A Study of How Parental Involvement in Homeschooling Differs by Grade-Level

This study examines how homeschool instruction differs by grade level. It does so by using logistic and OLS regression to analyze two waves of the National Household Education Survey and the resulting sample of almost 1,000 respondents throughout the United States. Results indicate despite an increase in the number of programs, resources, and networks available to homeschool families, homeschooling is still very much learning at home directed or overseen by someone at home. Use of instructional sources outside the home is infrequent overall, but students in middle and high school grades are more likely to use the internet for instruction. Indeed, methods of instruction and curricular sources used by homeschoolers suggest the learning of those in middle and high school grades may be guided less directly by parents than in the elementary grades. Finally, working homeschool parents of children in all grade levels are more likely to find an external instructional replacement when their involvement is reduced by work.