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126-459: UnCollege was founded by Dale J. Stephens in 2011. Stephens is a self-described "elementary school dropout", as he was homeschooled with emphasis on real-world experience for the majority of his childhood. He briefly attended Hendrix College . While there, Stephens had a night-long discussion with a friend regarding the disconnect between the theoretical subject matter taught in college and its real world applications. This discussion would become

252-707: A cot–caught merger , which is rapidly spreading throughout the whole country. However, the South, Inland North, and a Northeastern coastal corridor passing through Rhode Island, New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore typically preserve an older cot–caught distinction. For that Northeastern corridor, the realization of the THOUGHT vowel is particularly marked , as depicted in humorous spellings, like in tawk and cawfee ( talk and coffee ), which intend to represent it being tense and diphthongal : [oə] . A split of TRAP into two separate phonemes , using different

378-520: A pronunciations for example in gap [æ] versus gas [eə] , further defines New York City as well as Philadelphia–Baltimore accents. Most Americans preserve all historical /r/ sounds, using what is known as a rhotic accent . The only traditional r -dropping (or non-rhoticity) in regional U.S. accents variably appears today in eastern New England , New York City , and some of the former plantation South primarily among older speakers (and, relatedly, some African-American Vernacular English across

504-632: A 2016 federal survey of US homeschoolers found that over 40 percent of homeschoolers were not White, a majority had parents with less than a bachelor's degree , and over one in five lived in poverty. In the UK , the government has noted that no figures are available on educational attainment for children educated at home: "This means no assessment can be made of the impact on educational attainment of being home schooled". Claims by homeschooling proponents that homeschoolers fare better than traditionally schooled children are insufficiently supported by data. With

630-970: A base understanding of complex scientific concepts without any background studying. Depending on the part of the world, informal learning can take on many different identities and has differing cultural importances. Many ways of organizing homeschooling draw on the model of apprenticeships and play-based learning . In some South American indigenous cultures , such as the Chillihuani community in Peru, children learn irrigation and farming technique through play, advancing them not only in their own village and society but also in their knowledge of realistic techniques that they will need to survive. In Western culture, children use informal learning in two main ways: through hands-on experience with new material, and by asking questions to someone who has more experience (i.e. parents, elders). The concept of informal learning depends on

756-419: A basic curriculum with articulated goals and outcomes. This style attempts to imitate the structure of a traditional school setting while personalizing the curriculum. Unstructured homeschooling, also known as unschooling, is any form of home education where parents do not construct a curriculum at all. This method attempts to teach through the child's daily experiences and focuses more on self-directed learning by

882-510: A challenge. Other common methodological problems commonly included the presence of confounding factors such as socioeconomic status and parental involvement, over-reliance on parental testimony, and taking into account the timing and duration of homeschooling (many homeschoolers only do so for a few years). Homeschooling research is often conducted on homeschooled children or their parents; surveys of adults who have been homeschooled are extremely limited. The majority of homeschool research in

1008-458: A child might not encounter people of other cultures, worldviews, and socioeconomic groups if they are not enrolled in a school. Therefore, these critics believe that homeschooling cannot guarantee a comprehensive and neutral education if educational standards are not prescribed. Studies on homeschooled students typically rely on convenience sampling , which may disproportionately sample the highest-achieving homeschoolers. Researchers have identified

1134-631: A complex phenomenon of "both convergence and divergence": some accents are homogenizing and leveling , while others are diversifying and deviating further away from one another. Having been settled longer than the American West Coast, the East Coast has had more time to develop unique accents, and it currently comprises three or four linguistically significant regions, each of which possesses English varieties both different from each other as well as quite internally diverse: New England ,

1260-447: A consonant, such as in pearl , car and fort . Non-rhotic American accents, those that do not pronounce ⟨r⟩ except before a vowel, such as some accents of Eastern New England , New York City , and African-Americans , and a specific few (often older ones) spoken by Southerners , are often quickly noticed by General American listeners and perceived as sounding especially ethnic, regional, or antiquated. Rhoticity

1386-596: A financial incentive to homeschool in Alaska does raise questions about the applicability of the results to other areas which do not have these programs in place. Unschooled children tend to score significantly below traditionally educated children, and higher parental involvement and the use of a structured curriculum is strongly positively correlated with homeschooling outcomes, as with conventionally schooled students. A survey of educational outcomes for homeschool students found that homeschoolers consistently scored below

