Children who are home-schooled do not necessarily get all of their education in their own home. According to Family Education home-schooled children are not sitting at desks or kitchen tables all day reading from textbooks. Lessons are often taught in the real world such as at the beach, at a museum, at parks, and a variety of places where children can see, touch, hear, and feel what they are learning. Some parents even take their children to other countries as a way of teaching about that country's culture, language, and history.
Children who receive their education at home do just as well, and often better on standardized tests as children who are educated in public and private schools. According to the Early Years Homeschool website, a report was released in 1990 by the National Home Education Research Institute that showed students who were home-schooled scored at or above the 80th percentile on standardized achievement tests, while the average for traditionally schooled students was the 50th percentile. ACT and SAT scores also show that students who are home-schooled score higher than those who are schooled in conventional settings.
A parent does not need to be a certified teacher to home-school her child. A number of resources are available to parents desiring to home-school that help them create a curriculum and create learning goals. Once a home-schooled student reaches higher grades and starts learning subjects a parent may not be prepared to teach, tutors or private teachers may be hired. Parents of home-schooled students may even pool money together and rent a lab for science education, and home-schooling parents often provide educational support to each others children. A father who is an accountant may teach a group of home-schooled kids math, and a mom who is a nurse may teach science to the same group.
Students who receive their education at home are just as likely to be accepted into the college of their choice or into the military as students in conventional schools. Military recruiters are actively reaching out to home-schooled students. Not only do colleges accept students who have been home-schooled, some even offer scholarships specifically to these students.