Home Schooling
Homeschooling: Requirements, Research, and Who Does It
Homeschooling is a small, but integral part of the education ecosystem in the United States and a pillar of the school choice movement.
School Choice & Charters
The Pandemic Pushed More Families to Home School. Many Are Sticking With It
These parents have a common desire to take control of their children's education at a time when control feels elusive for so many people.
Families & the Community
Video
Meet the Parent Activists of the Pandemic
Four stories of parents who organized others to get children the education and resources they need, despite institutional headwinds.
School Choice & Charters
Opinion
Is Hybrid Home Schooling the Future of Education?
Rick Hess speaks with Mike McShane about hybrid home schooling, which combines the best of home schooling and traditional schooling.
Social Studies
A Pro-Trump Student Group Will Launch a History Curriculum. It Could Get a COVID-19 Boost
Turning Point USA's plan to develop classroom lessons is part of a conservative pushback to what they see as biased curricula.
School Choice & Charters
From Our Research Center
Home Schooling Is Way Up With COVID-19. Will It Last?
The shift could have lasting effects on both public schools and the home-schooling movement.
School & District Management
Could the 'Pandemic Pod' Be a Lifeline for Parents or a Threat to Equity?
As an uncertain school year looms, some parents are banding together to teach their children in private pods. Educators worry that the trend will worsen inequities and shrink funding for public schools.
Teaching
How Much Home Teaching Is Too Much? Schools Differ in Demands on Parents
While schools are closed to coronavirus, districts are putting together a patchwork of lessons for students to do at home. But districts’ expectations for what students can accomplish at home vary widely, according to parents.
Student Well-Being
How to Teach Social-Emotional Learning When Students Aren't in School
Experts offer tactics to teachers on how they can tend to students’ SEL development in this chaotic time.
School Choice & Charters
Opinion
Lessons From a Homeschooling Researcher: What You Should Know Now
Homeschooling isn't a decision to be taken on lightly, but COVID-19 just changed the calculus, writes Michael Q. McShane.
School Choice & Charters
VIDEO: An 'Unschooling' Family Trusts Children to Guide Their Own Learning
Rather than adhering to a specific curriculum, families who "unschool" believe learning happens naturally and should be driven by a student's interests. Education Week spent a "school" day with the Matica family to see this decades-old approach to home schooling in action.
School Choice & Charters
VIDEO: 'Culturally Relevant' Education Drives African-American Family to Home School
Monica Utsey, a Washington, D.C. mother of two, wanted her sons to learn the full history of black people which has been a driving force in her decision to home school them. She's part of a small, but growing community of black parents opting to teach their children at home.
School Choice & Charters
Video
Home Schooling in America: ‘Unschoolers’ Put Children in Charge of Their Learning
Daniel Matica, a father of five in rural Worthington, Mass., is from Romania and the first in his family to go to college. He says his traditional schooling experience in Romania made him skeptical when his wife Erin Matica suggested that their children not attend school. Erin Matica explains ‘unschooling’ as a “philosophy of home schooling where the kids are in charge of their own educations.” The children decide what, and how, they learn, while the Maticas find ways to support their learning pursuits and passions. “They have a lot of freedom,” she says, “but at the same time they have a lot of responsibility as well.” The Matica family was profiled as part of an Education Week video series on home schooling families.
School Choice & Charters
VIDEO: Why This Military Family Home Schools
Like many home schooling military parents, Lindsay Jobe says that teaching her children at home gives the family educational stability during frequent relocations and flexibility when her husband Clifford is home from deployment.