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1512-405: A foreign country, for a service learning trip; Internship, in which the students, using work skills acquired at Launch, seek out and work through an internship of their choosing; and Project, in which students completed, from start to finish, a capstone project of their choosing. The inaugural class of students in the year-long program included ten students from four countries. Later iterations of

1638-591: A merger with the THOUGHT ( caught ) set. Having taken place prior to the unrounding of the cot vowel, it results in lengthening and perhaps raising, merging the more recently separated vowel into the THOUGHT vowel in the following environments: before many instances of /f/ , /θ/ , and particularly /s/ (as in Austria, cloth, cost, loss, off, often, etc.), a few instances before /ŋ/ (as in strong, long, wrong ), and variably by region or speaker in gone , on , and certain other words. Unlike American accents,

1764-452: A necessity for a variety of reasons. For those who are in isolated rural locations that are too far from a conventional school, living abroad, or travel frequently, homeschool provides more consistency and convenience, eliminating the issues of distance or cultural barriers. Many young athletes, actors, and musicians are taught at home to accommodate their travel and practice schedules more conveniently. Mental and physical health issues are also

1890-799: A need for more representative samples in studying homeschooling. While "homeschooling" is the term commonly used in the United States and other nations in North America, "home education" is primarily used in the United Kingdom , elsewhere in Europe and many Commonwealth countries . For most of history, home education was common. In many cultures, home education often consisted of literacy training centered around religious texts, as well as basic math skills needed in everyday life. Reading aloud, reciting, and memorizing passages from

2016-636: A nice day , for sure); many are now distinctly old-fashioned (swell, groovy). Some English words now in general use, such as hijacking, disc jockey , boost, bulldoze and jazz , originated as American slang. American English has always shown a marked tendency to use words in different parts of speech and nouns are often used as verbs . Examples of nouns that are now also verbs are interview, advocate, vacuum, lobby, pressure, rear-end, transition, feature, profile, hashtag, head, divorce, loan, estimate, X-ray, spearhead, skyrocket, showcase, bad-mouth, vacation , major, and many others. Compounds coined in

2142-420: A number comparable to the number of students in charter schools or Catholic schools . This increase was far-reaching across every measured demographic category and region. This increase has led to a rise in critical interest about the impacts of homeschooling, both positive and negative. There are many reasons why parents and children choose to homeschool, whether by necessity or by choice. Homeschool may be

2268-781: A personal project, and/or apply for college. The semester-long program has students complete portions of the year-long program. The flexible program has students complete portions of the life skills, work skills, and/or self-directed learning curriculum, over a shorter period of time. Through his work with UnCollege, Stephens was named as one of Splashlife's 30 Under 30: Social Media Titans. UnCollege has been profiled in world publications like CNN , The New York Times , The Asia Times , ABC , Fast Company , Mashable , NPR , CBS , Inc. , TechCrunch , and The Huffington Post . Homeschooling Homeschooling or home schooling ( American English ), also known as home education or elective home education ( EHE ) ( British English ),

2394-480: A process of extensive dialect mixture and leveling in which English varieties across the colonies became more homogeneous compared with the varieties in Britain. English thus predominated in the colonies even by the end of the 17th century's first immigration of non-English speakers from Western Europe and Africa. Additionally, firsthand descriptions of a fairly uniform American English (particularly in contrast to

2520-426: A reason parents may homeschool or take distance education . Parents commonly cite two main motivations for voluntarily homeschooling their children: dissatisfaction with the local schools and the interest in increased involvement with their children's learning and development. Parental dissatisfaction with available schools typically includes concerns about the school environment, the quality of academic instruction,

2646-479: A reason why homeschoolers are less likely to pursue higher education. Looking beyond high school, a study by the 1990 National Home Education Research Institute (as cited by Wichers, 2001) found that at least 33% of homeschooled students attended a four-year college, and 17% attended a two-year college (with the national average being 40% and 20%, respectively). This same study examined the students after one year, finding that 17% pursued higher education. A study by

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2772-424: A religious education. Use of a religious curriculum such as Abeka is common among these families. In the United States, conservative Christians drove the movement to homeschool and made up the vast majority of homeschoolers until recent years. However, the percent of people who cited religion as the primary reason for homeschooling has declined drastically. In 2012, almost 2 of 3 homeschool parents did, while by 2023,

