Homeschooling in Illinois

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The mother’s heart is the child’s schoolroom.

—Henry Ward Beecher

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Illinois Homeschooling

This is your one stop information center for everything related to homeschooling in Illinois. Looking for a local homeschool support group? Need help teaching science or art? Want to read the homeschooling laws in Illinois? Want to learn more about homeschooling in general? You’ll find that and much, much more all here!

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HOOville
Homeschooling offers special challenges (as well as blessings) to those who have only one student. Find help and camaraderie in "HOOville." HOO = Homeschooling Only One.
Homeschooling Conferences: Learning, Bonding, and Recharging
Dawn Davis talks about her own experience attending homeschooling conferences and how they can recharge you and help prevent burn-out. She also discusses the benefits of teens attending conferences.
How to Make the Most of Math Manipulatives
Marilyn Burns discusses creative and effective ways to use manipulatives to teach math. Much of her information is oriented towards classroom instruction, but there is great information for homeschoolers too. She discusses the seven "musts" for using manipulatives, how to introduce a Geoboard, pattern block activities, and more.
The Case for Authentic Assessment
Assessment is authentic when we directly examine student performance on worthy intellectual tasks. Traditional assessment, by contract, relies on indirect or proxy 'items'--efficient, simplistic substitutes from which we think valid inferences can be made about the student's performance at those valued challenges.
Top 5 Reasons Why Parents Homeschool Their Kids

Homeschooling has been on the rise in the United States over the last ten years. According to the U.S. government and education researchers, the number of students being homeschooled has doubled in the last decade. So, why do parents choose to homeschool their children? Through and anecdotal evidence, Calvert Education has put together the top five reasons why parents decide to homeschool their kids: avoiding a negative school environment, getting a higher quality education, improving social interactions, supporting a learning disabled child, and educating during family times of change. 

You Might Be Homeschooled If...
you check out more than 10 books each time you visit the library...or you have ever finished your schoolwork before breakfast...or you consider sled riding phys ed. More homeschool humor.
Evidence for Homeschooling: Constitutional Analysis in Light of Social Science Research
Homeschooling is a time-honored and widespread practice. It often presents, however, a conflict between the constitutional right of parents to direct the education of their children and the State’s right to impose regulations in the interest of ensuring an educated citizenry. The U.S. Supreme Court has made it clear that any regulation impacting this constitutional right must be “reasonable.” Courts have therefore generally resolved homeschooling cases by examining whether State regulation of homeschooling places an unreasonable burden on the rights of parents. The courts, however, have altogether failed to address another, more fundamental question: whether the State regulation, in fact, advances the State interest. A regulation that fails this criterion cannot be “reasonable.” Using a recent California appellate court case that initially upheld a regulation prohibiting parents from homeschooling their children unless they first obtained a state teaching credential, we show how recent social science research should impact the analysis. Instead of assuming away the issue of whether the regulation advances the State interest, we show that empirical research will allow courts to be able to answer this threshold question.1
Homeschooling Students With Different Learning Styles (Visual, Read/Write, Auditory and Kinesthetic)

Do you know how your child learns best? If you're not sure, this guide can help you figure it out. Because people learn in different ways, with diverse ways of capturing information and processing knowledge, you'll be more successful in your homeschooling if you can understand these particular learning styles for your children. Responding to your children's learning styles will help both them and you become more effective and enthusiastic about learning in your home. This guide helps you understand visual learning styles, auditory learning styles, reading/writing learning styles, kinesthetic learning styles, and offers information and tips to get the most out of your understanding of your own child. 

How to Start Homeschooling
When you've made the decision to homeschool, where do you start? This guide from Sonlight Curriculum explains the pros and cons of a home education lifestyle, offers free resources, and has a How to Start Homeschooling checklist to help you connect with other homeschooling families, create your homeschool vision, and choose curriculum. 
A Homeschooler's History of Homeschooling - Part 2: Influences
Cheryl Seelhoff continues her look at the history of homeschooling by examining the influences of unschooling, Raymond and Dorothy Moore, Bill Gothard, and more.

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