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What Is Homeschooling?
Homeschooling is when children's education is based at home with their parents' guidance rather than through enrollment in a public school or private school. That said, the insider joke is that homeschooling isn't much like school, and we're never home.
That's because many homeschoolers find emulating classroom approaches to education is not as effective as the home-grown version, and in many places, there are lots of opportunities for homeschooled kids to learn with friends and out in the community.
Homeschooling can begin with kindergarten and go through homeschooling high school. As formal preschool has become more popular, more parents who do not send their kids to preschool also refer to homeschooling in preschool or pre-K.
How Many Homeschoolers Are There in the U.S.?
Homeschooling in the U.S. has grown considerably. In 1999, only about 1.7% of students aged 5-17 were homeschooled; by 2012, that number had doubled to 3.4%. [Source]
The disruption to public schools caused by school closings, virtual learning, mask mandates, and more led to record-breaking numbers of families choosing to homeschool at the beginning of the 2020-2021 academic year. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, “By fall, 11.1% of households with school-age children reported homeschooling.” [Source]
What Are the Pros and Cons of Homeschooling?
Homeschooling is widely known for its flexibility, allowing parents to help children learn in the ways that work for each child. Parents and kids do not need to follow the conventions of school when they're homeschooling; they can customize, choosing their own curriculum or approach. Homeschooled kids are widely accepted at colleges and in the workplace.
You can read about the wide range of benefits of homeschooling, from building positive family relationships to homeschooling through illnesses and challenges.
Families do need to consider that homeschooling may affect situations like playing high school sports in some states and college admissions in others. In Virginia, the VHSL prohibits homeschooled students from participating in high school athletic programs.
New York's "preliminary education requirements," which do not prevent homeschoolers from graduating from high school or enrolling in college, are required in some form before a student can graduate from college. Since at least one of the options must be completed while the student is still of compulsory school age, it is imperative that homeschoolers know the education laws of their state and of any state where they may wish to attend college.
Homeschooled graduates can be admitted to college, join the military, get good jobs, start businesses, and live creative lives.
How Do I Get Started Homeschooling?
Typically, the steps to begin homeschooling include:
- Knowing and complying with your state’s legal requirements
- Locating local homeschoolers & getting connected
- Exploring homeschooling methods
- Finding your learning resources
- Attending a homeschool conference
- Incorporating your support network
To start homeschooling, read more about our Six Steps to Get Started Homeschooling, or jump in with our Quickstart Guide to Homeschooling.
What Are the Requirements for Homeschooling?
Homeschooling is legal and accepted in all fifty states in the United States and in many countries around the world. In the United States, homeschooling is regulated by the state, so homeschool laws are unique to each state.
Some states have no requirements; others might have requirements such as:
- Keeping attendance to show compliance with compulsory attendance law
- Notification/letter of intent to homeschool to the school district or superintendent
- Achievement tests or evaluations
- Naming your homeschool
Find more information about your state homeschool law through your state’s homeschooling organization.
What about Grade Levels in Homeschooling?
Grade levels were developed for schools, where numbers of students have to be moved through years of curriculum. While school is standards-based and grade-level-based, homeschooling can be potential-based.
Homeschooling allows parents to optimize the resources based on the child’s potential and aptitude, rather than on grade placement. It offers students the ability to step out of an environment focused on “appropriate grade placement” and into an environment where institutional goals give way to engaged learning at the right level of challenge.
It is not unusual for a homeschool student to work at different grade levels in different subjects. Students are able to excel where they are ahead and work at a relaxed pace where they need to spend more time on a subject.
You can read more about grade levels in “Homeschooling and Grade Levels (Or … Relax)”, as well as about "When Grade Level Matters."
What Is Deschooling?
A surprising factor in the adjustment to learning at home is the idea of deschooling. Both parents and children need to transition to learning outside of the school classroom that is the predominant method of education today.
Experienced homeschoolers recommend a period of deschooling before homeschooling, and they suggest that families continue over time to get "school defaults" out of their heads so that learning outside of school will flourish.
What about Planning or Choosing Curriculum for Homeschooling?
Parents can choose their homeschool curriculum, taking into account their overall approach to learning, their children's strengths, the amount of one-on-one time they can provide, their children's age and stage of development, and what their child enjoys doing. Some homeschoolers use a curriculum similar to what is found in schools, but many do not. Parents are free to choose the curriculum resources that best meet the needs of their family.
Homeschoolers have the freedom to do what works. They don't need to follow the education laws for public schools, and in the U.S., they don't need to follow any one specific approved or accredited curriculum.
Some states and countries have more regulations than others regarding what parents have to do to meet the home education law; however, in general, one of the benefits of homeschooling is that parents have the freedom to customize how their children learn. This includes freedom to choose their approach and the resources that will be used.
