Motivations
| Reason for homeschooling | Number of homeschooled students |
Percent | s.e. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Can give child better education at home | 415,000 | 48.9 | 3.79 |
| Religious reason | 327,000 | 38.4 | 4.44 |
| Poor learning environment at school | 218,000 | 25.6 | 3.44 |
| Family reasons | 143,000 | 16.8 | 2.79 |
| To develop character/morality | 128,000 | 15.1 | 3.39 |
| Object to what school teaches | 103,000 | 12.1 | 2.11 |
| School does not challenge child | 98,000 | 11.6 | 2.39 |
| Other problems with available schools | 76,000 | 9.0 | 2.40 |
| Child has special needs/disability | 69,000 | 8.2 | 1.89 |
| Transportation/convenience | 23,000 | 2.7 | 1.48 |
| Child not old enough to enter school | 15,000 | 1.8 | 1.13 |
| Parent's career | 12,000 | 1.5 | 0.80 |
| Could not get into desired school | 12,000 | 1.5 | 0.99 |
| Other reasons* | 189,000 | 22.2 | 2.90 |
Parents give many different reasons for homeschooling their children. In the 2003 and 2007 NHES, parents were asked whether particular reasons for homeschooling their children applied to them. The three reasons selected by parents of more than two-thirds of students were concern about the school environment, to provide religious or moral instruction, and dissatisfaction with the academic instruction available at other schools. From 2003 to 2007, the percentage of students whose parents reported homeschooling to provide religious or moral instruction increased from 72 percent to 83 percent. In 2007, the most common reason parents gave as the most important was a desire to provide religious or moral instruction (36 percent of students). This reason was followed by a concern about the school environment (such as safety, drugs, or negative peer pressure) (21 percent), dissatisfaction with academic instruction (17 percent), and "other reasons" including family time, finances, travel, and distance (14 percent). Other reasons include more flexibility in educational practices and family core stability for children with learning disabilities or prolonged chronic illnesses, or for children of missionaries, military families, or families who move often, as frequently as every two years.
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Famous quotes containing the word motivations:
“The wider the range of possibilities we offer children, the more intense will be their motivations and the richer their experiences. We must widen the range of topics and goals, the types of situations we offer and their degree of structure, the kinds and combinations of resources and materials, and the possible interactions with things, peers, and adults.”
—Loris Malaguzzi (1920–1994)