Making Your Decision
The reasons people decide to educate their children at home are varied and can be unique to each family. Some look towards a better educational experience, others are concerned with moral and social issues, some are concerned with safety, and still others have special needs that they wish to address. Explore these reasons and others that have led families to homeschooling.
Resources
Making Your Decision to Homeschool
Resources
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Should I Home School?: How to Decide What's Right for You & Your Child

Have questions about homeschooling? This book has the answers. The information in this book will help you decide if homeschooling is right for you and your child. 

Why do some people choose to homeschool their kids?

More and more American parents are choosing to educate their children at home. What accounts for this trend? Reasons include faith preferences, the individual approach to education, and a desire for a stronger family unit. 

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Why We Homeschool

It is a common misconception that most parents homeschool due to bullies, school shootings, or bad teaching content. While these things are important, there is a higher purpose for choosing to home education your children. Even if all those things were corrected, there are stronger reasons to stay committed to the homeschool model. So why do you homeschool? This book looks at the meaning and significance of a true Christian education. 

Why Do People Homeschool?

Excellent education, dedicated teachers with a great teacher-to-student ratio, education tailored to the specific child, integrated education, and better teaching materials are some the reasons that make home education the best choice for your child and your family. 

Why Do People Homeschool Their Children?

Who in their right mind would choose to homeschool their kids? Well, lots of people! The reasons to choose homeschool can vary, but many homeschoolers share in a common decision pathway. 

Homeschooling 101: A Guide to Getting Started

Homeschooling 101 gives you the steps to help you get started on your homeschool journey. This guide lays out how to get started, choose and gather curriculum, scheduling, organizing your home, and finding the joy in homeschooling. This book is perfect for new homeschoolers who are looking for real help in taking the first step. 

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They're Your Kids: An Inspirational Journey from Self-Doubter to Home School Advocate

For many people, their schooling was uncomfortable, tedious, and sometimes a waste of time and energy. This book offers the idea that the public school system is tragically flawed and that we are able to do better for our own children. Sam Sorbo, mom of three and wife of actor Kevin Sorbo, took the leap into homeschooling and found the joy and success she was seeking. Included are strategies for working parents, those who are scared to take the leap, and anyone who wants the best for their children. 

50 Reasons People Choose to Homeschool

Reasons for homeschooling are different for everyone. Here are 50 of the more common reasons the families decide to homeschool their kids today. 

Why Homeschool?
Families have various reasons for homeschooling. By examining your own reasons, your relationship with God, and your goals for your children, you'll will find your direction. Reasons for homeschooling include faith reasons, educational reasons, and relational reasons. 
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Better Late Than Early: A New Approach to Your Child's Education
In this book, Raymond and Dorothy Moore look at the research behind learning styles for children. The message of slowing down and responding to your child's readiness is a welcome contrast to the common practice of pushing young children through the system. They conclude that the best environment for children to learn is at home. 
Making Your Decision to Homeschool
Is Homeschooling Right for You?
The decision-making process to homeschool a child is daunting. If the child presently attends public school, it’s more intimidating. Many people eagerly voice their opinions on home-based education and at times, the debate is heated. However, according to the National Home Education Research Institute, significant growth has transpired in the past three to five years with the homeschool population in 2010 reaching 2.4 million students. But is it right for you? If you are considering a home-based education for your child, here are a few things to consider as you begin your decision-making process.
Why We Are (gulp!) Home Schooling
More and more, public schools are confronting Christians with difficult choices. One parent explains why he and his wife made the decision to home school. He discusses how they perceived a clash of world views, the lack of balance between school and family, what education really is, and more.
Why Unschool?
The choice to unschool can sometimes be hard for parents to explain to others. This is because it seems so natural, that simple explanations don't always cut it. The basis of this choice is freedom -- freedom to play, take risks, explore interest, and learn on their own terms. Because unschooling most often influences the entire family's lifestyle, it is not a simple explanation of how education works. It is more of a way of life. 
5 Reasons I Homeschool My Kids (By A Surprisingly Sane Mom)
Why would a family with no religious affiliation opt out of the standard school model? The short answer is that the stakes were too high not to. The long answer is in the rest of this article. From freedom, to a miserable experience for those working in the school system, to excessive homework, to unnatural socialization ideals in school settings, to the ability to follow your own path, this mom lists the reasons that compelled her to strike a different plan for her child.
Deciding To Homeschool Is Not About If You'll Do a Good Job
There is so much research about how useless school is that you have to be in complete denial to put your kids in school. Penelope Trunk details why the choice to homeschool was a no-brainer for her.
Your School Sucks
There is a cognitive dissonance about public schools. Everyone knows public schools in the US are terrible, but everyone thinks their school is the exception. The reality is that your school would be the exception only if it teaches using project-based learning. Which it doesn’t. The public schools that are exceptional are exceptional at teaching to the test – a process that’s widely discredited. Give your kids more credit than that. Reformers say child-driven learning and project-based learning are best. Parents are the only educators in a position to do that. So all kids will get a better education at home. 
Homeschool is a How-To-Live Decision, Not a How-To-Learn Decision
Homeschooling is a huge family decision. It's not a schooling decision. It's a decision about what the values of a family are. Deciding to homeschool or not is a fundamental decision about family life. There is a point when kids can decide for themselves, but it's when kids are independent enough that schooling is not so much a family decision.
Making the Homeschool Decision
Homeschooling is a very rewarding experience, but can also be very trying and stressful. The rewards far outweigh the negatives, but you’ll need to take a look at your own life when making the decision to homeschool or not. Things to take into consideration include your schedule, finances, household, and commitment.
Ten Signs that You Need to Find a Different Kind of Education for Your Child
Because our public school system has now considerably deteriorated, many parents, teachers, and individuals have taken it upon themselves to create public and private alternatives to that traditional system which is definitely failing. It is important for parents to know that they now have choices, alternatives to the neighborhood school. How do you know that it is time to look for another educational approach for your child? Here are some of the signs.
How to Respond to Haters When You've Decided to Homeschool
If you’ve made the decision to homeschool your children, more than likely, you’ve met resistance from almost everyone who knows and loves you and your children. These lighthearted examples can help you respond. 
50 Reasons Homeschooled Kids Love Being Homeschooled
Do kids like to be homeschooled? Here are some responses from homeschooled kids, revealing the common and not-so-common benefits for kids when they are home educated.
Why I Homeschool My Children
A mom shares her happy reasons for choosing homeschooling for her family.
8 Powerful Reasons Why I Unschool My Kids

