While more and more complaints are being made about the public school systems, homeschooling is becoming a very viable option for education in America, with over a million children currently receiving this alternative form of schooling. While many argue otherwise, homeschooling is quickly becoming the best option for education in America because of the increased safety, encouragement of creativity, and strong focus on family values that it provides. The individuality of this form of schooling allows each family to get the most of their educational experience. 

Homeschooling is a progressive form of education, in which parents choose to have their children receive their education within their own homes rather than sending them to a traditional school every day. Families choose this method of schooling for many reasons; some of them being flaws within the public school system, educational beliefs, religious purposes, and their child's goals and progression. Homeschooling began to gain popularity in the 1970s when authors such as Dorothy and Raymond Moore and John Holt brought attention to this interesting approach. Homeschooling is legal in all fifty states and there are now over two million children being homeschooled in the United States, that rate increasing by fifteen percent a year. 

The growing popularity of homeschooling has allowed for a vast variety of resources and available curricula. Homeschooling families have resources such as catalogs available to them filled with different learning techniques, educational philosophies, and teacher instructions. Homeschooled students study the typical subjects they would in traditional schools, but focus most on those that spark their interest the most. This allows for higher success rates because the students truly enjoy their learning material, rather than being forced to learn things they are not particularly interested in. 

Some people may pose the question: if homeschooling is such a great option, why is it not the most common form of education? That is because the most common form of traditional education lies in public schools. It is often the easiest choice because their tax dollars contribute to public schools in their area, whether their children attend those schools or not. Supplies such as desks and books are supplied by the school. 

The next most popular option is private or parochial schools. Most of these schools have strong affiliations with churches and religious beliefs are the driving force, compelling parents to send their children to these schools to learn in a morally stable environment. These schools are also popular because they tend to have graduates that receive acceptance into the most prestigious colleges and universities. This is the second most common option only because these schools often come with high tuition fees, strict codes of conduct, and mandatory participation in religious services provided at the school. 

Homeschooling is a better option for families for many reasons. One reason being that any religious family may very well find the public school system to be low in moral standing. It could even be argued that the public school system can promote and coincide with atheism. This is because creationism is not allowed to be taught in curriculum and evolution is taught as fact. Because students spend approximately fifteen thousand hours in school by the time they graduate as seniors, it is important that parents are comfortable with the environments in which their children spend that time. 

President Ronald Reagan ordered the National Commission on Excellence in Education to complete an investigation in the public school system in 1982. Two major problems were reported in this investigation. The first problem was that students who graduated public schools were not very competitive in the work force. The second problem was that other countries' education systems were quickly surpassing those of the United States. This report confirmed the suspicion that American education in the form of public schools was a staple of mediocrity which was likely to do substantial damage to the future of the nation. The study also confirmed that the public school systems were subpar and needed rebuilding to reach improvement. 

The first public school system, developed in Massachusetts, was designed to ensure that children could read and thoroughly understand the Bible. Public school prayer was abolished in 1962. This started the moral decline in American schools, simply because prayer in school was considered unconstitutional and an invasion of a student's basic rights. The biblical principles that this country was founded upon are now banned from schools. 

Aside from the academic issues occurring in the public school system, students are also forced to face peer pressures of all kinds. The increase in illegal drug use and alcohol consumption, along with immoral sex and gang violence is a problem far too common in the public school system. For example, The Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse surveyed 38 of the school districts in Texas in order to study substance abuse in teens in the public school system. The study concluded that 76% of students of high school students have consumed alcohol. An even more alarming statistic: 16% of middle school students had consumed alcohol already. An even more startling issue is illegal drug use; the most common being marijuana. These studies showed that 30% of students, from junior high to high school, had experimented with drugs such as marijuana. 

Another reason to deviate from the traditional public school systems is that students do not learn critical thinking skills. Public schools are now focused on teaching students to memorize facts, only to pass standardized tests run by each state. Many schools have been forced to cut programs such as art, music, and foreign language because of a severe lack of funding. Public schools also face difficulties finding qualified teachers to work for them, as many college graduates are not drawn to teaching because of the extremely low wages and less than ideal working conditions. It is also known that fifty percent of teachers quit their teaching positions in the public school system within their first five years. Forty percent of middle school teachers did not even major in the subjects that they are teaching. 

When parents discover the immense shortcomings of the public school system and do not have the financial ability to send their children to private schools, they are left with only one feasible option and that option is homeschooling, for many reasons. First, no child is the same and it can be very difficult for teachers to adjust their methods to fit their needs. This is nearly impossible in the public school system due to the overwhelming numbers of students each teacher must educate. Teachers in the public school system have no freedom to change the curriculum that is already given to them. This is why homeschooling is a valuable resource. It is very difficult to attend the needs of every child in a large classroom. Homeschooling allows students and teachers to work at their own pace. The curriculum is specifically built around the student's needs. 

Homeschooling is a liberating option for many parents and students. School authorities are not the ones in charge and there is no peer pressure to be dealt with. Homeschooling also allows for a dramatic increase in family time, which not only helps build bonds, but also provides the parents the opportunity to teach traditions and moral values. It can also be argued that no one is more qualified to teach a student than their own parent. Parents have an undeniable love for their children and know their needs better than anyone else ever could. Having a parent as a teacher helps build character through their own family values, and allows for the best education possible by focusing on the student's academic needs as well. 

