There seems to be a growing movement in the U.S. of parents turning to homeschooling their children.  According to Brian D. Ray, Ph.D., president of the National Home Education Research Institute, "There were an estimated 1,700,000 to 2,100,000 children (grades K-12) home educated during 2002-2003 in the United States.  Homeschooling appears to still be the fastest-growing form of education."  Dr. Ray goes on to say that homeschooling has constantly grown over the last two decades, the growth rate being 7% to 15% per year.  

The figure Dr. Ray gives is probably small, too.  If one takes into account that there are probably numerous families who have not registered or given official notification to their local state or school district that they will homeschool, then that figure could well be much higher.  Also, the State of Alaska does not require homeschoolers to register or to give any notice, so that, too, will add to that figure of homeschool.

So why this growing number?  Why are so many families opting for homeschooling?  Why aren’t they just putting their kids into private or parochial schools if they’re unhappy with the public schools (which many of us would assume is the case)?  I will try in the following pages to give some insight into this phenomenon of homeschooling with which to help you answer these questions for yourself.

When I talk about children in these pages, I am mostly referring to elementary school age children, not high schoolers.  All of my experiences here are either first-hand or heard by me from teachers, parents and administrators.  I have put in references for some things, but mainly this site is all anecdotal because these are my experiences -- and my opinions based on these experiences.