| There are many reasons people chose to home | | | | Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP). |
| school their children. Some turn to home schooling | | | | Students wishing to continue to college must take |
| because of religious convictions, some because of | | | | the SAT in the 11th grade. |
| disabilities, some live so isolated that traditional | | | | Other than that, homeschooled teachers have a |
| schooling is logistically prohibitive, and many are | | | | wide berth when it comes to what subjects they |
| simply fed up with the implosion of the public | | | | teach, how they teach them, and when they |
| school system. | | | | teach them. Some of Colorado's homeschooled |
| We have all heard that our public school system | | | | students are educated through a concept called |
| has fallen behind other western countries, but how | | | | "unschooling" or "open classroom" where they |
| bad is it really? We are ranked 33rd in reading | | | | learn from life's experiences. Rather than a |
| behind countries like Turkey and Mexico. We are | | | | classroom, whether it be in the home or taught |
| ranked 27th in mathematics and 22nd in science. | | | | virtually, the "unschooled" learn by doing. The |
| A growing number of parents think they can do | | | | philosophy is that most of the lessons from |
| better. In the United States there is an estimated | | | | school that have real world applications can be |
| 3 million homeschooled students. Today in the | | | | best learned in the real world. |
| state of Colorado there is an estimated 9,300 | | | | So, what does it take to become homeschooled |
| students and that number is reported to be | | | | in Colorado? Not very much, however, if ones |
| increasing by 15% per year. | | | | goal was to elevate the children's education to |
| Colorado state laws are homeschooled | | | | that of, let's say Korea, then they would probably |
| deregulated at best. In 1988, Colorado Senate Bill | | | | structure their schools much like traditional schools |
| 56 exempted home school instructors from | | | | with state approved or accelerated curricula and |
| certification requirements. They are required to | | | | online instruction. Homeschooled students |
| notify the local school district of their intent to | | | | consistently outperform their traditional peers in |
| home school 14 days prior to beginning their | | | | standardized testing. |
| home program. The parents or instructors are | | | | Is homeschooling the universal answer to our |
| additionally required to maintain records of | | | | declining global academic ranking? No. Our society |
| attendance and immunization. Homeschooled | | | | as a whole requires a strong and effective public |
| students are required to be tested or evaluated in | | | | school system; however, Colorado makes |
| the third, fifth, seventh, and ninth grades. It is up | | | | homeschooling a viable alternative. |
| to the parents if they want to be tested with the | | | | |