Nina Palmo explains the benefits of unschooling by looking at the benefits this model offers. These benefits include better learning, innovative thinking, passion about learning, good preparation for college and the workforce, and even more what the exact point of learning is (hint: it's not just to go to college or enter the workforce). Unschoolers don't have all the answers, but they do dig deep to find the best way to help their children find joy and power in learning. 

Why I Homeschool
A look at the many reasons to choose homeschooling over traditional schooling. The author looks at some the myths of the traditional school system and examines its structure and the reasons for that structure. 
Why Unschool?

This website is presented by two unschooled siblings who have since grown up and are happy to share their experiences with this educational model. Unschooling provides so many opportunities for children to learn about the world without the constraints of a classroom by celebrating a natural love of learning. Families and children can benefit from this wonderful way of learning. 

Should I Homeschool Or Not
To homeschool or not to homeschool, that may be your question. And that only leads to more questions: How do I know if I should or not? What should I even start to think about? What about curriculum? If you have at all considered homeschooling these questions have probably run through your mind.
Getting Started in Homeschooling: Deciding to Go For It
How do you decide to homeschool? There are obviously a number of ways to go about this. This series of articles can help you explore whether the idea of homeschooling is right for you and your family.
The Why of Homeschool
Focusing on homeschooling and the media, Isabel Lyman's doctoral dissertation analysis of over 300 newspaper and magazine articles revealed that the top four reasons to bypass conventional schooling were dissatisfaction with the public schools, the desire to freely impart religious values, academic excellence, and the building of stronger family bonds.
55 Serious Reasons Why You Should Homeschool
Here are dozens of reasons why you should homeschool. Families and teachers worldwide have been convinced that government controlled schools are “better” for children, but this is often not the case. Homeschooling is the best approach to improving quality of life in all aspects of the home and family. 
What is Unschooling and Why Do Parents Consider It?

Unschooling is fueled by curiosity-driven experiences. It is estimated that about 13 percent of homeschooled children learn through unschooling. Unschooling will look different for every family, but it is founded on the idea of following the child's interests and giving the space and freedom to explore those interests. 

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Featured Resources

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Morning by Morning : How We Home-Schooled Our African-American Sons to the Ivy League
Home schooling has long been regarded as a last resort, particularly by African-American families. But in this inspirational and practical memoir, Paula Penn-Nabrit shares her intimate experiences of home-schooling her three sons, Charles, Damon, and Evan. Paula and her husband, C. Madison, decided to home-school their children after racial incidents at public and private schools led them to the conclusion that the traditional educational system would be damaging to their sons’ self-esteem...
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But What About Socialization? Answering the Perpetual Home Schooling Question: A Review of the Literature
This book by Dr. Susan A. McDowell  uses research, statistics, and the experiences of homeschooling families to answer questions and counter myths about homeschooling and socialization. Read through a discussion of the multiple meanings of socialization, what parents, leaders, and children have to say about the issue, and what the research shows. 
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The Absorbent Mind
In response to the crisis in American education, more than five thousand public and private schools across the nation have adopted the timeless Montessori Method of teaching, of which this book is the cornerstone. Written by the women whose name is synonymous worldwide with child development theory, The Absorbent Mind takes its title from the phrase that the inspired Italian doctor coined to characterize the child's most crucial developmental stage: the first six years.A new foreword by John Cha...
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The Unschooling Handbook : How to Use the Whole World As Your Child's Classroom
Unschooling, a homeschooling method based on the belief that kids learn best when allowed to pursue their natural curiosities and interests, is practiced by 10 to 15 percent of the estimated 1.5 million homeschoolers in the United States. There is no curriculum or master plan for allowing children to decide when, what, and how they will learn, but veteran homeschooler Mary Griffith comes as close as you can get in this slim manual. Written in a conversational, salon-style manner, The Unschooling...
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Homeschooling on a Shoestring : A Jam-packed Guide
So you want to homeschool but don't think you can afford it. This book is a compendium of ideas for the family that wants to start or continue homeschooling on a tight budget. Includes ideas for making money as a stay-at-home mom, sources for inexpensive curriculum, affordable teaching tools, and ideas for low-cost field trips. Also discusses ways to run your household more efficiently and with less cost.
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