Table 3-2. Number and percentage of school-age children who were homeschooled, by parents’ reasons given as important and most important for homeschooling: 2003
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|---|
| |
Important
|
|
Most important
|
| Reason |
Number |
Percent1 |
|
Number |
Percentage
distribution |
|
| A concern about environment of other schools2 |
935,000 |
85.4 |
|
341,000 |
31.2 |
| A dissatisfaction with academic instruction at other schools |
748,000 |
68.2 |
|
180,000 |
16.5 |
| A desire to provide religious or moral instruction |
793,000 |
72.3 |
|
327,000 |
29.8 |
| Child has a physical or mental health problem |
174,000 |
15.9 |
|
71,000 |
6.5 |
| Child has other special needs |
316,000 |
28.9 |
|
79,000 |
7.2 |
| Other reasons3 |
221,000 |
20.1 |
|
97,000 |
8.8 |
|
1 Percentages do not sum to 100 percent because respondents could choose more than one reason.
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2 Such as safety, drugs, or negative peer pressure.
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3 Parents homeschool their children for many reasons that are often unique to their family situation. “Other reasons” parents gave for homeschooling include the following: It was the child’s choice, to allow parents more control over what child was learning, and to provide more flexibility.
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NOTE: Homeschooled children are those ages 5–17 educated by their parents full or part time who are in a grade equivalent to kindergarten through 12th grade. Excludes students who were enrolled in public or private school more than 25 hours per week and students who were homeschooled only because of temporary illness. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. See supplemental note 3 for more information about the National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES).
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SOURCE: Princiotta, D., Bielick, S., Van Brunt, A., and Chapman, C. (2006). Homeschooling in the United States: 2003 (NCES 2005–101), table 4. Data from U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey of the National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES), 2003.
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