Making Positive Connections With Homeschoolers

By Request...January 2000

Research: What do Homeschoolers Want?

To be sure, not all homeschooling families want to work with schools. Of those who do, there will be many differences in the types of services they need, the public school facilities and activities they want access to, and the level of involvement they are comfortable with (Mayberry et al., 1995). The bottom line is that most homeschoolers want to maintain control over their children's education (Mirochnik & McIntire, 1991). As long as their authority and their autonomy are respected, however, homeschoolers may be open to a wide range of services and activities sponsored by the local school district (Guterson, 1992).

According to Mayberry, Knowles, Ray, and Marlow (1995), the programs and services homeschoolers are most interested in are:

Use of school libraries
Achievement testing
Textbooks
Sports programs, band, and other extracurricular activities
Access to research on home education
Part-time enrollment in certain classes, such as foreign language, drama, vocational education, music, driver's education, and higher-level math and science (see also Brockett, 1995)

Homeschooling parents are least interested in:

Health screening
Special education
Counseling and psychological services (Ray [1991] cited in Mirochnik & McIntire, 1991)

The best way to find out what types of programs homeschooling families in your district would welcome is to ask them (Guterson, 1992). Because homeschoolers in most states are required to register with the school district or state each year, administrators should have little trouble locating them to discuss their needs and the types of services that are of interest to them. If districts are unable to track homeschoolers on their own, local and state homeschooling organizations may be able to provide the necessary information.

It should be noted that homeschoolers in many areas have already developed extensive networks through which they exchange ideas, share textbooks, and offer small group classes and activities (Mayberry et al., 1995). Schools may want to consider working directly with homeschooling groups and organizations to determine local needs and design programs if such groups are open to a partnership. Doing so would help prevent duplication of services, would provide an opportunity to build more productive relationships with the homeschooling community, and could lead to increased buy-in for the program among homeschooling parents.