It ’ s a Great tIme to Be a HomescHooler
Eric Smitherm
According to new data released this month by the U . S . Department of Education , the number of homeschooled children has doubled since 1999 to 1.8 million children in 2012 , or 3.4 percent of the overall school-age population . ( As a comparison , about 4.5 million children are enrolled in U . S . K-12 private schools .) According to the DOE data , the geographic distribution of today ' s homeschooling population is evenly split , with about one-third each in rural , urban , and suburban areas . " Concern about schools ' environments " remains a top driver for homeschooling families , with 9 in 10 survey respondents indicating it was an important reason in their decision to homeschool .
Homeschooling networks are diverse , active , and far-reaching .
A lot has changed for homeschooling and education choice since the late-90s . Homeschooling has become much more mainstream . There are numerous resources for homeschooling families , including community-based , self-directed learning centers scattered across the country . Education choice is in high demand and family empowerment grows . With President-elect Trump ’ s appointment of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education , the umbrella of education choice promises to widen for more families . As The New York Times reports : " Ms . DeVos will probably be a boon to the relatively small , growing population of families that home-school their children ."
While I still get asked that knee-jerk question about socialization that I so naïvely asked years ago , I find it happens less often . Many people know homeschoolers , and some have even considered the approach themselves . Homeschooling networks are diverse , active , and far-reaching , connecting homeschoolers to each other and their community ' s resources in myriad ways . Organizations and businesses , museums and libraries , nature centers and community colleges recognize homeschooling ' s popular rise and offer classes and resources to meet different needs and interests . Free , online learning resources like MIT ’ s OpenCourseWare , HarvardX , Khan Academy , Coursera , Duolingo , and many more allow for easy , on-demand access to a range of topics and subjects . Facilitating learning and pursuing knowledge has never been easier or more accessible .
It ' s a great time to be a homeschooler !
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