The rate of children being homeschooled has been on the rise since the 1970s. According to homeschooling statistics put out by the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), it is estimated that the annual rate of growth of the number of children being homeschooled in the U.S. is between 7% to 15%. Homeschooling statistics from 1999 estimated that approximately 850,000 were homeschooled. This number jumped again in 2003 to over one million children according to the National Center for Education Statistics National Household Education (NHES). NHES compiled data showing that in 2007, over 1.5 million children in the U.S. were homeschooled.

To clarify these statistics, these homeschooling statistics do not include children who were homebound for temporary illness. About twenty percent of homeschooled children are also enrolled in an outside school, whether private or public, but their attendance at these outside schools generally amount to less than twenty-five hours per week. When surveyed, parents stated that their strongest reasons for homeschooling their children were because they were dissatisfied or had concerns with the following:

* religious or moral instruction 36%
* school environment 21%
* academic instruction 17%
* other 26%

According to homeschooling statistics reported by the HSLDA, parents who choose to home school their children, generally have more education than those parents who do not. Eighty-eighty percent of homeschool parents had attended college, and twenty-four percent of homeschool households had at least one parent who was a certified teacher.

Additionally, families who choose homeschooling for their children, on average, have a higher median income than families who do not. Homeschooling statistics also show that most homeschooled children come from families with three or more children. Homeschooled children generally watch far less television than children who attend traditional school out of the home.



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