Homeschooling families can typically learn on any schedule that works for them.
What about Online Schools and Hybrid Homeschool Programs?
In some states, there are various "hybrid homeschool" options due to families combining some elements of homeschooling with classes and programs offered by public schools, private schools, charter schools, colleges, and online schools.
Some hybrid models are illegal in one state while legal in a neighboring state. Not all hybrid models of education are considered homeschooling by all homeschoolers, even if the education is mostly taking place within the home. That hasn't stopped some from calling these newer combo-types of education hybrid homeschooling instead of hybrid education.
Parents should understand whether the resources they choose—particularly online or virtual schools— are independent or put them under the purview of the local public school district. Virtual schools might be not clearly be labeled as virtual public schools or public charter schools.
Can Someone Else Homeschool My Child?
What if you want your kids to be homeschooled, but you can't or don't want to be the person who is personally homeschooling them? Laws vary on this depending on where you live, which parents should consider, but many homeschooling parents outsource parts of their kids' homeschooling, since the kids take classes, participate in co-ops, and work with tutors and mentors. If you're looking for someone to provide part or all of your children's home education, read Can Somebody Homeschool My Kids?
What about High School?
How Do You Get a Homeschool Diploma?
The short answer is that you print one. The longer answer is that high school diplomas are simply certificates for a wall, while transcripts are the official documentation of high school grades and courses.
Homeschool transcripts are an accepted form of documentation showing that the student graduated, and anyone wanting proof of graduation will ask the graduate for a copy of their transcripts.
For more information about homeschooling high school and how to create transcripts (plus a free transcript template), read “Homeschool Transcripts Explained.”
Do Homeschoolers Have to Take the GED Exam?
Although there are rare occasions when a homeschooler might need or want to take the GED exam, most often homeschool transcripts are a better and accepted choice. Four-year, junior, and community colleges all accept homeschool transcripts as proof of courses taken.
Nevertheless, homeschoolers should plan ahead as they enter high school. Researching the requirements of colleges, trade schools, unions, the military, or any other post-high school path that might interest them is necessary to ensure compliance with requirements.
This is particularly true when the student’s future path might include college sports, trade schools, or other less common paths where additional testing or specific programs might be required.
How Do I Choose a Homeschooling Schedule?
Some families have weekly schedules that look like school schedules, but most homeschooling families use the flexibility of homeschooling to create a weekly schedule that is customized for them. For a look at some of the effective homeschool schedules that Jeanne Faulconer has seen in her work as a homeschool evaluator, read “Homeschool Schedules: Arranging a Strong Homeschool Week.”
Why Do People Homeschool?
The main reasons people homeschool are concerns about the environment in schools and dissatisfaction with academic instruction. This is contrary to the stereotype, which assumes that most people who choose homeschooling do so for religious reasons.
NCES has collected data on why people are homeschooling. According to their 2016 education report,
When asked to select the reasons parents decided to homeschool their child, the highest percentage of homeschooled students had parents who said that a concern about the environment of other schools, such as safety, drugs, or negative peer pressure was one reason to homeschool (80 percent). The highest percentage of students’ parents reported that among all reasons, a concern about the environment of other schools was the most important reason for homeschooling (34 percent). Seventeen percent of homeschooled students had parents who reported dissatisfaction with academic instruction at other schools as the most important reason for homeschooling, while 16 percent reported a desire to provide religious instruction as the most important reason for homeschooling.
[Source]
What Are Homeschooling Styles?
There are many ways to homeschool, with the different approaches referred to as homeschooling styles or homeschooling methods. Different styles work for different families because their situations and their children are different.
One family may love an approach that doesn’t work at all for another family. People often start out with one approach and evolve to a different approach, or they combine aspects of several different styles and call themselves eclectic homeschoolers.
A word of warning: it's not unusual for new homeschool parents to try to replicate school at home when first homeschooling; they often switch approaches when they encounter resistance.
Grandparent Guide: Supporting Homeschooling
Our Grandparent Guide to Homeschooling gives grandparents concrete ideas for how to help without interfering and suggestions for how they can further build their relationships with their homeschooled grandchildren. Others in a homeschooling family's support network might also find the Grandparent Guide helpful if they are participating in a material way.
More Homeschooling FAQs
Didn’t find the information you were looking for here? Visit our Frequently Asked Questions page for answers to other questions you might have about homeschooling.
Sources
NCES, “Homeschooling in the United States: 2012“ (https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2016/2016096rev.pdf : accessed 30 September 2021)
U.S. Census Bureau, “Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey Shows Significant Increase in Homeschooling Rates in Fall 2020 (https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/03/homeschooling-on-the-rise-during-covid-19-pandemic.html : accessed 30 September 2021)
NCES, "Parent and Family Involvement in Education: Results from the National Household Education Surveys Program of 2016,” pg. 4 (https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2017102 : accessed 30 September 2021)
Hello.
