An increasing number of military parents want to put an end to the old tradition of having their children switch schools every few years, and these parents have started to embrace the idea of home schooling. Military bases are also starting to support the idea, opening their doors to home schooling cooperatives and events and offering resources to families.
Military families move nearly every three years on average, which means a constant change that can be particularly difficult for children. Advocates say that home schooling can make this continual transition much easier for the children to cope with. Children do not have to worry about being behind due to the new school having a different curriculum to their old school, and do not have to adjust to having new teachers.
Many military families also point to similar reasons for choosing home schooling as their counterparts in the civilian world: providing for kids with special needs, concern about the school environment, and wanting to educate their children in a religious environment.
Military families that participate in home schooling programs rather than have their kids move from school to school say there are also other advantages, such as allowing them to be able to schedule school work around the rigorous training and deployment schedules of the family member actually in the military.
Home schooling in the military had little support in the 1990s; however, a 2002 military-wide memo began changing this attitude and today the great majority of military bases have a much friendlier disposition toward the program.
myMovingNews
