Homeschooling- parents or guardians teaching their children at home instead of sending them to a traditional school is legal in every state in the U.S. and in many other countries. Each state in the U.S. has different laws regarding homeschooling ranging from simple guidelines to more formal legal requirements. (Please follow the links at the bottom of this page to find legal and state support group information - or email us: HSN@HomeEducator.com. Make sure you supply your city and state so we can help you find area groups for you.

Legal Issues
Still the number one question: Is homeschooling legal? Yes.
Homeschooling is still a growing educational alternative for what I like to call the new educational entrepreneurs. Estimates range, but the most accurate guess puts the number of homeschoolers at about 750,000 - 1,000,000 in the U.S.
The best place to begin when researching the legal issues in your state is to contact a local, state or regional home education organization. Like homeschooling itself, these vary in services and the types of assistance offered. Most, however, provide basic information on state laws and will provide a list of support groups or contacts in your area. Support groups and even the larger state organizations are often run completely by volunteers who are also homeschooling their own children, and are therefore, very busy folks. They greatly appreciate a stamped-self-addressed envelope or a donation of some type to help defray mailing and printing costs. If you have a problem finding a group in your area Ü many are not listed in the yellow or white pages, yet Ü check with your local librarian, or post a notice on the library board.

Finding Support Organizations
Although a few states have developed helpful home education departments that handle homeschooling inquiries and even refer families to state and local organizations for support and extra help, we have not found that all state and local education departments are all-together friendly to homeschooling families. Try them and see what you experience, but don't be put off or discouraged if you get a less than positive response to your questions. Find a support group in your area to get the encouragement and correct information you need from experienced homeschooling families.
Almost every state has at least one organization that sponsors an annual conference of some kind. Some of these are religious in nature, others are secular and others are 'inclusive' meaning they welcome all homeschooling families regardless of religion or educational methods used. Still other groups have their own mission statements or bylaws that lean toward specific educational methods such as unschooling, the classic approach, or unit studies. Don't be discouraged if this seems like a foreign language to you at first, just keep on talking to different people, read a variety of books and magazines and above all, keep an open-mind, remembering that just because one family does something one way, does not mean that it is the absolute right way for you, too. The beauty of homeschooling is its focus on individualism and the opportunity to tailor-make programs from year to year to fit the needs of your children and your family.
In addition to state and local support organizations there are dozens of private ones that work with homeschoolers. Their services range from providing books, materials and other curriculum resources to consultation, testing and full-service satellite programs. These folks are in the full-time business of serving homeschooling families and are often in an excellent position to not only sell the supplies and services you need, but provide helpful information and referrals because they are working in the homeschooling community daily. Look below for the support organization resource pages on the Internet and check out the Resource Network links on the Home Educator's Family Times web page. These are reputable organizations that have been helping families effectively for years.
Since you are reading this on our website, you obviously have access to the Internet. If you haven't already discovered this fact, the Internet has thousands of sites which deal with homeschooling. Below is a list of some of the links we have found to be the most helpful in locating support groups and support organizations.

National Home Education Network
http://www.nhen.org

A-Z Homeschooling State Resources

The InterNETional HomeSchool NETwork
http://www.thehomeschoolnetwork.com/

Other Starting Places
Read books on homeschooling. Browse the web pages and links we offer and read the many different articles from our articles links. Books we most highly recommend are what I call the 'classics of homeschooling'. Although there have been many that have jumped on the book bandwagon to sell their ideas on homeschooling, there are some that remain the foundation stone and are well rooted in research and common-sense. These include:

The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook
by Dr. Raymond and Dorothy Moore (Thomas Nelson Publishers) Founders of the modern homeschool movement - practical, common sense.

Better Late Than Early
by Dr. Raymond and Dorothy Moore (Reader's Digest Books)

Home Spun Schools
by Dr. Raymond and Dorothy Moore

Home Grown Kids
by Dr. Raymond and Dorothy Moore

You CAN Teach Your Child Successfully (for grades 4 and up) Excellent resource!
by Dr. Ruth Beechick

Teach Your Own Exposes the realities of true education and real learning.
by John Holt (Holt Associates)

Homeschooling: A Practical Approach
by Gayle Graham

• See the Great Books section for more recommendations