We are in a bit of an usual situation (at least it seems like one to us). We currently live in Delaware. Last year (2020-2021) we homeschooled our daughter for the entire fifth grade. She is now in sixth grade at our local middle school (2021-2022).
She did very well as a home schooler and is doing really well in the middle school.
By end of March 2022, we plan to leave Delaware and return to Los Angeles (where we lived about 10 years ago) to be close to family once again.
We would, therefore, like to have her finish out sixth grade as a home schooler (rather than dropping her into LAUSD during the final months of the school year).
Do you have any information about what the process would be so that our daughter can complete sixth grade via home school and be ready for in-school learning in the seventh grade (i.e., we want to make sure she is legally promoted from sixth to seventh). Would she be promoted in California since we'll be living there? Or would she be promoted in DE? Or some kind of hybrid? We really have no idea and I have not been able to get a straight answer from our school.
Thank you!
David
Hi David,
It's wise of you to consider these questions ahead of time so you can plan accordingly. Since your daughter is not in high school, the transition should be fairly straightforward. While we cannot advise on specific school district policies or state homeschooling statutes, typically the process would be to follow the notification policy for homeschooling in your new location when you arrive in March. Where I homeschooled in Virginia, that means sending a notification of intent to homeschool to the county school administrator within a reasonable amount of time after arriving. You will need to determine what that notification policy is for your new location; state homeschool organizations are a good place to go for this information.
Since the grade transition happens between the academic school years, the move from one grade to another would happen in your new location. In the fall, you would register your daughter with the appropriate school district as a public school student the same way any new student in that district would register for public school. As we note in our post "When Your Child Goes from Homeschooling to Public School," school is in charge of school, so the school decides what grade the child will enter when returning to public school. This is not usually a problem if the student has not fallen behind, but be aware that the school administration may ask for documentation of work performed, test scores, or other proof of progress.
We suggest that homeschoolers also notify the administrator of the old school district of your move so that they are not expecting to receive any further communication from you. While not usually required, this helps them close the file on the student and prevents future issues if you were to ever return to that school district.
I was doing some research on homeschooling and I'm glad this page was the first one I came across. It has literally everything I needed to know
I'm glad you found it helpful!
Hi I am truly interested in homeschooling my daughter who will
Be a junior. Is it too late? Worried this will affect her college acceptances. This is all very new to me. I live in Florida and there is a great virtual school not sure what the difference is. Any suggestions how to do more research?
Hi Simone,
My older daughter went to a private high school for 9th and 10th before we decided to homeschool for the rest of high school, so it's definitely not too late. Virtual school is actually public school at home, which is a significant difference from homeschooling. You'll want to read about the pros and cons of virtual schools before deciding whether to use it.
We have lots of resources on the website for homeschooling high school; these will get you started:
College Admission Requirements: Homeschooling High School
Homeschool Transcripts Explained
Bad News/Good News of Starting Homeschooling in High School
Resources for Homeschooling High School When Mom’s Not the Expert
Homeschool to College: Outside Evidence
I hope that helps!
So I have the same kinda question as her, but I am a junior right now and am three fourths of the way through the year. I go to river valley highschool and they have the block schedule so I have completed 4 classes this year and am half way through the last four... I was wondering if I would need to redo those classes or if I would continue from where I am... also the main reason I want to do homeschool is to be able to go at a faster pace and just finish highschool... I want to work more hours and the sort so I can start working on my business I want to start sooner and I can focus on building it rather than having to worry about school....
Hi Brendan - generally you will need to supply transcripts for all schools you attended if you ever need to provide official transcripts, so those would still show on your transcripts from the public school (probably as incomplete if you pull out mid-year). It is not necessarily a negative to have an incomplete, but it's important to know that they would show that way.
If your parents are willing to homeschool you and choose a flexible program, you would be more able to work at your own pace and possibly finish earlier (or have more free time to work on your business even if you don't finish early). I recommend looking over the posts I shared in my comment to Simone above and sharing them with your parents. Good luck!
Wow this site is great, lots of information. We have a question, can a non resident with legal status be homeschooled? We have Investors visa and our son will get his student visa soon, he´s 16 and he´ll be in his last year of high school in our home country, Costa Rica. Can he be transitioned to homeschool in Tennessee? Is there any help to get started for people like us that are not customed to homeschool since that´s not possible in our country?
Great website!
Hi Gustavo - TheHomeSchoolMom isn't able to give advice on homeschool regulations since homeschooling in the US is regulated by the state and not federally. Our decentralized way of regulating education in the US makes for a lack of consistency in homeschool laws, and adding in a student visa adds an additional layer of serious considerations.
