Home Schooling is on the Rise in the U.S.A.

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WASHINGTON, U.S.A., August 3, 2004: Home schooling is on the rise since 1999. In fact this article by education writer Ben Feller says that students taught at home now number 1.1 million in the U.S. Parents have the following reasons for choosing home schooling, “31 percent cited concerns about the environment of regular schools, 30 percent wanted the flexibility to teach religious or moral lessons and 16 percent were dissatisfied with academic instruction at other schools.” Ian Slatter, spokesman for the National Center for Home Education says, “There’s potential for massive growth. Home schooling is just getting started. We’ve gotten through the barriers of questioning the academic ability of home schools, now that we have a sizable number of graduates who are not socially isolated or awkward — they are good, high-quality citizens. We’re getting that mainstream recognition and challenging the way education has been done.” Ted Feinberg, assistant executive director of the National Association of School Psychologists, says parents need to consider the following, “Do parents with no formal training as teachers know how to handle a variety of subjects or to tailor instruction for children of different ages? Do students get the same materials they would have at schools, from books to science labs? Are families with two working parents prepared to go to a single income so that one parent can teach at home?”