2898-455: A rumor that Catholics were attempting to remove the Bible from schools. The Toledo Reverend Patrick Francis Quigley was put on trial in 1891 for resisting the requirement to report the names of students at his school, which he was principal of; he argued unsuccessfully that "the state has no right to control the education of the child." Resistance to mandatory schooling was sporadic throughout

3024-610: A school. To be granted the right to homeschool, parents must have a baccalauréat or equivalent to prove they are qualified to teach. These restrictions were introduced in September 2022, known as loi contre le séparatisme : a law designed to reduce " Islamist separatism " and enforce secularism . A meta-analysis of studies on homeschooling in Asia found that the majority of homeschoolers cited religion as their reason for homeschooling. Because schools were widely shut down during

3150-680: A series of other vowel shifts in the same region, known by linguists as the " Inland North ". The Inland North shares with the Eastern New England dialect (including Boston accents ) a backer tongue positioning of the GOOSE /u/ vowel (to [u] ) and the MOUTH /aʊ/ vowel (to [ɑʊ~äʊ] ) in comparison to the rest of the country. Ranging from northern New England across the Great Lakes to Minnesota, another Northern regional marker

3276-644: A study found that 78 percent utilized "a public library"; 77 percent used "a homeschooling catalogue, publisher, or individual specialist"; 68 percent used "retail bookstore or another store"; 60 percent used "an education publisher that was not affiliated with homeschooling." "Approximately half" used curriculum from "a homeschooling organization", 37 percent from a "church, synagogue or other religious institution" and 23 percent from "their local public school or district." In 2003, 41 percent utilized some sort of distance learning , approximately 20 percent by "television, video or radio"; 19 percent via "The Internet, e-mail, or

3402-462: A survey, completed in 2003, polling English speakers across the United States about their specific everyday word choices, hoping to identify regionalisms. The study found that most Americans prefer the term sub for a long sandwich, soda (but pop in the Great Lakes region and generic coke in the South) for a sweet and bubbly soft drink , you or you guys for the plural of you (but y'all in

3528-453: A variation of American English in these islands. In 2021, about 245 million Americans, aged 5 or above, spoke English at home: a majority of the United States total population of roughly 330 million people. The United States has never had an official language at the federal level, but English is commonly used at the federal level and in states without an official language. 32 of the 50 states, in some cases as part of what has been called

3654-713: A way of increasing their children's understanding of African-American history – such as the Jim Crow laws that resulted in African Americans being prevented from reading and writing – and to limit the harm caused by the unintentional and sometimes subtle systemic racism that affects most American schools. The increase of homeschooling post-COVID-19 pandemic saw the greatest increases among Black, Latino, and Asian American households. Many families cited concerns that their children, particularly boys, were perceived as threatening or violent at school due to racism, as well as

3780-406: A way to simulate homeschool cooperatives online. With social networks , homeschoolers can chat, discuss threads in forums, share information and tips, and even participate in online classes via learning management systems similar to those used by colleges. Research on homeschooling faces a number of challenges and limitations. The documentation and regulation of homeschooling in the United States

3906-443: Is a lesson- and curriculum -free implementation of homeschooling. Some families who initially attended a school go through a deschool phase to break away from school habits and prepare for homeschooling. While "homeschooling" is the term commonly used in North America, "home education" is primarily used in Europe and many Commonwealth countries . Homeschooling should not be confused with distance education , which generally refers to

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4032-654: Is also associated with the United States, perhaps mostly in the Midwest and the South. American accents that have not undergone the cot–caught merger (the lexical sets LOT and THOUGHT ) have instead retained a LOT – CLOTH split : a 17th-century distinction in which certain words (labeled as the CLOTH lexical set ) separated away from the LOT set. The split, which has now reversed in most British English, simultaneously shifts this relatively recent CLOTH set into

4158-664: Is also home to a creole language known commonly as Hawaiian Pidgin , and some Hawaii residents speak English with a Pidgin-influenced accent. American English also gave rise to some dialects outside the country, for example, Philippine English , beginning during the American occupation of the Philippines and subsequently the Insular Government of the Philippine Islands ; Thomasites first established

4284-474: Is an everyday experience there. A homeschool cooperative is a cooperative of families who homeschool their children. It provides an opportunity for children to learn from other parents who are more specialized in certain areas or subjects. Co-ops also provide social interaction. They may take lessons together or go on field trips. Some co-ops also offer events such as prom and graduation for homeschoolers. Homeschoolers are beginning to utilize Web 2.0 as

