Albert Mohler and USA Today (HT: Josh Harris) chronicle the growing number of American children being homeschooled. Dr. Mohler:
Homeschooling was the choice of families for 2.9 percent of all school-age children in the United States in 2007, involving 1.5 million students. By comparison, in 1999 only 850,000 children were homeschooled. By 2003, that number was up to 1.1 million. This report indicates significant jumps in homeschooling as compared to other educational options. In fact, the report reveals that the actual number of American children whose parents choose homeschooling for at least part of their education exceeds 3 million. According to the report, 1.5 million children are exclusively homeschooled while another 1.5 million are homeschooled for at least part of the school week.
What’s particularly interesting is that the dominant motivation among homeschooling parents is “a desire to provide children specifically religious or moral instruction.” Also, 6.8% of college-educated parents home-school, up from 4.9% in 1999.