With the deterioration of the public school system, it's time to find alternatives for our children's schooling. Thankfully, education alternatives are on the rise in our country, meaning more options to choose from than ever before!

First, beware of educational choices that exist, but that are still controlled by the public school system! Traditional education is obviously failing, and many children are leaving the public system. Although charter schools are still a part of the public school system, some people are seeking them out to meet their needs. Their appeal is that anyone can start a charter school, and they can use unconventional teaching approaches. Charter schools are the government's attempt to provide education alternatives, but in the end, the highest authority remains the same, so the core issues remain the same too. If you are trying to escape from the public system, then beware of the enticing charter schools in your area.

Many public school systems have a variety of alternative programs too. These are divided into two general approaches:

1. Public Choice which are programs open to any student in the community. Sometimes they are called Schools Within Schools.
2. Public At-Risk which are programs for children who have had a variety of problems coping with school.

Both of these programs highlight that traditional schooling is not meeting the needs of our children. Rather than improving the core issues of public education, the government adds programs like this to divert attention. Our children shouldn't have to go to school and then attend a program like this. They should have a quality school that meets their needs in the first place!

As for education alternatives that work, most communities have effective private alternatives. Over 4,500 Montessori schools based on the experiential approach and hundreds of Waldorf schools, which put equal emphasis on traditional academics areas and the arts, are available. The downfall of many of these private programs is simply pricing. Some of these private alternatives even close to the cost of college tuition! If you can afford the pricing, the quality of education is typically high.

For many families, though, private education is not a viable alternative. Homeschooling is the fastest rising education alternative in our country right now, and it's no surprise why! Homeschooling is cost effective and allows the most choice and control over your child's education. You pick the curriculum, the teachers, the school schedule, the extra curricular activities, etc. It is all up to you. You can develop a program specifically to meet the needs of your child. Many parents fear homeschooling, thinking it is difficult or that their child won't be socialized properly. These are simply untrue myths of homeschooling, many of which have been fostered by the angry public school leaders. It is now legal to homeschool in every state and homeschool teachers are not required to have a teacher certification. Homeschooling resources and curriculum providers exist in every state and many online providers are making it to the forefront of the education industry. Homeschooled children are shown to interact well with people of all shapes and sizes and of various ages, and are scoring higher on standardized tests that their traditionally schooled peers.

Homeschooling has taken a variety of approaches. Three of them are notable. Some parents attempt to create "school at home" with a fairly standard curriculum that they teach one-to-one with their children. Lesson plans can be found online, some for free and some for a small fee. Another approach is called "unschooling." In this case the parent doesn't use a pre-set curriculum, but rather educate based on the interests of the child. For example, if your child is showing great artistic abilities, an unschooling approach would be to put your child in art classes , take them to art museums , etc. The point of unschooling is to foster areas of ability and interest, and to teach academics through these mediums. A third approach is to use a curriculum created by an umbrella school. These schools provide a basic curriculum for the parents to follow, help the parents teach the curriculum, grade assignments, and maintain student records. Many of these umbrella schools are now national, online, accredited programs like The Southern Baptist Academy .

As more alternative education programs are implemented and chosen by families, hopefully the system will evolve to meet the needs of our children. Meanwhile, don't wait for that system to change. Find out what educational options are available to you, and choose a program that meets the needs of your child.