Many parents aren't happy with public schools today and for a variety of reasons. Whether it be because of problems surrounding bullying, concerns for the academic material that's being taught, disappointment with performance outcome, issues with administrators, or worries about the opportunity for exposure to violence.

Maybe they just want a little more time with their child and the opportunity to allow their child a little more freedom with their educational journey.

And because public schools have been failing to meet the needs of so many, it's continued to prompt a growing number of parents to look toward homeschooling as an option for their family.

At the end of 2017, the NCES (National Center for Educational Statistics) released some controversial statistics about homeschooling in the US.

Their figures indicate that this area of schooling has seen explosive growth, to the point of representing roughly 3.4 percent of all children educated in the US by 2012. However, they suggest that the numbers have somewhat stalled.

Around 2016, it's estimated that there were at least 1.7 million students in the US that are home-schooled.

Critics say that the recently released stats might be underestimating the true numbers by a lot. And this is because it's very difficult to get an accurate picture of just how many home-schooled kids are out there.

Many states don't keep any official registration of homeschoolers and that impedes the process of finding out just how many are out there. For the few states that do keep some official data, they've seen significant growth in this area in recent years.

Dissolving Stigma...

You've got families from all different backgrounds engaging in homeschooling, both the well-off and the not-so-affluent, people of varying religion beliefs and ethnicity, different political beliefs, and so on. It's not just one specific segment that is interested in this avenue of learning.

The reasons for choosing homeschooling for your own family are diverse, though one thing it does provide for certain is an education alternative in the market for parents.

More parents are utilizing the technology available today to connect with other homeschoolers out there and form a community for their children to learn. And homeschooled children have frequently been seen to outperform public schooled children on standardized tests.

Homeschooling provides families with an opportunity to incorporate the community into the learning process.

It provides them with a vibrant and interactive way to learn directly about a particular subject or from a specialist in a field that they might be interested in. It provides the opportunity for the children to become more self-driven and intrinsically motivated.

The belief that homeschooled children cannot be “properly socialized” just simply isn't true.

Today there are many ways for homeschooled families to get involved in extracurricular activities that compliment their learning plans and unique interests. And it's very easy to use online resources to connect with others in the community and network in order to try and foster more success for the educational journey of the child overall.

The true value is the freedom that homeschooling affords both children and families.

Not only does it provide a benefit in enabling parents and children to decide what they want to focus on learning, but also enables them to decide how they go about using their time. It also enables the parents to become more involved in the development and education of their child. Studies have suggested that parental involvement with the educational journey could be detrimental to the overall success.

Pics:
via csee-etuce.org
njfuture.org
pixabay
pixabay

Sources:
https://www.heartland.org/news-opinion/news/federal-estimates-of-homeschooling-numbers-at-odds-with-organizations-experience
https://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/why-more-toowoomba-parents-are-homeschooling-their/3305974/
http://theconversation.com/heres-how-homeschooling-is-changing-in-america-63175
http://www.businessinsider.com/homeschooling-is-the-new-path-to-harvard-2015-9
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2017/12/10/homeschool-harvard/
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/oklahoma/articles/2018-01-10/survey-bullying-leads-students-to-enroll-in-virtual-schools
https://thenextweb.com/insider/2011/12/26/in-2011-how-the-internet-revolutionized-education/
http://news.mit.edu/2015/ahaan-rungta-mit-opencourseware-mitx-1116
http://ideas.time.com/2012/10/24/the-single-largest-advantage-parents-can-give-their-kids/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2973328/
http://www.vocativ.com/224951/back-to-home-school-homeschool-kids-share-images-of-their-first-day/index.html
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/aug/30/home-schooling-outstanding-results-national-tests/

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