4410-475: Is common in most American accents despite being now rare in England because, during the 17th-century British colonization, nearly all dialects of English were rhotic, and most North American English simply remained that way. The preservation of rhoticity in North America was also supported by continuing waves of rhotic-accented Scotch-Irish immigrants, most intensely during the 18th century (and moderately during

4536-498: Is due to the rise of the Internet, which enables people to obtain information very quickly. The regulation and legality of homeschooling varies by jurisdiction . There are many different reasons for homeschooling, ranging from personal interests to dissatisfaction with the school system . Homeschooling is also an option for families living in remote rural areas, those temporarily abroad, those who travel frequently and therefore face

4662-445: Is highly variable among states, with a minority of states administering any rigorous testing or record-keeping of homeschooled children; in eleven states, no record of homeschooled students is kept at all. As of 2022, virtually all research on homeschooling used convenience sampling , leading to issues with selection bias. Homeschoolers as a demographic tend towards distrust of surveillance and institutions, making eliminating survey bias

4788-486: Is not uncommon for a student to experience more than one approach as the family discovers what works best for their student. Some companies offer all-in-one homeschooling curricula. Purchased as a grade-level package or separately by subject, the package may contain all of the needed books, materials, tests, answer keys, and extensive teacher guides. However, many families use an eclectic approach, picking and choosing from various suppliers. For sources of curricula and books,

4914-420: Is often identified by Americans as a "country" accent, and is defined by the /aɪ/ vowel losing its gliding quality : [aː] , the initiation event for a complicated Southern vowel shift, including a " Southern drawl " that makes short front vowels into distinct-sounding gliding vowels . The fronting of the vowels of GOOSE , GOAT , MOUTH , and STRUT tends to also define Southern accents as well as

5040-489: Is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school . Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or online teacher, many homeschool families use less formal , more personalized and individualized methods of learning that are not always found in schools. The actual practice of homeschooling varies considerably. The spectrum ranges from highly structured forms based on traditional school lessons to more open, free forms such as unschooling , which

5166-469: Is the variable fronting of /ɑ/ before /r/ , for example, appearing four times in the stereotypical Boston shibboleth Park the car in Harvard Yard . Several other phenomena serve to distinguish regional U.S. accents. Boston , Pittsburgh , Upper Midwestern , and Western U.S. accents have fully completed a merger of the LOT vowel with the THOUGHT vowel ( /ɑ/ and /ɔ/ , respectively):

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5292-542: The COVID-19 pandemic . A commonly cited reason for choosing this model is that parents are not sure whether they can provide their children a comprehensive and neutral education at home or cannot devote themselves to homeschooling full-time due to time constraints or excessive stress. Some families also want their children to socialize with other children and find that schools are better suited for this purpose because social exchange does not only take place occasionally, but

5418-482: The English-only movement , have adopted legislation granting official or co-official status to English. Typically only "English" is specified, not a particular variety like American English. (From 1923 to 1969, the state of Illinois recognized its official language as "American", meaning American English.) Puerto Rico is the largest example of a United States territory in which another language – Spanish –

5544-649: The Kentucky Office Of Education Accountability found that homeschooled students attended college or university within Kentucky at less than half the rate of other Kentucky high school graduates, with the academic outcomes of other homeschooled students being unknown. Although educational outcomes of homeschoolers are difficult to track, especially where homeschooled students are not required to be registered, home-schoolers tend to take standardized college admission tests such as

5670-622: The Mid-Atlantic states (including a New York accent as well as a unique Philadelphia–Baltimore accent ), and the South . As of the 20th century, the middle and eastern Great Lakes area , Chicago being the largest city with these speakers, also ushered in certain unique features, including the fronting of the LOT /ɑ/ vowel in the mouth toward [a] and tensing of the TRAP /æ/ vowel wholesale to [eə] . These sound changes have triggered

5796-551: The Native American languages . Examples of such names are opossum , raccoon , squash , moose (from Algonquian ), wigwam , and moccasin . American English speakers have integrated traditionally non-English terms and expressions into the mainstream cultural lexicon; for instance, en masse , from French ; cookie , from Dutch ; kindergarten from German , and rodeo from Spanish . Landscape features are often loanwords from French or Spanish, and

