The Context
What is Homeschooling
Homeschooling is an alternative form of education in which parents or family members decide to educate their children instead of allowing a public or private school to educate their children (Walsh, 2021). Given the broad definition, it is unsurprising that this mode of education may take numerous varying forms. For example, parents may choose to enroll their children in online education programs, participate in tutorials or co-operative programs, send their children to to public school for some classes, enroll their children in local community college classes, or be the only educator of their child using any of the various curriculum and pedagogical approaches available. As there are so many different approaches and curriculum for homeschooling, it is difficult to define or conceptualize homeschoolers as a homogeneous group since this method of education is really many types under one umbrella term.
Motivations for Homeschooling
In addition to the many styles and practices of homeschooling, families who choose this method of education cite numerous diverse motivations. A study conducted in 2019 categorized the types of major motivations as the traditional categories of religious and progressive, although they add a third more recent large category consisting of those dissatisfied with the standard of education provided by conventional schools (Baidi, 2019). The various reasons include wanting to provide safety, accommodate special needs, provide alternative curriculum, instill family values, and provide better quality education (Baidi, 2019). Other factors include a dissatisfaction with public school education, a desire to strengthen relationships between parents and students, and a dissatisfaction with the public education’s support of family values (Baidi, 2019). Some other motivations families choose homeschooling are a desire to instill specific personal, cultural, or religious values, beliefs or practices; protect minority children from racism or lowered expectations; and utilize a particular pedagogical approach to education (Ray, 2024). Furthermore, less common motivations include compensating for living an excessive distance from a traditional school, accommodating for a parent’s job which requires moving often, living temporarily or permanently in a place in which the child’s first language is not spoken, or accommodating for the regular training of a child who participates at a high level in an artistic or athletic pursuit (Home School Legal Defense Association, 2019). More recently, another major motivation for homeschooling one’s children was providing safe, quality education in the context of the global Covid-19 pandemic (EdChoice, 2021).
The Benefits
There are many benefits to homeschooling. However, the greatest benefits is the ability of families to taylor the education they provide to their unique child. This allows parents of any child, but especially those of special needs or gifted students to allow their children to excel (Naidaitė & Stasiūnaitienė, 2023). In addition, this method produces students who have exemplary creative skills and independence (Naidaitė & Stasiūnaitienė, 2023). Furthermore, in studies conducted in the United States, homeschooled children perform 15 to 25 percentile points above public school students on standardized achievement tests and are increasingly being actively recruited by colleges and universities (Ray, 2024). In addition, on the measures of peer interaction, self-concept, leadership skills, family cohesion, participation in community service, and self-esteem, homeschooled students score above average (Ray, 2024). Formerly homeschooled adults have been shown to be more politically tolerant, participate in community service at a greater rate, be more civically and politically engaged, and attend and succeed in college at an equal or greater rate than the general public (Ray, 2024). Finally, the benefits of homeschooling for minority students are even greater. In fact, possibly due to the protection from implicit and explicit bias found in conventional schools, minority students were found to score 23 to 42 percentile points above minority students in public schools.
The Concerns
Although there are many correlated benefits to homeschooling, no causial relationship can be proven. In fact, these benefits are often considered to be potentially due to the demographics of homeschoolers studied. In addition, the statistics on homeschoolers performance on standardized tests is necessarily from homeschoolers who chose to participate. Unlike many in conventional school, homeschoolers are not required to take standardized tests in most states in the United States (Bartholet, 2020). Thus, the results may be skewed. In addition, in many areas of the world, the threat of abuse and neglect which may result from the extreme version of parental control and choice is a concern. As Elizabeth Barltholet from Harvard noted that in the United States, “Homeschooling parents can, under current law, deny their children any meaningful education and subject them to abuse and neglect free from the scrutiny that helps protect children in regular schools” (Bartholet, 2020). In addition, many countries, for example Turkey and France, are concerned about extremism which may be perpetuated by homeschooling families (NaidaitÄ— & StasiÅ«naitienÄ—; 2023; Elysee, 2020). Finally there are concerns about the lack of socialization which parents may choose for their children and the potentially lacking quality of education (Bartholet, 2020).
The Impact of the Pandemic
As Michael Apple (2021) notes, even before the Covid-19 pandemic, homeschooling was growing in the United States and around the world at rapid rates in what he argues is not only an educational movement, but a social movement. However, he asserts that the pandemic “created the conditions for an even greater acceptance of homeschooling as a legitimate and seemingly necessary choice” (Apple, 2021). He argues that before the pandemic, the movement was dominated by “conservative, religious parents” and “committed, child-centered ‘unschoolers’”, but now the movement has spread to a much more diverse community. Indeed the number of homeschoolers just in the US grew from 2.5 million in 2019 to 3.1 million in the 2021-2022 academic year (Ray, 2024). In addition, Brian Ray notes that homeschooling is growing in popularity among minorities with 41 percent of the population being from racial minority background. In addition, as a result of the pandemic 53 percent of black families noted they had a more favorable view of homeschooling (EdChoice, 2020). Finally, like in every arena of education, the pandemic experience perpetuated and exacerbated the social class achievement gap of homeschoolers (Sanrey, et al, 2021).