question about the history of homeschooling

[OakLakeNC]

I never heard about homeschooling until the mid-1980s. Did the laws change? In Texas in the 1960s and 1970s, I grew up thinking it was illegal in all cases not to send your kids off to school.

Each state has it's own laws, but it is not illegal anywhere in the US. California is known to be very strict, you must be a certified tutor. But these days, with online options, there is a lot of flexibility. Many families are probably doing some hybrid homeschooling- with some online public school courses and some parent led courses.

Not sure what the laws were in the 1960/70s. It might be have been illegal then.

Homeschooling is a mixed bag. You have some of the best and some of the worst. Sadly it is too often used as a cover for physical and sexual abuse, (Hana Williams, Erica Parsons and the four homeschool brothers in NC that were all raping their sister) Then you have the flip side- children who work hard and are not confined to the traditional curriculum box. Children allowed to study and pursue interests at their own pace. That works well for many, with the freedom of homeschooling some students can start excelling early on. Most families probably won't homeschool straight from pre k through 12th grade. There are usually combinations of schooling that are used. There are even these two day a week hybrid schools here, you mostly study at home but you have some direction and oversite outside of the home as well.

I always wondered about homeschool GPAs and report cards. Are there parents giving their kids Ds and Fs? Probably not. Public school kids get Ds and Fs all the time. When it comes to comparisons between homeschool students and public schools, there are some things, like grades, you can't accurately compare.