5922-576: The SAT at a disproportionately low rate, suggesting they may be underrepresented in higher education. Some homeschoolers averaged higher scores on college entrance tests in South Carolina. Other scores (1999 data) showed mixed results, for example showing higher levels for homeschoolers in English (homeschooled 23.4 vs national average 20.5) and reading (homeschooled 24.4 vs national average 21.4) on

6048-722: The francophile tastes of the 19th century Victorian era Britain (for example they preferred programme for program , manoeuvre for maneuver , cheque for check , etc.). AmE almost always uses -ize in words like realize . BrE prefers -ise , but also uses -ize on occasion (see: Oxford spelling ). There are a few differences in punctuation rules. British English is more tolerant of run-on sentences , called " comma splices " in American English, and American English prefers that periods and commas be placed inside closing quotation marks even in cases in which British rules would place them outside. American English also favors

6174-574: The total institution — a social system which impels obedience to the state and quells free-thinking or dissent. Informal learning refers to the component of homeschooling which happens outside of the classroom. Informal learning is an everyday form of learning through participation and creation, in contrast with the traditional view of teacher-centered learning. The term is usually used synonymously with "non-formal learning" and "self-directed learning." Informal learning differs from traditional learning as there are no expected objectives or outcomes. From

6300-709: The 18th century; apartment , shanty in the 19th century; project, condominium , townhouse , mobile home in the 20th century; and parts thereof ( driveway , breezeway, backyard ) . Industry and material innovations from the 19th century onwards provide distinctive new words, phrases, and idioms through railroading (see further at rail terminology ) and transportation terminology, ranging from types of roads ( dirt roads , freeways ) to infrastructure ( parking lot , overpass , rest area ), to automotive terminology often now standard in English internationally. Already existing English words—such as store , shop , lumber —underwent shifts in meaning; others remained in

6426-591: The 1960s and 1970s with educational reformists dissatisfied with industrialized education. Home education and apprenticeship continued to remain the main form of education until the 1830s. However, in the 18th century, the majority of people in Europe lacked formal education. Since the early 19th century, formal classroom schooling became the most common means of schooling throughout the developed countries. As laws enforcing public school attendance proliferated, movements to resist such laws began to form. Resistance to laws mandating school attendance emerged as early as

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6552-619: The 19th century as the state undertook more responsibility in protecting the rights of children. In 1913 the US Bureau of Education established the Home Education Division, an organization which worked with the National Council of Mothers and Parent-Teacher Associations to provide home curriculum materials, although these were meant to supplement, not substitute, for public schooling. In the early 20th century,

6678-546: The 20th century. The use of English in the United States is a result of British colonization of the Americas . The first wave of English-speaking settlers arrived in North America during the early 17th century, followed by further migrations in the 18th and 19th centuries. During the 17th and 18th centuries, dialects from many different regions of England and the British Isles existed in every American colony, allowing

6804-511: The ACT, but mixed scores in math (homeschooled 20.4 vs national average 20.7 on the ACT as opposed to homeschooled 535 vs national average 511 on the 1999 SAT math). American English American English , sometimes called United States English or U.S. English , is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in

6930-441: The Bible and other Christian writing were central to this practice, as well as workplace-based education such as apprenticeships . Enlisting professional tutors was an option available only to the wealthy. Home education declined in the 19th and 20th centuries with the enactment of compulsory school attendance laws. However, it continued to be practised in isolated communities. The practice of what we now call homeschooling began in

7056-599: The Bible for themselves. Today, compulsory education at school is strictly enforced in Germany, and is only permitted in rare cases, such as that of serious illness. However, parents interested in alternative schooling may choose to send their children to a private, independent school. Homeschooling in France is permitted only in specific circumstances: for the health of the child, for intensive artistic or sports training, for itinerant families, and for those who live too far from

7182-627: The British form is a back-formation , such as AmE burglarize and BrE burgle (from burglar ). However, while individuals usually use one or the other, both forms will be widely understood and mostly used alongside each other within the two systems. While written American English is largely standardized across the country and spoken American English dialects are highly mutually intelligible, there are still several recognizable regional and ethnic accents and lexical distinctions. The regional sounds of present-day American English are reportedly engaged in

7308-693: The COVID-19 pandemic caused many parents to consider homeschooling where they might not have before. Concerns about school environment - the most commonly cited reason for homeschooling - may comprise a number of issues with conventional schooling, such as protection against bullying , social exclusion, drugs, stress, sexualization, social pressures, excessive performance thoughts, social groups or role models with negative influences, and degrading treatment in school. Children may also learn more efficiently at home because they are not distracted by other students or typical school scheduling. Some parents are of

