Frequently Asked Questions
What is homeschooling?
Homeschooling is an increasingly popular educational alternative in which children learn outside of conventional schools under the general supervision of their parents.
Some homeschooling families operate like small-scale versions of conventional schools, with textbooks and tests and traditional grades. Other families freely adapt ideas from other alternative educational philosophies such as Waldorf, Montessori, Reggio Emilia, or the Sudbury model, while still more give their children considerable control over what is learned and how learning takes place.
Occasionally, some parents choose to supplement their children’s school experience, calling such enrichment "homeschooling." While such an approach can be useful, it is qualitatively different from what we call homeschooling, which is a substitute for, rather than an adjunct to, the conventional school experience.
Who homeschools?
How many homeschoolers are there in California?
Homeschoolers are a microcosm of the larger society. We live in large cities and small towns, on remote homesteads and in suburbia. We are families both large and small, with two parents and with one, households with two incomes, with one full-time income or with several part-time incomes. We are religious and agnostic and atheist, conservative and liberal and libertarian and progressive. We are your neighbors.
The exact number of homeschooled students in California is unknown. Many families choose public homeschooling options such as home study programs and charter schools, and so are not counted by the California Department of Education (CDE) as homeschoolers. Other homeschooling families file the private school affidavit, or enroll in private schools which offer homeschooling programs. Although the CDE assumes that private schools with 5 or fewer students are homeschooling families, it has no way to determine how many of the students enrolled in larger private schools are actually homeschoolers. In addition, there may be considerable numbers of homeschooling families who do not bother with compliance with the state’s compulsory attendance law.
Estimates of the number of homeschoolers nationally are no more solid. Patricia Lines, a researcher with the Office of Educational Research and Improvement of the U.S. Department of Education, estimates that there are at least 500,000 homeschooled students in the U.S., comprising around one percent of the school-age population. Other researchers put the total as high as 1 to 2 million.
For California, this means there may be anywhere from 60,000 to 200,000 school-age children learning outside conventional school settings.
Why do families choose homeschooling?
Families choose homeschooling for a wide variety of reasons.
Some parents enjoy being with their children and watching them explore the world. The learning process which begins at birth simply continues naturally with the parents as teachers. There is no need to dissolve this parent-child partnership merely because a child reaches a certain age.
Some parents are wary of public school curricula, and choose to teach their children at home so that they may better supervise the content of their children’s education.
Some parents find that their children’s learning differences are not dealt with effectively in school and decide that homeschooling may be more suitable for their children’s special needs or learning style.
Some parents consider their local public schools unsafe.
Whatever their reasons for originally choosing to homeschool, families which continue homeschooling discover that their educational approach works for their children and for the family as a whole. Learning in a nurturing environment, together with positive socialization, produces bright, interested, and emotionally healthy kids. What better reason to homeschool?
Is homeschooling legal in California?
Yes, homeschooling is legal in California. Because the California Education Code never explicitly mentions homeschooling, the right of parents to homeschool their children is open to legal interpretation. However, this is true of many rights not explicitly delineated in the law. Here is a brief overview of the state law as it applies to homeshooling.
The California Education Code provides that "all children between the ages of 6 and 16 must attend a public full-time day school unless otherwise exempted." (section 48200) This "compulsory schooling law" has two statutory exemptions:
1. The private tutoring exemption (section 48224) for children who are instructed for at least three hours each day, 175 days a year by a teacher who holds a valid California teaching credential for the grade taught, and
2. The private school exemption (section 48222) for children who are enrolled in a full-time private school. There are no laws that establish the minimum standards for the teachers or curricula of private schools. The only legal requirement for private schools is that they file a Private School Affidavit (section 33190) with their local County Superintendent of Schools.
Those four sections of the Education Code are the entire law of homeschooling in California. As you can see by reviewing the Code, homeschooling is not explicitly forbidden or allowed in California. Practically speaking the vagueness of the law affects few of California’s 60,000 or more homeschooling kids. These families are confident in their legal right to homeschool their children.
How do homeschooling families comply with the Education Code, if it does not mention homeschooling?
They comply with the compulsory school law in one of four ways:
- They establish a private school in their own home.
- They enroll their children in a private school that offers a satellite program for homeschooling (PSP).
- They employ a private tutor or hold a California teaching credential themselves.
- They send their children to a public school that offers independent study.
How do homeschooling families establish a private school?
Many California families choose to comply with the state’s compulsory attendance law by establishing a private school in their own home. These families file the private school affidavit (see section 33190) with their local county board of education just like their local Waldorf, Catholic or college-preparatory school does. Since the Education Code allows anyone to establish a private school of any size, with any philosophy, employing whatever teachers they choose, parents use this legal provision to homeschool. Many years ago, the California Department of Education used to question the legality of these very small private schools, but for the last five years has explicitly agreed with our interpretation that the law permits parents to form these schools.
But doesn’t the Private School Affidavit allow the state or school district to supervise the private school?
