e growth of the homeschooling movement is inevitable. One of the main areas of concern for homeschooling is the academic performance of students; even though there is much debate on the testing assessments and the data collected, research shows that that homeschoolers achieve academically at the same level, or in most cases, above students in a traditional school setting (Lines, 1995; Cook,1999). Despite the growth and apparent success of homeschooling, it has proven to be a controversial form of education that has many advantages and disadvantages dealing with the teaching of children. Reasons for Homeschooling Although there are various reasons why families may decide to homeschool their children, most decisions are based on one or both of these issues: personal beliefs and problems with the public school Personal Beliefs Parents feel that homeschooling is a way to meet the child's specific needs and interests while challenging them. They also believe that a home education allows children to participate in many activities that school-bound children are not able to participate in. Homeschoolers are able to pursue interests without time and restraints placed on them by the school. Some of the activities where homeschoolers may interact with are organizations such as, church, clubs, and scouting. Most parents of homeschoolers contend that they are the only ones responsible for their children's education, and that they should be making the decisions about what values their children are learning and not the public schools. Most homeschooling families can agree that schools separate education and the home which makes homeschooling the only logical alternative because as Fritz Hinrich says, "Homeschooling is bringing education back into children's daily culture because it makes education a familial pursuit." () Problems with Schools There are several issues that homeschooling families disagree with concerning the public school. One of the ma...