7434-413: The East Coast (perhaps in imitation of 19th-century London speech), even the East Coast has gradually begun to restore rhoticity, due to it becoming nationally prestigious in the 20th century. The pronunciation of ⟨r⟩ is a postalveolar approximant [ ɹ̠ ] or retroflex approximant [ ɻ ] , but a unique "bunched tongue" variant of the approximant r sound

7560-571: The Inland North. Rather than one particular accent, General American is best defined as an umbrella covering an American accent that does not incorporate features associated with some particular region, ethnicity, or socioeconomic group. Typical General American features include rhoticity , the father–bother merger , Mary–marry–merry merger , pre-nasal "short a " tensing , and other particular vowel sounds . General American features are embraced most by Americans who are highly educated or in

7686-573: The South), sneakers for athletic shoes (but often tennis shoes outside the Northeast), and shopping cart for a cart used for carrying supermarket goods. American English and British English (BrE) often differ at the levels of phonology, phonetics, vocabulary, and, to a much lesser extent, grammar and orthography. The first large American dictionary, An American Dictionary of the English Language , known as Webster's Dictionary ,

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7812-528: The U.S. Several verbs ending in -ize are of U.S. origin; for example, fetishize, prioritize, burglarize, accessorize, weatherize , etc.; and so are some back-formations (locate, fine-tune, curate, donate, emote, upholster and enthuse). Among syntactic constructions that arose are outside of, headed for, meet up with, back of, etc. Americanisms formed by alteration of some existing words include notably pesky, phony, rambunctious, buddy, sundae , skeeter, sashay and kitty-corner. Adjectives that arose in

7938-570: The U.S. are for instance foothill , landslide (in all senses), backdrop , teenager , brainstorm , bandwagon , hitchhike , smalltime, and a huge number of others. Other compound words have been founded based on industrialization and the wave of the automobile: five-passenger car, four-door sedan, two-door sedan, and station-wagon (called an estate car in British English). Some are euphemistic ( human resources , affirmative action , correctional facility ). Many compound nouns have

8064-676: The U.S. are, for example, lengthy, bossy, cute and cutesy, punk (in all senses), sticky (of the weather), through (as in "finished"), and many colloquial forms such as peppy or wacky . A number of words and meanings that originated in Middle English or Early Modern English and that have been in everyday use in the United States have since disappeared in most varieties of British English; some of these have cognates in Lowland Scots . Terms such as fall ("autumn"), faucet ("tap"), diaper ("nappy"; itself unused in

8190-530: The U.S. while changing in Britain. Science, urbanization, and democracy have been important factors in bringing about changes in the written and spoken language of the United States. From the world of business and finance came new terms ( merger , downsize , bottom line ), from sports and gambling terminology came, specific jargon aside, common everyday American idioms, including many idioms related to baseball . The names of some American inventions remained largely confined to North America ( elevator [except in

8316-427: The U.S.), candy ("sweets"), skillet , eyeglasses , and obligate are often regarded as Americanisms. Fall for example came to denote the season in 16th century England, a contraction of Middle English expressions like "fall of the leaf" and "fall of the year." Gotten ( past participle of get ) is often considered to be largely an Americanism. Other words and meanings were brought back to Britain from

8442-597: The U.S., especially in the second half of the 20th century; these include hire ("to employ"), I guess (famously criticized by H. W. Fowler ), baggage , hit (a place), and the adverbs overly and presently ("currently"). Some of these, for example, monkey wrench and wastebasket , originated in 19th century Britain. The adjectives mad meaning "angry", smart meaning "intelligent", and sick meaning "ill" are also more frequent in American (and Irish) English than British English. Linguist Bert Vaux created

8568-457: The United States ; the de facto common language used in government, education, and commerce; and an official language in 32 of the 50 U.S. states . Since the late 20th century, American English has become the most influential form of English worldwide. Varieties of American English include many patterns of pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and particularly spelling that are unified nationwide but distinct from other English dialects around

8694-474: The United States and the United Kingdom suggest that, while spoken American English deviated away from period British English in many ways, it is conservative in a few other ways, preserving certain features 21st-century British English has since lost. Full rhoticity (or "R-fulness") is typical of American accents, pronouncing the phoneme /r/ (corresponding to the letter ⟨r⟩ ) in all environments, including in syllable-final position or before

