What Does The Homeschooling Demographic Look Like?

Answer 1

Demographically speaking, homeschoolers have expanded across many different categories. Historically, and somewhat stereotypically, the main body of homeschoolers has been made up of white evangelicals dissatisfied with the public school system. This is no longer the case; minorities have been breaking into the homeschooling movement in greater and greater numbers since the 1990s. From 1999 to 2003, the total homeschooling population grew from 800,000 to 1,100,000. A significant portion of this has been the result of minorities beginning to homeschooling their children.

The biggest reason that parents choose to homeschool their children is positive, not negative. They believe they know what is best for their children, not the teacher. In other words, it is possible to spin the homeschooling movement as a mass rejection of public authority, but the truth is the homeschooling movement is a positive embrace of parental authority instead of simply rejecting the authority of public teachers. This is an important distinction to make, especially because homeschoolers tend to be opposed to public schooling on political/philosophical grounds anyway. This makes them ripe targets for critics who make cheap shots by commenting on their politics instead of their principles.

Another big reason why parents homeschool their children is the environment of public schools. They are rightly concerned about outbreaks of violence at schools in the form of bullying and students who massacre their classmates. They are also concerned about the form of instruction their children receive. A significant portion of homeschooling parents feel that the education offered by public schools is poor or substandard. These are concerns that show up across all demographic backgrounds, and so many different demographic classes are represented in the homeschooling movement.

As a demographic classification, homeschoolers are not as uniform as you would believe. It is not only evangelical Protestants but traditional Catholics and Orthodox Jews homeschool their children as well. Many parents homeschool because of philosophical, secular reasons as well. Violence is definitely a concern, but there is also a growing awareness that school officials often do not handle problems effectively. This not to suggest that they do not have the child’s best interests at heart; but this perception persists to the point where it becomes a significant reason why parents homeschool, as well.

Homeschooling is a varied demographic filled with parents with many different reasons for homeschooling their kids. It is a viable alternative to public schools, and frequently a better one: homeschooled kids are known to outperform public school graduates.