Making Positive Connections With Homeschoolers

By Request...January 2000

Introduction

Just 20 years ago, many educators would have balked at the idea of homeschoolers requesting permission to participate in public school activities. Few would have believed that homeschooling parents—who fought so hard for the right to remove their children from formal school settings—would be at all interested in the programs and services public schools provide. However, as homeschooling has become both more common and more widely accepted as an alternative to public education, the relationship between schools and homeschoolers has begun to change. Mayberry, Knowles, Ray, & Marlow (1995) note that "since the mid-1980s, homeschool parents increasingly have sought to cooperate with school boards, principals, and teachers." At the same time, more and more schools have opened their doors to homeschooled children, offering access to libraries and computer labs, participation in school athletic programs, and, in some cases, part-time enrollment in regular academic classes (Lines, 1996). It is no longer unusual to find a homeschooled student playing in the school band, working side-by-side with regular public education students on a science project, or sending an e-mail to a district teacher to ask for help in English or math.

While many schools voluntarily open their doors to homeschoolers, others are mandated to serve these students by courts or state law. In other areas, costly court battles ensue as homeschoolers fight school districts for various services and accommodations. In the meantime, the number of children being homeschooled in the United States continues to grow. Over the past two decades, the number has skyrocketed, from approximately 15,000 home taught students in 1980 to an estimated 700,000 in the 1995-96 school year (Lines, 1995; Lines, 1999). If this trend continues, serving students who aren't regularly enrolled in the public school will become inevitable.

If successful partnerships between schools and homeschoolers are to be developed, educators need to begin thinking about how best to serve non-public school students (Mayberry et al., 1995; Pearson, 1996). As research and experience show, thoughtfully conceived programs can benefit both students and schools. This booklet takes a look at what has been learned so far about school-homeschool cooperation and offers tips and suggestions for building successful partnerships with homeschooling families. The Northwest Sampler profiles several different Northwest school systems that have implemented programs to reach out to students who are learning at home and who have worked to accommodate homeschoolers' requests for involvement.