8820-523: The United States is done with the support of the homeschool advocacy group, the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). A review of studies performed by prominent HSLDA-affiliated researcher Dr. Brian D. Ray found severe design limitations and demographic bias; nearly all subjects in his studies were White , Christian , and from households with two married parents who were more educated than average. Meanwhile,

8946-605: The West and Midwest, and New York Latino English , spoken in the New York metropolitan area . Additionally, ethnic varieties such as Yeshiva English and " Yinglish " are spoken by some American Orthodox Jews , Cajun Vernacular English by some Cajuns in southern Louisiana , and Pennsylvania Dutch English by some Pennsylvania Dutch people. American Indian Englishes have been documented among diverse Indian tribes. The island state of Hawaii , though primarily English-speaking,

9072-478: The World Wide Web"; and 15 percent taking a "correspondence course by mail designed specifically for homeschoolers." Individual governmental units, e.g. states and local districts, vary in official curriculum and attendance requirements. Approaches to homeschooling fall under two categories: structured and unstructured. Structured homeschooling includes any method or style of home education that follows

9198-555: The accents spoken in the " Midland ": a vast band of the country that constitutes an intermediate dialect region between the traditional North and South. Western U.S. accents mostly fall under the General American spectrum. Below, ten major American English accents are defined by their particular combinations of certain vowel sounds: In 2010, William Labov noted that Great Lakes, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and West Coast accents have undergone "vigorous new sound changes" since

9324-505: The aeronautical sense ], gasoline ) as did certain automotive terms ( truck , trunk ). New foreign loanwords came with 19th and early 20th century European immigration to the U.S.; notably, from Yiddish ( chutzpah , schmooze, bupkis, glitch ) and German ( hamburger , wiener ). A large number of English colloquialisms from various periods are American in origin; some have lost their American flavor (from OK and cool to nerd and 24/7 ), while others have not ( have

9450-516: The approach described therein in a book, Hacking Your Education: Ditch the Lectures, Save Tens of Thousands, and Learn More Than Your Peers Ever Will , which was published in 2013. In 2013, UnCollege began offering its flagship year-long program. The first iteration of the year-long program included four phases: Launch, in which students learnt life skills, work skills, and how to engage in self-directed learning; Voyage, in which students traveled to

9576-425: The arrangement where the student is educated by and conforms to the requirements of an online school , rather than being educated independently and unrestrictedly by their parents or by themselves. Before the introduction of compulsory school attendance laws, most childhood education was done by families and local communities. By the early 19th century, attending a school became the most common means of education in

9702-455: The average in math, but with mixed or average results in reading and writing. The exact cause of this is not known, but researchers speculated that this was due to the nature of curricula, which often consisted of being read to or self-directed reading, and a lack of parental training in math. Homeschooled children have been found to be less self-motivated when studying math than reading or writing. This gap in competency has also been suggested as

9828-576: The basis for UnCollege, which Stephens founded in 2011 in San Francisco . In 2010, Stephens also applied for the Thiel Fellowship , a program founded by Peter Thiel which grants fellows US$ 100,000 to forgo college for two years and focus on their passions. After his initial proposal was rejected, Stephens was encouraged to reapply in pursuit of his work as an educational futurist through UnCollege. His second application succeeded and he

9954-468: The child usually gets to decide what projects they wish to tackle or what interests to pursue. In-home education, this can be instead of or in addition to regular subjects like doing math or English. Hybrid homeschooling or flex-school is a form of homeschooling in which children split their time between homeschool and a more traditional schooling environment like a school . The number of students who participated in hybrid homeschooling increased during

10080-771: The child, free of textbooks, teachers, and any formal assessment of success or failure. The term unschooling , coined by John Holt , describes an approach in which parents do not authoritatively direct the child's education, but interact with the child following the child's interests, leaving them free to explore and learn. Natural learning refers to a type of learning-on-demand where children pursue knowledge based on their interests and parents take an active part in facilitating activities and experiences conducive to learning but do not rely heavily on textbooks or spend much time "teaching", looking instead for "learning moments" throughout their daily activities. Parents see their role as that of affirming through positive feedback and modeling

