus they are designed to measure development with age, rather than as a comparison to say a school child of a similar age. [ citation needed ]
Homeschooling is illegal in Germany (with rare exceptions). Children cannot be exempted from formal school attendance on religious grounds. The requirement for children from an age of about 6 years through the age of 16 to attend school has been upheld, on challenge from parents, by the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany . Penalties against parents who force their children to break the mandatory attendance laws may include fines (around €5,000), actions to revoke the parents' custody of their children, and jail time.
In Italy, homeschooling (called Istruzione parentale in Italian ) is legal but not common: children must be registered to the school where they will take their final exams, and parents must justify their decision to homeschool their children at the beginning of every year.&lt;ref&gt; Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione, in Italian &lt;/ref&gt;
In the Netherlands every child is subject to compulsory education from his/her fifth birthday. The exemptions are extended on the basis of a clause in the law exempting parents from sending their child to school if they object to the "direction" of the education of all schools within a reasonable distance to their home.<ref> Thuisonderwijs &lt;/ref&gt;&lt;ref&gt; Nederlandse Vereniging voor Thuisonderwijs (NVvTO) &lt;/ref&gt;
Homeschooling is only allowed on highly regulated terms. Every child must be enrolled in a public school, but with school principal may but isn't obliged to allow homeschooling. Homeschooled children are required to pass annual exams covering material in school curriculum, and failure on an exam automatically withdraws homeschooling permit.<ref>Ustawa z dnia 7 września 1991 r. o systemie oświaty. [3] , Ustawa z dnia 19 marca 2009 r. o zmianie ustawy o systemie oświaty oraz o zmianie niektórych innych ustaw [4] (pl)&lt;/ref&gt;
The number of homeschoolers in Russia has tripled since 1994 to approximately 1 million. [ citation needed ] Russian homeschoolers are attached to an educational institution where they have the right to access textbooks and teacher support, and where they pass periodic appraisals of their work. The State is obliged to pay the parents cash equal to the cost of educating the child at the municipal school. [ citation needed ]
The number of people homeschooling in Slovenia has been increasing over the years.&lt;ref&gt; Uradni list Republike Slovenije &lt;/ref&gt; The Slovenian term for homeschooling is "izobraževanje na domu".
Children have to attend school from the age of 7. Homeschooling as an afterschool activity is allowed when attending school.<ref> Skollagen (Swedish), 3 ch. 1-2 §&lt;/ref&gt;
It is not technically illegal. It is, however, very difficult to get approved by the county in which one lives. Stockholm is in general more difficult to get approval than elsewhere in the country. Sweden is currently working on a law that would restrict homeschooling even further. A recent court case has supported restrictions on parents, even those with teacher-training, to educate their own child.<ref> [6] (English),&lt;/ref&gt;
Education provided outside a formal school system is primarily known as Home Education within the United Kingdom, the term Homeschooling is occasionally used for those following a formal, structured style of education - literally schooling at home. To distinguish between those who are educated outside of school from necessity (e.g. from ill health, or a working child actor) and those who actively reject schooling as a suitable means of education the term Elective Home Education is used.<ref> UK Government guidelines on Elective home education &lt;/ref&gt;
The Australian census does not track homeschooling families, but Philip Strange of Home Education Association, Inc. very roughly estimates 15,000.&lt;ref name = "xyfbbh"&gt; Home Education Association Inc. (Australia) - How Many Home Educators in Australia &lt;/ref&gt; In 1995, Roland Meighan of Nottingham School of Education estimated some 20,000 families homeschooling in Australia.&lt;ref name="EdOtherwise"&gt;Home-based education effectiveness research and some of its implications ( pdf document)&lt;/ref&gt;
In 2006, Victoria passed legislation&lt;ref&gt;The Education Training and Reform Act (2006), available online at the Australasian Legal Information Institute's website [7] &lt;/ref&gt; requiring the registration of children up to the age of 16 and increasing the school leaving age to 16 from the previous 15, undertaking home education (registration is optional for those age of 16-17 but highly recommended). The Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) is the registering body.&lt;ref&gt; [8] Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority website&lt;/ref&gt;&lt;ref&gt; Homeschooling on the VRQA site&lt;/ref&gt;
Karl M. Bunday cites the New Zealand TV program "Sixty Minutes" (unrelated to the U.S. program), as stating in 1996 that there were 7,000 school-age children being homeschooled.<ref name = "wrekor"> Homeschooling in The United Kingdom (Learn in Freedom!) &lt;/ref&gt; Philip Strange of the Australian Home Education Association Inc. quotes "5274 registered home educated students in 3001 families" in 1998 from the New Zealand Ministry of Education.&lt;ref name = "xyfbbh"/&gt;
"At 1 July 2007 there were 6,473 homeschooled students recorded on the Ministry of Education's homeschooling database, which represents less than one per cent of total school enrolments at July 2007. These students belonged to 3,349 families."<ref> Ministry of Education: Statistics on Homeschooling &lt;/ref&gt;
Figure 2. Homeschool Students Compared to the National Norm Group in Grade Equivalent Units, Scholastic Achievement and Demographic Characteristics of Homeschool Students in 1998 , Lawrence M. Rudner, University of Maryland, College Park. From Education Policy Analysis Archives
Figure 1. Academic Achievement of Homeschool, Catholic/Private and the Nation's Students, Scholastic Achievement and Demographic Characteristics of Homeschool Students in 1998 , Lawrence M. Rudner, University of Maryland, College Park. From Education Policy Analysis Archives
Numerous studies have found that homeschooled students on average outperform their peers on standardized tests.<ref> HSLDA | Academic Statistics on Homeschooling &lt;/ref&gt; Homeschooling Achievement , a study conducted by National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI), supported the academic integrity of homeschooling. Among the homeschooled students who took the tests, the average homeschooled student outperformed his public school peers by 30 to 37 percentile points across all subjects. The study also indicates that public school performance gaps between minorities and genders were virtually non-existent among the homeschooled students who took the tests.&lt;ref&gt; HSLDA | Homeschooling Achievement &lt;/ref&gt;
New evidence has been found that homeschooled children are getting higher scores on the ACT and SAT tests. A study at Wheaton College in Illinois showed that the freshmen that were homeschooled for high school scored fifty-eight points higher on their SAT scores than those students who attended public or private schools. Most colleges look at the ACT and SAT scores of homeschooled children when considering them for acceptance to a college. On average, homeschooled children score eighty-one points higher than the national average on the SAT scores. [ citation needed ]
In the 1970s Raymond S. and Dorothy N. Moore conducted four federally funded analyses of more than 8,000 early childhood studies, from which they published their original findings in Better Late Than Early , 1975. This was followed by School Can Wait , a repackaging of these same findings designed specifically for educational professionals.&lt;ref&gt;Better Late Than Early, Raymond S. Moore, Dorothy N. Moore, Seventh Printing, 1993, addendum&lt;/ref&gt; Their analysis concluded that, "where possible, children should be withheld from formal schooling until at least ages eight to ten."
