Homeschooling is a dirty word around here (long island, ny). its really really just not done. I found a yahoo group but it has about 10 members, and seems to be a religious choice, which doesn't fit at all for us..But it really appeals to me and our situation. I see it mentioned so often here it just has really peaked my curiosity. i've tried to find out more about it as a "cultural pheonomenon" but most things i've found are very specific about people already doing it, not the trend as a whole.
i am really curious about where its most popular and how many homeschoolers there are. Is there a state/area thats considered really supportive of it compared to others, where its considered mainstreem? We are possibly relocating in the next few years and want to have this info in mind.
irene
Statistics like the ones you're asking for tend to be hard to come by because different states have different rules for homeschoolers. Some keep very extensive records; others keep basically none at all. Most of the statistics I've read claim only to be estimates, and they tend to vary wildly depending on who is estimating and what they're arguing. Pretty much everyone agrees that homeschooling is on the rise.
You can look at the homeschooling laws for each state. Ones that are more homeschooling-friendly tend to have more active homeschooling communities, I think. Of course, do an online search for homeschool groups, and if you see lots or big ones or inclusive/secular groups, it's more likely to be a vibrant homeschooling community. If there are few groups or they're all religious, then it might not be the place for you.
We live in an area that seems very homeschooling-friendly. I'm not sure homeschooling is quite mainstream, but it's close! There are at least 2 LARGE (over 100 families, and maybe closer to 200) secular/inclusive homeschooling groups here, plus a secular local online group that shares resources. I'm sure there's overlap between them, but still! We also have a school for homeschoolers, complete with a yearbook and afterschool groups for things like drama, chess and knitting. It's very handy! No sports teams yet, but the place is growing...
Based on what I see in my area, I'd recommend looking for a town with lots of schooling options--lots of private schools in a variety of forms (religious, secular, college prep, etc.)--since that would probably indicate either some dissatisfaction with the public schools (and thus a willingness to try other things) or a tradition of independent thinking. If everyone is at the public schools or one other (probably religious) private school, you'll probably encounter resistance.
A strong public library system and a busy parks system with daytime classes for kids would also tend to indicate homeschoolers in attendance. Arts centers with daytime classes are another indicator. You could find all these things online, I think, if you have a specific place in mind.
Another thought is to look for places close to the Mason-Dixon line. This is a gross generalization, of course, but it seems like there you get a combination of the religious homeschoolers loosening up expectations and a more northern secular focus, too. Our town is fairly close to the line, and that's what I see here.
HTH! I'm happy to discuss further if it helps.
I'd say, in general, secular homeschooling is probably more prevalent among educated, liberal, attachment-parenting types. I think that red state homeschoolers usually homeschool for religious reasons. That is certainly the case where we are now, though we've still managed to find a small secular unschooling hippie underbelly even in our large, conservative, ultra-religious city.
When we were deciding where to move, we looked at a lot of different areas, and we found it to be pretty mixed. Generally we saw more friendliness in mid-sized college towns but that was not always the case.
I am in the city (NYC) and there is a huge homeschooling community, entirely secular.
You can checked out NYCHEA.org
For $36 you can enroll for the year and join the elist to receive notices of all the classes and outings people organize.
http://educationnext.org/home-schooling-goes-mainstream/ This article may be of interest.
Don't assume anything about the homeschooling population in your area until you do a lot more research. I know nothing about your area but on a quick look at yahoogroups I see this.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LIGHTmail/
Good point, passthepotatoes.
I'll add that two of the three secular/inclusive homeschooling groups in my area have no Internet presence. Basically, you would never know they exist unless you know someone who is in them. So searching our area might not show you how active the secular homeschooling community is.
I didn't want to mislead with my heavy focus on Internet searches...
We are in Florida and we have about 600 homeschooled families in our county...I would say there is a pretty even split among the families we have met...some are very religious and that is their main reason for homeschooling, some want to be "off the grid" and don't want the "man" to tell them how to educate their children, and some are in our boat where school just was not meeting the child's needs so it left the parent no choice but to homeschool.
We're in the Bay Area of CA and there are quite a bit of homeschoolers here. I wouldn't say mainstream exactly, but not unheard of. However where I grew up near Sacramento CA I had never even heard of homeschooling. It can vary widely within a state. If you want more info on my specific area, pm me.
We're in a red (well, reddish purple, maybe) state, and there's a healthy mix of secular, religious, and religious-but-not-homeschooling-to-avoid-the-heathen homeschool families. Our metro area has at least a half dozen co-ops at the moment, and probably more homeschoolers who aren't affiliated with a group.
My two best "new to homeschool" website suggestions are below. Jon's site (the first one) has links to state laws. We're lucky enough to live in a very homeschool-friendly state, but I'd probably do it even if we weren't. And before you ask, socialization is SO not a problem!
http://www.midnightbeach.com/hs/http://www.homeschool.com/new/
I wound up calling my local school districts to ask the # of registered homeschoolers. In CO, you have to file a letter of intent with your local district once you child hits age seven. Checking with the local districts of the areas you are considering moving might be a way to give you a ballpark figure for how lonely you will be
.
From there, you could check
A to Z Home's cool page to see if you can find local groups to ascertain if they are all going to be religious. I've found that we have a lot of religious support for hsing around here (Northern Colorado) and then those who aren't hsing for religious reasons either tend to be unschoolers who don't do a lot of formal group activity or they just are on their own. I'm itching to get something like
this going around here, but I just can't find enough people to make it viable as of yet.
We live in a fairly solidly blue state, and my experience with the homeschoolers in the area generally reflect that. It seems with each passing year, more local businesses are cashing in on the homeschool community and it seems more mainstream. I get many more positive comments than negative ones.
I think the local religious homeschoolers form their own groups underground through their churches, etc. They probably aren't at the workshops on evolution or Norse mythology that we might attend. There are plenty of Christian homeschoolers that are doing it for academic reasons as well and seek out more secular venues.
Anyway, we are having a wonderful local experience homeschool. Down to 3 other families homeschooling within blocks of us. We are in St. Paul MN, bordering Minneapolis.
Same here, Kim, though we don't have the 3 families so close. That's lovely!
But the neighbors who aren't homeschooling seem quite accepting of what we're doing. My kids have *far* busier social schedules than I had at their age, and most of their buddies are public school kids, so they don't seem to be pariahs in our neighborhood, even among people who aren't homeschooling.
We also see lots of crossover between secular homeschoolers and religious homeschoolers, and thus have lots more opportunities. It seems like religious homeschoolers in our area are pretty accepting of inclusivity because of all the benefits that come from having greater numbers.