No. The private school affidavit is a simple form that notifies the state of the existence of a private school. It is not a license given by the state: The state does not approve, evaluate, recognize, endorse, or supervise your private school in any way. The affidavit is merely a device by which the Department of Education’s Demographics Unit keeps track of the number of school children in California.
The affidavit form itself is a public document available from the California Department of Education. It is completed and submitted online by most schools, but can also be submitted in paper form, either using the Department's form or a "statement in lieu" that contains all of the information required by law. Because the Department's form is a public document, the state cannot refuse to give families the form or refuse to accept their completed form.Private schools must offer instruction "in the several branches of study required to be taught in the public schools" (see Ed Code sections 51210 and 51220), but how those subjects are taught is determined by the private school. There is no provision in the law that authorizes or requires that local school districts or any other state agency supervise or approve of the instruction given in private schools.
Private satellite programs (private PSPs) are legally the same option as establishing a private school. Instead of filing individual private school affidavits, the administrators of the PSP have done this for the individual families.
PSPs vary widely in offerings, philosophy and structure. Some offer complete curricula and home study assignments; others serve only as administrative record keepers for independent homeschooling. Some families appreciate the structure, the record keeping, and the anonymity that the private PSP may offer.
How do parents comply with the tutoring exemption?
Parents with a valid teaching credential (or those who wish to employ a credentialed teacher) can act as tutor for their children. Tutors are not required to file with the county or state or to keep attendance records. The tutor must have a credential appropriate to the grade level of the child or children being taught: a parent with an elementary credential would not meet the requirement for teaching their high school student and would find some other way to comply with the law.
How do Public School Independent Study Programs (Public ISPs) allow parents to homeschool?
Legally, enrolling a child in an independent study or home study program offered by a school district or by a public charter school serving your county is equivalent to enrolling him in public school. These programs vary widely in the level of control they exert over their students and the services they offer. Some charter schools are able to provide funding for classes or curriculum. These programs must comply with state law and the administrative directives promulgated by the Department of Education, and generally students are expected to take standardized tests.
If a family's local district does not offer an independent study option but a district within their county or the county immediately adjacent does, they may request an inter-district transfer. However, transfers are at the discretion of the district and are not automatically granted.
Does homeschooling work?
A few articles to answer this question in depth.
Are parents really qualified to teach their own children?
Any teacher can tell you that the children who do well are the ones whose parents are involved in their education. Parental involvement in homeschooling is very deep. The best teachers for all children are people who love and care about them and who respect their particular way of learning--people who have the time and the patience to provide one-on-one attention. Homeschooling parents do what teachers wish they could do in the classroom but cannot for lack of time and help and an excess of students.
Parents do not lightly make the decision to homeschool their children. They realize that it is a big undertaking and responsibility. But for homeschooling parents, the task of helping their children learn is seldom a burden. Children who are given the opportunity to follow their own interests, to dig deeply into topics that interest them, to have some say in how they learn, become eager and effective learners.
It is a myth that homeschooling parents do all of the teaching. Most parents know when they are not the best to handle certain subjects, and they get help, either from other family members, from friends, or from the extensive resources available, such as online instruction or community college classes for older children. The job of the parent is to help find the tools and resources that will help their children succeed.
It is also a myth that having a credential is necessary for homeschooling parents. The bulk of coursework for a credential prepares the teacher to teach a large group of children, and to prepare formal lesson plans meeting state standards far in advance. Parents working with their own children don't need to learn classroom management. They also find that the freedom to change the lessons to meet their children's needs or interests is one of the most wonderful things about homeschooling.
How well do homeschooled students really learn?
There are no controlled studies of the effectiveness of homeschooling as an educational option, nor, because of the complexity of the problem (exactly which variables can or should be controlled for?), are there likely to be.
There are, however, numerous studies comparing the achievement of homeschoolers and schoolchildren on a variety of standardized tests. Generally, homeschoolers tend to score as well or better than those conventionally schooled.
Perhaps more useful are the performances of homeschooled students as they enter college. Homeschooled students are eagerly sought by many selective and highly selective colleges; they are reported to be more focused and more self-reliant than schooled students, and to adapt better to living on their own.
What about socialization?
Most homeschooling families consider socialization to be one of homeschooling’s great advantages. Instead of spending the better part of their days in close contact only with others of their own age, homeschooled students have the time and freedom and energy to get to know people of many ages and backgrounds. With more say in the direction of their education, they become more self-reliant and self-confident, and less dependent upon peer approval than most school children.
Few, if any, homeschoolers are isolated to the point where they don’t interact with other people. Most are heavily involved in their communities. They belong to Scouts and church groups, take swimming and dance lessons, play on soccer and softball teams, etc. Many do volunteer work, such as visiting convalescent hospitals, shelving books at the library, even helping at public schools.
Homeschoolers also get together in support groups, to take field trips, hold park days, and for other group activities.