Their reason was that children, "are not mature enough for formal school programs until their senses, coordination, neurological development and cognition are ready." They concluded that the outcome of forcing children into formal schooling is a sequence of "1) uncertainty as the child leaves the family nest early for a less secure environment, 2) puzzlement at the new pressures and restrictions of the classroom, 3) frustration because unready learning tools - senses, cognition, brain hemispheres, coordination - cannot handle the regimentation of formal lessons and the pressures they bring, 4) hyperactivity growing out of nerves and jitter, from frustration, 5) failure which quite naturally flows from the four experiences above, and 6) delinquency which is failure's twin and apparently for the same reason."<ref name="moore">Raymond S. Moore, Dorothy Moore. When Education Becomes Abuse: A Different Look at the Mental Health of Children &lt;/ref&gt; According to the Moores, "early formal schooling is burning out our children. Teachers who attempt to cope with these youngsters also are burning out."&lt;ref name="moore"/&gt; Aside from academic performance, they think early formal schooling also destroys "positive sociability", encourages peer dependence, and discourages self worth, optimism, respect for parents, and trust in peers. They believe this situation is particularly acute for boys because of their delay in maturity. The Moore's cited a Smithsonian Report on the development of genius, indicating a requirement for "1) much time spent with warm, responsive parents and other adults, 2) very little time spent with peers, and 3) a great deal of free exploration under parental guidance."&lt;ref name="moore"/&gt; Their analysis suggested that children need "more of home and less of formal school" "more free exploration with... parents, and fewer limits of classroom and books," and "more old fashioned chores - children working with parents - and less attention to rivalry sports and amusements."&lt;ref name="moore"/&gt;
John Taylor later found, using the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale, "while half of the conventionally schooled children scored at or below the 50th percentile (in self-concept), only 10.3% of the home-schooling children did so."<ref name="taylor">Self-Concept in home-schooling children, John Wesley Taylor V, Ph.D., Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI</ref> He further stated that "the self-concept of home-schooling children is significantly higher (and very much so statistically) than that of children attending the conventional school. This has implications in the areas of academic achievement and socialization, to mention only two. These areas have been found to parallel self-concept. Regarding socialization, Taylor's results would mean that very few home-schooling children are socially deprived. He states that critics who speak out against homeschooling on the basis of social deprivation are actually addressing an area which favors homeschoolers.<ref name="taylor"/>
In 2003, the National Home Education Research Institute conducted a survey of 7,300 U.S. adults who had been homeschooled (5,000 for more than seven years). Their findings included:
Homeschool graduates are active and involved in their communities. 71% participate in an ongoing community service activity, like coaching a sports team, volunteering at a school, or working with a church or neighborhood association, compared with 37% of U.S. adults of similar ages from a traditional education background.
Homeschool graduates are more involved in civic affairs and vote in much higher percentages than their peers. 76% of those surveyed between the ages of 18 and 24 voted within the last five years, compared with only 29% of the corresponding U.S. populace. The numbers are even greater in older age groups, with voting levels not falling below 95%, compared with a high of 53% for the corresponding U.S. populace.
58.9% report that they are "very happy" with life, compared with 27.6% for the general U.S. population. 73.2% find life "exciting", compared with 47.3%.<ref> HSLDA | Homeschooling Grows Up &lt;/ref&gt;
UK: Paula Rothermel ROTHERMEL, P. (2002) Home education: Aims, Practices and Outcomes. PhD thesis, University of Durham.&lt;ref&gt;pjrothermel.com/phd/Home.htm&lt;/ref&gt; ROTHERMEL, P. (2004) Home education: comparison of home and school educated children on PIPS Baseline Assessments, Journal of Early Childhood Research Issue 5. ROTHERMEL, P. (2005) Can we classify motives for home education? Evaluation and Research in Education, 17(2)(3).