Home-Schooling

By Jerilyn Watson
Broadcast: September 4, 2003
This is Robert Covent with the VOA Special English Education Report.
A new school year has begun in America. But some children do not go to school. Instead, they learn at home, usually with their parents as teachers. Educational companies, libraries, school systems and the Internet provide families with teaching¹ material.
Homeschooling is increasingly² popular. Homeschooling groups estimate³ that two-million children, around two percent, learn at home. The last government estimate was eight-hundred-fifty-thousand in nineteen-ninety-nine. Current numbers are not expected until next year.
Some parents choose homeschooling because of their religious beliefs. Others say it provides more time for the family to be together.
Many parents also believe homeschooling avoids problems of a lot of traditional schools. One problem is classes with too many students.
Critics, though, say children need to attend school with other children to help them learn things like social skills. They also say that some homeschooled children do not get a very good education.
All fifty states and the District of Columbia 1)permit homeschooling. Some, however, require more preparation by parents or testing of children than others do.
Homeschooling is as old as the country. In farm areas, people often lived far from a school. Then, in eighteen-fifty-two, the state of Massachusetts passed the first law to require children to attend school.
The public education system grew. By the nineteen-sixties and seventies, however, some Americans believed that traditional education was not helping⁴ their children. So a number of parents began homeschooling.
Homeschool expert Linda Dobson says some parents began to teach their children at home when some religious schools closed. This happened after changes in tax laws in the nineteen-eighties. Since then, she says, more people have joined the movement -- rich and poor, and people from many races, religions and political beliefs.
There is even a National Home School Honor⁵ Society. Membership⁶ is based in part on the same tests that students take in school.
Homeschooled children go to college and have also won top competitions. These include this year's National Geographic⁷ 2)Bee. Fourteen-year-old James Williams knew that the Indian state of Goa is a former colony⁸ of Portugal.
This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Jerilyn Watson. This is Robert Covent.
注释:
1) permit [pE(:)5mit] v.许可，允许
2) bee [bi:] n.（美）集会，聚集

1 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

2 increasingly   

adv.逐渐地，日益地，逐渐增加地

参考例句：

• Rivers are being increasingly made use of by man. 河流正在日益为人类所利用。
• I find it increasingly difficult to live within my income.我发现靠收入过日子越来越难了。

3 estimate   

n.估计，估量；评价，看法；vt.估计，估量

参考例句：

• We estimate the cost to be five thousand dollars.我们估计费用为5000美元。
• The lowest estimate would put the worth of the jewel at ＄200.按最低的评估这块宝石也值200美元。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 honor   

n.光荣；敬意；荣幸；vt.给…以荣誉；尊敬

参考例句：

• I take your visit as a great honor.您的来访是我莫大的光荣。
• It is a great honor to receive that prize.能拿到那个奖是无上的光荣。

6 membership   

n.成员资格，会员全体，从属关系

参考例句：

• I must renew my membership of the sailing club.我必须延续我的航海俱乐部会员的资格。
• He made up his mind to apply for membership in the Party.他决心申请入党。

7 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

8 colony   

n.殖民地；(同类人的)聚居地

参考例句：

• There lived a colony of bees on the tree.树上生活着一群蜜蜂。
• They live in an artists'colony.他们住在艺术家聚居区。