Chapter 1 Why We Homeschool All good parents homeschool their children. Some do it full time. Some do it part time in partnership with professional educators. And some do it while their kids are on break from traditional schools. If you teach your children at all, you homeschool. Homeschoolers cut across all segments of the population. Although the movement is indisputably largest in the United States (reliable research puts the number of American homeschooled children at 1.5 million, or 1 to 2 percent of school-age children), Canadians, Europeans, and thousands of expatriated North American families in the military, in missionary service, in business, and in the civil service are also embracing homeschooling. Homeschoolers advocate dozens of educational philosophies, ranging from strict school-at-home programs to militant unschooling. There are parents who have homeschooled from birth, parents who enroll their children in supplemental classes, and parents who embrace public or private school and supplement it with their own after- school and weekend programs. While the homeschooling movement is often perceived as conservative in nature, a sizable number of homeschoolers are adamantly liberal. Homeschoolers cover the range of human experience. They include self- avowed "hippies," rural farm families, gay couples, single parents, grandparents, stepparents, and kindly aunts. Some families homeschool in small church or neighborhood "co-ops," some are affiliated with charter or private schools, and some go it alone. Some homeschooling families are devoutly religious; some have no religious affiliation at all. The homeschooling community embraces Pagans and Catholics, Baha'is and Mormons, Buddhists and Sikhs, Jehovah's Witnesses and Protestant Christians, Hindus and serious atheists, Muslims and Jews. Parents homeschool because their children are gifted, learning disabled, behavior disordered or easily overlooked, hyperactive, or just plain bored. Some parents homeschool because they feel undermined or unsafe. Most parents homeschool for smaller classes, individual attention, and customized curriculum. And most of all, parents homeschool their kids because they simply want to. Because they're good parents, and they believe it's the best thing for their children. No matter how-or why-you homeschool, you're welcome here. And congratulations on choosing to teach your children both economically and intelligently. Intelligently? Absolutely. In choosing this book, you're gaining access to thousands of resources that make up the best and most current information available anywhere. No stodgy, fifteen-year-old, out-of-date textbooks for your kids. By choosing to homeschool your child for free, you're also choosing to homeschool your child for now. For the world your child lives in today, rather than the world that existed in 1996, when many of her friends' out-of-date social studies and science textbooks were written. If you use this book properly, you'll also teach your sons and daughters how to find their independent way around modern technology to do the kind of research and study that will make them successful in college and the business world. By making wise, intelligent, frequent use of the Internet, you're teaching your children two things: one, that there are answers to all their questions, and two, that those answers are within their grasp. You'll teach them how to find information, how to work efficiently, how to avoid time-wasting dead ends, and how to focus on their educational goals. Do we guarantee that this book will make your child smarter? Yes, we do. Will your child be better off if he's homeschooled? Of course. Is homeschooling the answer to all your problems? Well . . . Here's how it works. If you haven't yet been on the Internet, it's time to start. Visit your community library, recreation center, or YMCA and ask for assist Excerpted from Homeschool Your Child for Free: More Than 1,200 Smart, Effective, and Practical Resources for Home Education on the Internet and Beyond by Joan M. Zielinski, LauraMaery Gold All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
