Homeschooling: A Growing Educational Alternative

by Jayne Matthews
Baltimore Times
Originally posted 5/6/2005

At one point in my quest to find an educational setting that would best meet my son's needs, I gave some thought to homeschooling him. Looking back, I am sure I was considering homeschooling more out of frustration with his lack of academic progress than a real desire to remove him from a regular classroom. I felt that role of parents was challenging enough and thought that assuming full responsibility for educating him was daunting to say the least. Then there was my concern that he would miss the opportunity to develop good socialization skills with his peers. Another concern was the cost. Not just the cost of teaching materials, but how would it impact our family financially if I had to reduce my working hours in order to be available to meet the Maryland Department of Education's mandated hours of instruction. (Read full story as writer interviews homeschoolers in Maryland.)