Private Schools

Help at Home: When Marsha Ransom began home schooling her oldest child, she designed a curriculum around her state's guidelines, with neat, 50-minute blocks of study.

She's come a long way in the 12 years since then. Having taught all four of her children at home, she's learned firsthand that home teaching must be designed to fit each child's and each family's unique profile.

That's part of the reason, Ms. Ransom says, that she wrote The Complete Idiot's Guide to Homeschooling .