They build deep and meaningful friendships, with more time and space to talk and learn from each other than would be possible in school.
Most parents who withdraw their children from conventional schools report that their children quickly learn to get along better with a wider variety of people--siblings, older and younger children, and adults of all ages--as homeschoolers than they ever did as school students.
What resources do homeschoolers use?
There is a large and growing educational market serving homeschoolers, with well-tried curricula and study programs for every educational philosophy. Homeschoolers who participate in public school programs such as charter schools and home study programs have access to a wide range of conventional materials, and many independent homeschoolers take advantage of used book depositories, where they can obtain used school materials--textbooks, encyclopedias and other reference tools, library books, etc.--at nominal expense. Educational television is also a favored resource, as are the Internet and the World Wide Web.
But homeschoolers also go out into the community and the world for their learning resources. The local library, with its selection of books, videos, and other materials, as well as the lectures, reading programs, and other activities often offered, is only a starting point for most homeschoolers. National, state, and local parks provide both formal and informal opportunities for learning. Local recreation departments offer many classes and athletic opportunities. There are museums to visit, farms and factories, science fairs, and more. Community organizations--garden clubs, choirs and other music groups, 4-H, hobbyists and activists of every variety--offer learning opportunities limited only by homeschoolers’ time and energy and interests.
Homeschoolers are not limited in their use of resources by governing boards or editorial committees, and have the entire world as resource for learning.
How can homeschoolers get a high school diploma?
Homeschoolers who attend public independent study programs or third-party private school programs will, if they complete that school's graduation requirements, obtain a high school diploma. Parents who operate their own private schools can also issue diplomas. Since there are no formal graduation requirements for private schools under California law, parents can choose to award a diploma when the requirements they have set have been met, regardless of the student's age. Anyone who questions a home-based private school's diploma should be educated about California law as applied to private schools. Most colleges and universities base their admission decisions on a wide range of factors, including college tests and narrative transcripts, not just on grade point average or the fact of a diploma.
Homeschoolers can also acquire equivalency certificates by passing the California High School Proficiency Examination (CHSPE) or the tests of General Educational Development (GED), and these must be treated as equivalent to a high school diploma for most purposes. A high school diploma or certificate can be noted on applications and resumes, and it can provide entry to jobs, schools, and training programs, but it is not always necessary. Many people live productive and fulfilling lives without a high school diploma; some have earned the highest academic degrees.
Can homeschoolers attend community college classes?
California community colleges can provide academic schooling for anyone who is able to benefit from it. (Accessibility varies from state to state.) Students who are engaged in high school studies can enroll concurrently at community colleges; policies and procedures vary from college to college. Anyone who is 18 or older can enroll simply on the basis of his or her age; there are no other admission requirements. People younger than 18 who want to be full-fledged college students can be admitted if they have a diploma or an equivalency certificate. Admission to many four-year colleges and universities, including the University of California and the California State University, can be gained solely on the basis of one’s record at a community college; a high school record is not necessary.
What services do homeschoolers want from the public school system?
Different homeschooling families desire different things from the public school system. Some want fairly structured programs, with conventional records for their children. Others would like access to school resources, but with considerable latitude allowed in how they may use those resources.
Within those differences, though, almost all homeschooling families enrolled in public school programs expect to have a significant role in determining the course and content of their child’s program, and prefer that any required recordkeeping be both simple and relevant to the work being done. Families who find the requirements of public school home study programs too burdensome usually will opt for a private homeschooling option rather than continue with a program they are unhappy with.
Many homeschooling families who would not otherwise be interested in public school programs might be interested in opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities, such as drama, music, and sports programs, or in particular specialized courses, such as advanced biology. Generally, such options are not currently available in California, although they often are in other states.
Many homeschoolers also dream of local schools where anyone, of any age, could wander in and out at will seeing if what they want to learn about was available at the time they wanted to learn it. Schools or other learning centers built more along the models of libraries or museums, where resources and ideas could be shared for the asking, would be very attractive to most homeschooling families.
What about college or jobs?
Homeschooled students have demonstrated that their lack of a conventional education is no barrier to college or career. Homeschools have performed well at hundreds of colleges and universities through the country, from community colleges to highly selective universities like Stanford and those of the Ivy League, from small private liberal arts schools to the military service academies.
In lieu of traditional high school transcripts, homeschoolers often provide, along with their SAT scores and letters of recommendation, narrative essays or portfolios as part of their admissions package. Many colleges and universities eagerly seek out homeschoolers and have developed standards for evaluating their less conventional academic records.
Some homeschoolers opt to take the California High School Proficiency Examination (CHSPE), and demonstrate their academic ability at a community college before transferring to a four-year institution.
Other teens find that a special interest or hobby develops into a part- or full-time business or employment opportunity, and find that such experience is an asset if they later decide to pursue a college-level education. Some, however, decide further education on their own--often combined with work--is a natural extension of their earlier homeschooling experience.