Summary
If you are new to homeschooling, or are just beginning, then this article helps describe the core essence of what people mean by homeschooling. People who don’t know what homeschooling is often make incorrect assumptions about this topic.

Description
Home schooling is a choice, it’s when parents choose to provide for their children’s education themselves, instead of sending their kids to public or private schools. Homeschooling is a legal option in all the United States as well as in many other countries. Homeschooling, contrary to the name, does not necessarily happen ‘at home’. Many families rely on their community as a learning resource, spending significant time visiting libraries, museums, parks and going on field trips, to name just a few.

There are many reasons why parents choose to homeschool, and there are many ways in which to do so. There is a wealth of options available, and one of the toughest tasks for new homeschoolers is to decide on how they want to do it. This is easier when the child is young, since you can more or less grow into your own style. Taking a child out of public/private school in order to homeschool them is a very different circumstance, and some suggest a de-schooling period as a starting point.

Choosing to homeschool means that you take on the full responsibility to provide for your child’s education. In some cases, you can share that responsibility with homeschool-extensions of your local public school, such as working with a certified teacher to help with lesson planning and tracking student progress. You can also choose to do everything on your own, and you only have minimum requirements for reporting your plans or progress to the public school system (these differ from state to state, country to country).

Homeschooling is a growing phenomenon, with an estimated 1.1 million students in 2003. This represents 2.2% of the national student population. Homeschooling is also gaining visibility in the press as more and more homeschooled children participate and do well in academic events such as the Spelling Bee, Science Olympiad, and others.