Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or online teacher, many homeschool families use less formal, more personalized and individualized methods of learning that are not always found in schools. The actual practice of homeschooling can vary. The spectrum ranges from highly structured forms based on traditional school lessons to more open, free forms such as unschooling, which is a lesson- and curriculum-free implementation of homeschooling. Some families who initially attended a school go through a deschool phase to break away from school habits and prepare for homeschooling. While "homeschooling" is the term commonly used in North America, "home education" is primarily used in Europe and many Commonwealth countries. Homeschooling should not be confused with distance education, which generally refers to the arrangement where the student is educated by and conforms to the requirements of an online school, rather than being educated independently and unrestrictedly by their parents or by themselves.
A parent is either the progenitor of a child or, in humans, it can refer to a caregiver or legal guardian. The gametes of a parent result in a child, a male through the sperm, and a female through the ovum. Parent are first-degree relatives and have 50% genetic meet. A female can also become a parent through surrogacy. Some parents may be adoptive parents, who nurture and raise an offspring, but are not biologically related to the child. Orphans without adoptive parents can be raised by their grandparents or other family members.
Grandparent visitation is a legal right that grandparents in some jurisdictions may have to have court-ordered contact with their grandchildren. In no case is contact between grandparents and children considered an inalienable right.
Truancy is any intentional, unjustified, unauthorized, or illegal absence from compulsory education. It is a deliberate absence by a student's own free will and usually does not refer to legitimate excused absences, such as ones related to medical conditions. Truancy is usually explicitly defined in the school's handbook of policies and procedures. Attending school but not going to class is called internal truancy. Some children whose parents claim to homeschool have also been found truant in the United States.
Alternative education encompasses many pedagogical approaches differing from mainstream pedagogy. Such alternative learning environments may be found within state, charter, and independent schools as well as home-based learning environments. Many educational alternatives emphasize small class sizes, close relationships between students and teachers and a sense of community.
Patrick Henry College (PHC) is a private liberal arts non-denominational conservative Protestant Christian college located in Purcellville, Virginia. Its departments teach classical liberal arts, government, strategic intelligence in national security, economics and business analytics, history, journalism, environmental science and stewardship, and literature. The university has full accreditation from the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS-COC) as of 2022. Patrick Henry College continues to be accredited by the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS), which is also recognized as an institutional accreditor by the United States Department of Education. Its graduation rate is 67%.
Michael P. Farris is an American lawyer. He is a founder of the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) and Patrick Henry College, which share a campus in Purcellville, Virginia. From 2017 through 2022, he was CEO of and general counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom.
Gregg Eugene Harris was a figure in the Christian homeschooling movement from 1981 through the mid-1990s and later served as a teaching elder at Gresham Household of Faith, which was an experiment in local church reform. According to the Home School Legal Defense Association, his work helped launch the Christian homeschooling movement in the United States, Canada, Australia and Mexico. Over 180,000 families attended his seminars. His book The Christian Home School was a Christian Booksellers Association best seller in March 1988. The list was published by the CBA and was on file in the offices of Noble Institute.
Homeschooling constitutes the education of about 3.4% of U.S. students as of 2012. The number of homeschoolers in the United States has increased significantly over the past few decades since the end of the 20th century. In the United States, the Supreme Court has ruled that parents have a fundamental right to direct the education of their children. The right to homeschool is not frequently questioned in court, but the amount of state regulation and help that can or should be expected continues to be subject to legal debate.
Kinship care is a term used in the United States and Great Britain for the raising of children by grandparents, other extended family members, and unrelated adults with whom they have a close family-like relationship such as godparents and close family friends because biological parents are unable to do so for whatever reason. Legal custody of a child may or may not be involved, and the child may be related by blood, marriage, or adoption. This arrangement is also known as "kincare" or "relative care." Kinship placement may reduce the number of home placements children experience; allow children to maintain connections to communities, schools, and family members; and increase the likelihood of eventual reunification with birth parents. It is less costly to taxpayers than formal foster care and keeps many children out of the foster care system. "Grandfamily" is a recently coined term in the United States that refers to families engaged in kinship care.
Child protective services (CPS) is the name of an agency in many states of the United States responsible for providing child protection, which includes responding to reports of child abuse or neglect. Some states use other names, often attempting to reflect more family-centered practices, such as department of children and family services (DCFS). CPS is also sometimes known by the name of department of social services, though these terms more often have a broader meaning.
Generation Joshua, often called "GenJ" by its members, is an American Christian youth organization founded in 2003 that aims to encourage youth participation in government, civics, and politics toward conservative Christian values. GenJ is a division of the Home School Legal Defense Association, which is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization, based in Purcellville, Virginia. The organization was founded by Michael Farris and Mike Smith and is located on the campus of Patrick Henry College. GenJ's name is taken from the Biblical figure Joshua, who succeeded Moses as leader of the Israelites when they conquered Canaan.
The United States has signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC); however, it remains the only United Nations member state to have not ratified it.
Douglas Winston Phillips is a Christian author, speaker, attorney, and homeschooling advocate who was once president of the now-defunct Vision Forum Ministries until he resigned due to an inappropriate relationship and allegations of sexual abuse. He advocates biblical patriarchy, creationism, homeschooling, the Quiverfull movement, and the family integrated church. He also worked for six years as a lawyer for the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA).
Homeschooling is legal in many countries. Countries with the most prevalent homeschooling movements include Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Some countries have highly regulated homeschooling programs as an extension of the compulsory school system; few others, such as Germany, have outlawed it entirely. In some other countries, while not restricted by law, homeschooling is not socially acceptable, or is considered undesirable, and is virtually non-existent.
Homeschooling in South Africa had been illegal, until it was recognized in 1996 under the South African School Legislation, since then it has grown significantly.
Elizabeth Bartholet is the Morris Wasserstein Public Interest Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, and Faculty Director of Harvard Law School's Child Advocacy Program (CAP). She teaches civil rights and family law, specializing in child welfare, adoption and reproductive technology.
Under normal circumstances, the United States child welfare systems is considered by experts to be underfunded and strains social workers with high case loads. However, during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. experienced an unprecedented lockdown and national unemployment reached a record high. This presents an issue because it is recorded that during times of economic stress, child abuse skyrockets.
In Australia, homeschooling is becoming increasingly popular. It is legal in all Australian states and territories, with each having its own regulations around the practice. Distance education is also prevalent for Australians who live in remote, rural areas. There are more than a dozen universities in Australia that support distance education for tertiary studies. Some Australians switch between distance education and classroom teaching. The number of homeschooled children and students who take distance education in Australia is approximately 30,000. The number of registered homeschoolers alone was 21,437 in 2019; this corresponds to 0.5 per cent of the total school population of Australia. In the 2010s, the average growth rate of the practice amounted to 9.4 per cent per year. The largest Christian school of distance education in Australia is the Australian Christian College, which has over 1,700 families with 4,000 students enrolled. Homeschooling generally enjoys a very good reputation in the Australian media and is widely seen as a flexible alternative form of education with good socialization opportunities in the community.
The Global Home Education Exchange (GHEX) is an advocacy organization that primarily holds international events promoting homeschooling.
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