Learning outside the lines: Home schooling in Kansas / LJWorld.com

More Kansas parents are choosing to home school, convinced they can provide their children a better education than public or private schools. Whether motivated by religion, scheduling flexibility or an aversion to bureaucracy, these families say home education thrives in a state where few regulations govern what and how they teach.

On home schooling

6News video: Number of home schooled children increasing
6News video: Learning outside the lines: Home-schoolers appreciate flexible schedules
6News video: Learning Outside the Lines: Home-schooled students hone their social skills without the structure of traditional school events
6News video: Learning Outside the Lines: A look at virtual schools in the home-school world
6News video: College transition challenging for home-schooled students

In their own words

Chats

Cathy Barfield: Chat about home schooling

Explore the data

Photo galleries

Videos

Documents

Lawrence Virtual School Annual Report (November 2006) (PDF)

Behind the story

Journal-World reporters Terry Rombeck and Mindie Paget talk about their series “Learning outside the lines.”

Faces of home schooling

According to national statistics, home schooling is a fast-growing trend in American education. Locally, home school parents believe their choice is the best for their children.

More parents opt for home schooling: By Mindie Paget, Terry Rombeck; May 13, 2007 · 103 Comments
Experts debate research findings: Some data shows home-schoolers score higher than students in public education settings; By Mindie Paget, Terry Rombeck; May 13, 2007 · 1 Comment
Three couples share reasons for opting out of public, private schools: By Terry Rombeck; May 13, 2007 · 5 Comments

Playing with others

Home school parents say concerns over socialization are blown out of proportion. But some public school advocates and a psychologist say there are benefits to being in a traditional school setting.

Home-schoolers say socialization not a problem: By Mindie Paget, Terry Rombeck; May 13, 2007 · 36 Comments
Locals helped change state activities policy: By Terry Rombeck; May 13, 2007 · 2 Comments

Rules to teach by

States vary widely for how much they regulate home-schoolers. Kansas is one of the more permissive states in the nation when it comes to home education, and some leaders say there should be more oversight.

Kansas home school laws open to interpretation: By Mindie Paget, Terry Rombeck; May 13, 2007 · 22 Comments
National group pleased with Kansas home school laws: By Terry Rombeck; May 13, 2007

Home pages, home rooms

The rise of the Web and virtual education has made home schooling easier to do. Local co-ops can help parents wade through the abundance of resources.