Christianity Oasis Forum

[Lionhearted]

Homeschool News - 3 Surprising Trends to Watch This Year


This year is going to see some major changes for homeschooling. The shifts are going to come from three areas: changes in the law, changes in resources available to home educators, and a rapidly growing homeschool population.

Over the last ten years, the number of home-educated children in the United States and territories has doubled. With the broadening number of families opting out of public or accredited private or parochial education, states have made moves to ensure standards through passing new laws. While legislators may have had good intentions in seeking to monitor homeschooling families, they have created a patchwork of regulations that often saddle parents significant new compliance responsibilities. As new laws are confronted by tests of their constitutionality, families should monitor organization and other news sources for changes that may affect them.

Online Homeschool resources are on the rise. Online options for homeschool curriculum are going to become an increasingly popular tool for parents educating their children through the high school years. The traditional homeschool curriculum publishers and online educational institutions are working together to develop products for the increasing number of families seeking to continue to homeschool into the high school years. With the ever-lowering cost of web-enabled computer hardware, it is no longer cost prohibitive to have one or more computers for use in delivering instruction. As families educate multiple children, older students become more self-sufficient and can work through an online homeschool curriculum with substantial independence.

Special Needs children represent a growing sector of home-educated children. As diagnoses of autism and other developmental issues rise, parents are seeking to invest in their time and talents in their special needs children. These families represent a new wave in home education and will likely represent an emerging voice for parental rights.

By Harrison J. Keats