Education is a very important concern in the hearts of Americans. . But what exactly is the best form of education. Homeschooling has gradually made its way into the education field as an acceptable and controversial form of education. Homeschooling can simply be defined as educating children at home or the community rather than at school (Withrow, 1999; Cromwell, 1998; Lines, 1995). An alternative definition would be, parents choosing the schooling for their children (What is Homeschooling, 2000). Home schooling started thirty years ago because of two men, Raymond Moore and John Holt. Both men felt that the public education system was wrong and emerged as founders of the homeschooling movement in America. Moore believed that children were being pushed in school to learn things they were not ready to learn. After evtensive research, he concluded that children in schools become extremely dependent on their peers. (Lyman, 1998). John Holt believed that it was beneficial to homeschool children because children were not being encouraged to use their natural curiosity. His negative attitude towards schools is shown when he wrote, "To return once more to compulsory school in its barest form, you will surely agree that the government told you that on one hundred and eighty days of the year, for six or more hours a day, you had to be at a particular place, and there do whatever people told you to do, you would feel that this was a gross violation of your civil liberties." Holt viewed schools as places that produced "obedient, but bland citizens" (Lyman, 1998). Home education is one of the fastest growing alternative forms of education to public schooling (Cook, 1999; Withrow, 1999). Approximately one million children or more are being educated in their homes because of the success of homeschooling. (Two Takes on Homeschooling, 1997) The increase of students does not seem to be slowing down, and with growing concern over the public schools, th...
