I have been following the numbers of homeschoolers.....
1. "Data from the
1999 NHES showed an estimated 850,000 homeschooled students in the United Statesāabout 1.7 percent of the school-age population (Bielick, Chandler, and Broughman 2001). The increase in the homeschooling rate (from 1.7 percent in 1999 to 2.2 percent in 2003 to 2.9 percent in 2007) represents a 74 percent relative increase over the 8-year period and a 36 percent relative increase since 2003."
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/2009030.pdf
That was published in 2009.
Now this:
2. "
In North Carolina, the number of homeschoolers has now surpassed the number of students attending private schools....the homeschooling movement, which has rapidly increased in recent decades.
3. In
1973, there were approximately 13,000 children, ages 5 to 17, being homeschooled in the United States. ... as of the 2011-2012 school year,
that number has grown to almost 1.8 million or approximately
3.4 percent of the school age population. Other
sources report numbers well over 2 million.
4. In the Tar Heel state alone, homeschooling has increased by 27 percent over the past two years.
5. ....pretty impressive numbers for a movement considered āfringeā not that long ago and that has
only been legal in all 50 states since 1996.
6. The
Department of Education, which surely isnāt happy with the trend, has tracked the issue since 2003. According to its findings:
- In 2003, 85 percent of parents said they chose homeschooling because of āa concern about the school environmentā which included worry about safety, drugs or negative peer pressure. That number jumped to 91 percent by 2011.
- In 2003, 72 percent said āa desire to provide religious or moral instructionā was a major reason. In 2011, that number had increased to 77 percent.
- In 2003, 68 percent said ādissatisfaction with academic instruction at other schoolsā contributed to their decision. By 2011, that was up to 74 percent.
7. ...my guess is when the figures are reported related to the past two years youāll see the number of parents citing ādissatisfaction with academic instructionā spike with the growing uprising against Common Core and national standards.
8. ....the public education establishment donāt find homeschooling up to their standards. The National Education Association, the countryās largest teacherās union,
declared in a 2011 resolution: āThe National Education Association believes that homeschooling programs based on
parental choice cannot provide the student with a comprehensive education experience.ā
9. ....
the actual results from homeschooling. According to
Education News:
Recent studies laud homeschoolersā
academic success, noting their significantly higher ACT-Composite scores as high schoolers and higher grade point averages as college students.
10. Yet surprisingly, the average expenditure for the education of a homeschooled child, per year, is $500 to $600, compared to an average expenditure of $10,000 per child, per year, for public school students.
What is not calculated in the cost line above for homeschooling is the time spent by a parent teaching."
In One State More Children Homeschool Than Attend Private Schools.
What is not mentioned, as well, is the decision by homeschool parents to have children more like themselves, rather than the mind-numbed automatons that government schools turn out.
Public school shootings, bullying, and poor education being my main reasons. At least until the last few grades where I might be unable to teach at that level. Knowing is one thing, being able to impart knowledge though is a skill.
