e home schooling process itself, Lines (1995) has pointed out that:
There is no one way to do it. One family may begin with opening ceremonies to signal the start of the daily routine and follow a scheduled curriculum. Another family may opt for child-led learning, where parents provide help as the child expresses interest in a topic. Usually parents provide supervision and help, but most children assume increasing responsibility for choosing and carrying out projects as they mature. (p. 1)
The upsurge in home schooling has been met with a good deal of research interest. One area of interest has been determining the reasons why parents elect to home school their children. According to Muncy (1996), reasons for home schooling can vary widely. They include the facts that:
1. Many parents believe that children learn best when they are free to explore areas of interest in an independent, self-directed way, and only home schooling can fully provide such a setting.
2. Parents believe that schools confine children's learning experiences to textbooks, classrooms and grade levels with the concern being more on moving children through the system than having them learn.
3. Religious parents, such as evangelical Christians, believe that religious instruction should be a vital part of learning and elect to home school so that their children may learn a curriculum that includes biblical principles and their applications to various subject areas.
4. Many parents believe that the "socialization" that occurs in schools is generally inimical to learning and personal growth.
5. Many parents believe that home schooling is a way of strengthening the bonds of the family.
Noting that home schooling is one of the fastest growing educational options in the United States, and that currently about one percent of the total school-age population is being home schooled, Pearson (1996) reported that parents choose home schooling fo...