What do John Quincy Adams, Ben Franklin, Patrick Henry, Woodrow Wilson, Agatha Christie, and
Justice Sandra Day O'Conner have in common? Each was educated at home at one point in their lives. But they are not the only ones...
What do John Quincy Adams, Ben Franklin, Patrick Henry, Woodrow Wilson, Agatha Christie, and
Justice Sandra Day O'Conner have in common? Each was educated at home at one point in their lives. But they are not the only ones...
The autumn of 1996 recorded 1.23 million students educated at home. Research further predicts that the number of homeschooled students will increase steadily. The motivations parents have for choosing home education range from religious and ideological reasons. Some of these reasons include:
American Homeschool Association
Sponsored by the Home Education Magazine, this website provides information about the AHA Newsletter,
subscribing to their email discussion lists, and a list of
links to other websites relevant to homeschooling students and parents, such as homeschool curriculum suppliers
and home education state laws and regulations. This site also features online versions of past AHA Newsletters.
Home School Legal Defense Association
Practical and professional, this site includes information and links to the online
HSLDA Bookstore, current news on homeschooling, homeschooling statistics, advocacy, FAQs, a calendar of
events in the United States and membership information. Also featured here is a search tool
to locate the laws and regulations on homeschooling in any state. The results and research to
Dr. Brian D. Ray's, the National Home Education Research Institute President, 1997 study entitled:
Home Education Across the United States: Family Characteristics, Student Achievement, & Longitudinal Traits
are also posted here. This study can provide answers to parents considering home education versus
public school education.
National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI)
Founded in 1990 by President Dr. Brian Ray, this is a non-profit organization that
provides extensive research on homeschooling. The NHERI aims to inform the public
on the findings of all its studies. The NHERI provides many quality publications
for reasonable prices.
Texas Homeschooling Information
This site's main focus to keep you updated with any legislation or changes to homeschooling in Texas.
It also includes a link to the Texas Education Agency's information packet on homeschooling. The
packet's contents can be printed from this page. Also in the packet is a listing of homeschooling
support groups all over Texas and internationally, and correspondence schools across the nation.
Homeschooling Information and Homeschooling Resources
This website is also sponsored by the Home Education Magazine and it provides news and information
on homeschooling, articles on planning activities, essays on others' personal experiences, and links to
resources on homeschooling. The articles are particularly interesting. They are from past issues of
Home Education Magazine and cover topices such as new homeschoolers, networking and advocacy, older
homeschoolers, and archives of email discussion topics.
Coyle's Where in the Web and Other Homeschool and Educational Stuff
With eleven years experience of homeschooling, Linda Coyle has prepared this website
to help other home educators. She has categorized her recommended websites into
the different disciplines: art, literature, science, government, mathematics, etc.
Then she has further reviewed each site to provide a brief overview, and
a grade level recommendation. This feature will help home educators plan units of study.
She also includes links to more homeschooling websites.
Heather Homeschooling Page
Heather Madrone is responsible for this website. She is a home educator since 1994 for her
three children. She shares her experiences in homeschooling through essays and stories.
She relates her personal homeschooling philosophy, successes, and information on lesson plans.
Her presentation is conversational with a Christian perspective and easy-to-read. I include her site on my list for others,
especially new homeschooling parents, to get information from "experienced" homeschooling educators.
Homefires - The Journal of Homeschooling
Originally serving the San Francisco, CA, homeschooling community since 1992, this forum has expanded
to a national level. This home page links to a bookstore, curriculum planning information, homeschool
resource guides, subscription information, and other relevant websites.
Homeschool World
From the makers of Practical Homeschooling Magazine, Homeschool World features national homeschooling
news and information. Three helpful features on this site include: 1-a directory listing
of homeschool organizations for a particular state; 2-a link to Books4HomeSchool which
is a curriculum book reviewing service; 3-a link to Family Safe Startup-Page which contains
safe links for the entire family. This Startup-Page has categorized its many, many links,
including one on Homeschooling, which is practically exhaustive on this subject.
Homeschooling Resources (Bill Beaty's Homepage)
Bill Beaty, an electrical engineer in Seattle, WA, maintains this website with links to
many homeschooling resources, especially for science and math activities. He includes
links to homeschooling and alternative education websites, journals, articles, and newsgroups
relating to homeschooling and alternative education. His specialty is science experiements and
demostrations through detailed diagrams. A home educator is likely to get assistance in planning
science experiments from this website.
The Librarian's Guide To Cyberspace For Parents & Kids: 50+ Great Sites
The American Library Association sponsors this site that contains a list of 50+ recommended websites for
children and parents. The sites range from serious, homework assistance to fun, creative activities.
A link to the criteria used in selecting these sites is posted for parents to review.
Safety Tips for children when communicating online are also posted for parents information.
The Virtual Schoolhouse
Hosted by the MetaLab at University of North Carolina, the Virtual Schoolhouse webpage
is designed as sections of a schoolhouse floorplan. Each section contains web links
appropriate to that section. For example, the "classrooms" section contains links
to different subjects from aeronautics to zoology. The library, the principal's office
the art room, the playground, and the teacher's lounge are also featured.
Students including homeschoolers can use this site as a reference guide.
Children's Stories, Poems, Pictures and Sounds
Here is a collection of interesting and educational links to websites
relevant to children's education. It has been prepared by the Bowen family in Oxfordshire, England,
who have a copyright to their page. After you get through the Bowen family-life information,
which does include interesting sites, you can find the links to websites on children's publishers,
literature, nutrition, and other resources, including a great list of Museums for Children in the USA, UK, and Canada.
School Is Dead; Learn In Freedom!
Karl Bunday relates his philosophy of public school education versus
home education, and advocates learning in freedom. I recommend his site because he includes many links to websites of homeschooling interest.
He includes an extensive bibliography of publications on home education, such as general resource guides and
how-to homeschool manuals; he also includes a list of colleges/universities that have admitted
homeschoolers and frequently asked questions on college admission and preparation for older homeschoolers. He also addresses the
general public's concern of homeschoolers' lack of important socialization skills, he rebuts against the concern.
This is a great site for people who are thinking of home education or have just begun it.
