In recent years, home-schoolers haved been disproportionately represented in spelling and geography bees. But their victory this month in the the National Mock Trial Championship, held in St. Paul, Minn., is more intriguing still, because this contest -designed to foster appreciation for the U.S. system of law- cannot be written off as
an exercise in memorization. As the competition's Web page states, it is based on "critical thinking, reading, speaking, and advocacy." -
Wall Street Journal
Time is one of the key differences between traditional school and home school, says Laura Derrick, president of the National Home Education Network, a web of support groups for home schooling parents and students. Derrick points out that without the administrative necessities of traditional school -dealing with things like attendance rolls, discipline, doctor's notes and permission slips- educating takes less time. "These families spend often just a few hours [a day], sometimes as little as one hour with
small children. And the rest of their time is left for them to enrich their lives." Derrick says. -
CNN.com
The majority of the approximately 54 million U.S. students still attend tradition public schools, but new educational options -such as charter schools, home schools and distance learning- are gaining ground and remain a subject of debate. Twelve years after Minnesota opened the first one, charter schools -publicly financed schools that operate
largely independent of government regulation- now count nearly 700,000 students. Recent figures put the number of children taught at home at more than a million,
a 29 percent jump from 1999. - CNN.com Education
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