According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately two million students are home-schooled in the United States. Homeschooling is legal in all 50 states, although specific regulations vary by state. The amount of regulation varies widely, from no notice required for the school district to low regulation requiring notification only, moderate regulation requiring notification, test scores and professional evaluation of student progress, to high regulation states that require everything a moderate regulation state does plus curriculum approval, teacher qualification of parents and the like. Alaska, Texas, Oklahoma and Michigan are all examples of states that don't require any notification of a parent's intent to homeschool their child. North Dakota, New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island are examples of states with high levels of regulation.
Home schooling is much more strictly controlled in Europe than it is in the United States. In Bulgaria, for example, home schooling is only allowed if a child has a mental or physical condition, and parent teachers are required to adhere to a government educational program. The families.com website estimates that there are fewer than 100 home schooling families in Bulgaria. Families who wish to home-school in the Netherlands must obtain a religious waiver to public school.
In some European countries, home schooling is illegal altogether. One such example is Germany. Families found to be home schooling in Germany are persecuted by the government.
In some European countries, home schooling is legal but school officials make it exceedingly difficult for families to do so. In the Ukraine, for example, local school authorities enforce extremely restrictive regulations on home schooling. As a result, only 100 or so families home-school in the country.
Some Asian countries allow home schooling while others are adamantly opposed to it. The governments of Shanghai and Beijing oppose home schooling, and few families practice home schooling in China, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong and Indonesia.
Home schooling is legal in Taiwan, although parents must have their lesson plans approved. Home-schooled students receive diplomas through the school system. Home schooling is also legal and growing in popularity in Japan.