Once upon a time home schooling was rare. The only parents who took their children out of the state education were generally seen as irresponsible and to the outside world looked like they were trying to make a radical statement as if they were making a declaration of independence from the rest of the school system.

How times have changed. According to the National Centre For Education Statistics, almost 1.1 million children underwent home schooling in 2005 alone. That's a lot of children and great progress for parents advocating the right to teach their children from home.

Back in the 80s the conservative Christians campaigned for the rights to home schooling and thanks to their hard work the benefits of home schooling was recognised and eventually legalized in every State. Nowadays the typical home schooler is not religiously motivated and comes from all walks of life and backgrounds.

A Protection From Negative Influences

Parents take the decision to home school their children for so many different reasons. Recent surveys indicate that parents are actually fed up of the public school system where much of the learning is seen as superficial and compulsory.

Another major concern for parents is the negative impact the school environment has on their children ranging from drugs and bullying to negative peer pressure.

As a result, we now see a surprising mix of people who form the home schooling scenario that we see today. They literally come from all religious, social and economic backgrounds and they all have one thing in common: quite simply they want to provide meaningful and productive learning through a method that has a positive effect on the whole family unit.

Home schooling strengthens the bond between all members of the family.

Families who choose to home school their children generally have an enduring commitment to the sanctity of childhood. The children in these families tend to be the number one priority!

Home schooling allows parents to bring up children in a more natural and loving environment. It is a protection from bullying and other harmful influences. Public schools can make children nervous, difficult and even downright mean. Children who are taught at home are protected from these damaging negative influences, at least until they reach an age where they can handle it.

Home schooling involves the whole family and unites it. Everyone is put to work. The parents together form a close and unique bond with the children and vice versa. Any experience throughout the day can be turned into an educational experience. Even watching a movie together can become a learning experience. Trips to the libraries and other places become educational as well as recreational. All of these experiences make learning much more enjoyable for the child.

Because so much time is spent together, both the parents are aware of exactly what is going into their child's head and heart. It also allows parents to have greater control on the kind of religious and moral values that they want their child to develop.

Home Schooling And The Positive Challenges

Even financial challenges can have a positive effect. Home schooling families are often dependent on the income of one earning member. That means that spending often has to be limited and the family work from a set budget. This helps to bring the family members together and everybody gets involved in the process of saving money.

It is not hard to see that having a parent at home to supervise, nurture and care for the children brings with it a lot of love and caring. Although one parent may be more involved with the schooling, particularly if the other parent has to work full time, you will find that both parents are automatically involved and there is no room for boredom.

It would be nave to think that home schooling is all plain sailing. Of course problems can crop up, and on occasions you might sometimes wonder if you have made the right decision. However, when you look at the benefits and see what a positive, happy effect it has on your kids you will see that the sacrifices and challenges are well worth it.

The knowledge that you are there at all times for your children and for them to know that they can always rely on you to offer protection and guidance will confirm to you that you have made the right decision. Home schooling truly becomes a richly rewarding experience for the whole family.