If I were in your position, I would check with the US State Department (as the agency issuing the student visa), the local school district in Tennessee, and your country's consulate for answers. Being on a student visa may come with requirements that affect the ability to homeschool, and running afoul of student visa restrictions could have serious repercussions.
If you find out that homeschooling is a possibility for your son, you should also consider what he may need in terms of proof of graduation when he returns to Costa Rica. If he finishes high school by homeschooling, he will not have a government-issued diploma or transcripts. You as the parent would be the one issuing the diploma and transcripts. If your country doesn't recognize homeschooling, that could potentially be a problem if he wants to enter college there or get a job.
Your question is a good one, and I would love to know what you find out. Enjoy your time in the United States, and best wishes to your son, whichever schooling option he ends up using.
Bless you and your knowledge! I have been researching homeschooling for over a year now. Why your site has not popped up until now is a shame. You have fantastic, useful, well written information here. I greatly appreciate you! Thank you!
Thank you for your kind words, Cheri!
I just wanted to say I enjoy your writing style and have learned lots from the great information on your website. Much appreciated!
I'm glad TheHomeSchoolMom has been helpful to you!
hello my name is Kimberly Orellana I am a mother of two girls I have a 12 year old and a 9 year old I was just approved to start home schooling my nine year old daughter I applied to home school her and now it was approved I am not sure were to start my daughter wqs being bullied in school and she got her ankle broke at school and I need some help to start the home schooling process any suggestions you can email me. I am needing help don't know where to begin thanks again
Hi Kimberly,
Congratulations on becoming a homeschool mom! I'm sorry to hear about your daughter's experiences in school, and I hope homeschooling will bring her healing and progress. Here at TheHomeSchoolMom, we don't provide help by email, but we provide information in our articles. Click through on the various links to get to articles that will help you get started. If you need hands-on, local help, look for state and local groups that may have volunteers who can talk to you. Sometimes a local librarian may know another homeschool mom who is willing to talk with you, too. But really, there is a ton of information on our site, and sometimes you just have to give yourself time to breathe and absorb the new information as you read.
Best wishes for happy homeschooling,
Jeanne
I have just started homeschooling my 13 year old daughter and would like to find out information on social activities with other homeschooled children in our community.
Hi Judith,
TheHomeSchoolMom has a tab in our top menu for "Local and State." If you click on that tab, you can find a dropdown list for co-ops, activities, conferences, homeschool groups, classes, and more. You can also often find local activities by joining a Facebook group of homeschoolers in your area, asking your state homeschool group for their listing of local groups, or by searching on MeetUp.com. Many libraries know about homeschool activities. Drop by and ask them where the homeschoolers are!
Good luck!
Jeanne
Hello i want to know more about this program..
TheHomeSchoolMom doesn't offer homeschool programs; however, we have a great Quick Start Guide to Homeschooling that will answer your questions about getting started.
Jeanne
I need to get my child in school as possible.e
I work full-time are there educators that my child can go to.
Hi Carmen,
We have an article called Can Somebody Homeschool My Kids that will cover your questions about this. You may also be surprised to know that people do work and homeschool. Sometimes people use regular childcare during school hours and focus on learning outside of work hours, on nights and weekends.
Jeanne
I am homeschooling my son due to his speical needs he learns at a elementary level and i think it is better for him to be home schooled .can you tell me do you have rescources for child with IEP.
Hi Loretta,
Here is a link to a page listing articles about children who have special needs.
Jeanne
I am interested in homeschooling my children any info would be great.
Hi Tameka - You'll find lots of helpful information throughout our site. Our Quickstart Guide to Homeschooling is full of helpful information and links to topics like deschooling, finding the laws in your state, how to start out right, and more. Best wishes to you on your homeschool journey!
I'm interested in home school for my 8th grader would like to know more and cost per semester's
Hi Tameka,
To know more, click on the links within this Homeschooling 101 article, so you can become more informed about homeschooling by reading more. Additionally, since you have an 8th grader, you should read about the good news and bad news about homeschooling high school. As for the cost, this is different for every family, and I do mean completely different. Some people create their own program of learning using just the library and online resources, and it only costs the price of internet service. Other people purchase expensive all-in-one curricula that can cost thousands per year. Some people pay hundreds for certain classes but otherwise homeschool without spending much money. Some people live in states with charter schools or home learning options that may be funded and regulated by public schools. In other states, such hybrid models of education are not allowed. You should ask your local school division if they have options besides attending the brick and mortar school.
Finally, while we can't give you an estimate on how much homeschooling your 8th grader will cost, we can tell you a bit about homeschooling on a budget and where to find free and inexpensive resources.
The cost of homeschooling your 8th grader will depend on your approach to homeschooling, as well as the cost of specific programs, classes, or resources you choose.
Jeanne