The U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) found that about 850,000 of the 50 million children in the United States, or about 1.7 percent of children ages five through 17, are being taught at home. The report was based on information gathered during 1999. According to NCES, parents of homeschoolers had higher levels of educational attainment than did parents of nonhomeschoolers, although the household income of homeschoolers in 1999 was no different than nonhomeschoolers. The majority of homeschoolers live in a home with two parents.

Parents gave a wide variety of reasons for homeschooling their children. While some home school for religious reasons, many are choosing to become their child's teacher because they feel that they are able to give their child a better education at home or because of a poor learning environment at school.

Among parents surveyed, 8.2% said that they had chosen to home school their child because the child had special needs or some type of disability. NCES found that approximately 69,000 children with special needs were being home schooled in the United States in 1999.

Thomas: A Home School/Special Needs Success Story

"He was a boy who learned only by doing. At age six, he had to see how fire worked and accidentally burned his father's barn to the ground. The next fall he began school, where he alternated between letting his mind travel to distant places and keeping his body in perpetual motion in his seat. Because he was distractible and restless, he did not last long in a formal classroom. His teacher called him "addled." Eventually, his mother had to home-school him. As an adult he would recall: 'My father thought I was stupid and I almost decided I must be a dunce.'

"The core of his learning was his passion for experiments. As his new teacher, his mother have his talent free rein. At the same time she infused him with the disciplines of study. With time and determination, he mastered his runaway mind. He grew up to become a prolific inventor, bringing the magic of electricity and sound recording into the world. He either inventred or imporved hundreds of practical conveniences. It is said that Thomas Alva Edison succeeded where others failed or never tried, because it was his nature to dare."
-from "The Edison Trait", by Lucy Jo Palladino, Ph.D. (published by Times Books).

Not all children who have difficulty in school grow up to become Thomas Edison, but many of them have similar experiences in school. The same reasons that made Nancy Edison home school her son have caused other parents to keep their children in class at home.

The home school environment lends itself to the type of personal attention and hands-on learning that works well for children who have special needs. This is ultimate Individual Education Plan, with the curriculum structured around the needs and interests of one specific student.

NCES found that one of out five homeschoolers are enrolled in either a public or private school for some aspect of their education, typically for extra curricular activities such as music or sports or for special services like speech therapy or other needs. Under IDEA, public schools are required to provide special education services even if the student is not enrolled as a full-time student.

Home schooling isn't for everyone. It requires self-discipline on the part of the student and the parent. In addition to teaching your child, the home schooling parent must also deal with the legal and administrative duties imposed by state and local school boards. It may also mean adjusting the family budget as one parent gives up an income to stay at home and teach. But, for many families, the sacrifice is worth it.