10206-726: The concepts homeschoolers can incorporate include classical education (including Trivium , Quadrivium ), Charlotte Mason education, Montessori , theory of multiple intelligences , unschooling, Waldorf , school-at-home (curriculum choices from both secular and religious publishers), and A Thomas Jefferson Education . Homeschool educations may incorporate pre-made curriculum made up from private or small publishers, apprenticeship, hands-on-learning, distance learning (both online and correspondence), dual enrollment in local schools or colleges, and curriculum provided by local schools and many others. A student's education may be customized to support his or her learning level, style, and interests. It

10332-431: The concrete practice can vary widely. The spectrum ranges from highly structured forms based on traditional school lessons to more open, free forms like unschooling , which is a curriculum -free implementation of homeschooling that involves teaching children based on their interests. Homeschool families can utilize a wide variety of educational methods and materials with a wide range of educational paradigms. Some of

10458-406: The country), though the vowel-consonant cluster found in "bird", "work", "hurt", "learn", etc. usually retains its r pronunciation, even in these non-rhotic American accents. Non-rhoticity among such speakers is presumed to have arisen from their upper classes' close historical contact with England, imitating London's r -dropping, a feature that has continued to gain prestige throughout England from

10584-441: The curriculum so that students finish a school year with a deep understanding of a certain broad subject or idea. Autonomous learning is a school of education which sees learners as individuals who can and should be autonomous ; i.e., be responsible for their own learning climate. Autonomous education helps students develop their self-consciousness, vision, practicality, and freedom of discussion. These attributes serve to aid

10710-432: The curriculum, bullying, the risk of school shootings , racism, and lack of faith in the school's ability to cater to their children's special needs . Some parents homeschool in order to have greater control over what and how their children are taught, to cater more adequately to an individual child's aptitudes and abilities, to provide instruction from a specific religious or and moral position, and to take advantage of

10836-416: The developed world. In the mid to late 20th century, more people began questioning the practice of school learning, which again led to an increase in the number of homeschoolers, especially in the Americas and some European countries. In the 21st century, homeschooling is a relatively widespread form of education and a legal alternative to public and private schools in many countries, which many people believe

10962-475: The dismantling of the state's influence in education in three works: Intellectual Schizophrenia , The Messianic Character of American Education , and The Philosophy of the Christian Curriculum . Rushdoony was frequently called as an expert witness by the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) in court cases. He frequently advocated the use of private schools. The HSLDA, founded in 1983,

11088-614: The diverse regional dialects of British English) became common after the mid-18th century, while at the same time speakers' identification with this new variety increased. Since the 18th century, American English has developed into some new varieties, including regional dialects that retain minor influences from waves of immigrant speakers of diverse languages, primarily European languages. Some racial and regional variation in American English reflects these groups' geographic settlement, their de jure or de facto segregation, and patterns in their resettlement. This can be seen, for example, in

11214-742: The double quotation mark ("like this") over the single ('as here'). Vocabulary differences vary by region. For example, autumn is used more commonly in the United Kingdom, whereas fall is more common in American English. Some other differences include: aerial (United Kingdom) vs. antenna, biscuit (United Kingdom) vs. cookie/cracker, car park (United Kingdom) vs. parking lot, caravan (United Kingdom) vs. trailer, city centre (United Kingdom) vs. downtown, flat (United Kingdom) vs. apartment, fringe (United Kingdom) vs. bangs, and holiday (United Kingdom) vs. vacation. AmE sometimes favors words that are morphologically more complex, whereas BrE uses clipped forms, such as AmE transportation and BrE transport or where

11340-535: The early part of the COVID-19 pandemic , many schools implemented distance education and online learning. This is not considered homeschooling, since students' education was directed by public schools. However, the onset of the pandemic triggered a massive increase in the prevalence of homeschooling. An investigation by the Washington Post estimated that the United States saw an increase of homeschooled children from 1.5 million to between 1.9 and 2.7 million,

11466-441: The efficiency of one-to-one instruction and thus allow the child to spend more time on childhood activities, socializing, and non-academic learning. A 2023 survey of homeschooling parents in the United States found concerns about school environment, moral instruction, dissatisfaction with academics, concern about school shootings , and bullying to be the most common reasons for homeschooling. The need for distance learning during

11592-590: The end of the nineteenth century. Catholic groups in particular resisted the enforcement of Protestant ideals in public schools, as seen in the 1844 Philadelphia nativist riots . The Philadelphia Roman Catholic bishop requested that Catholic schoolchildren be permitted to read the Catholic Douay bible in school rather than the Protestant King James Version , which was granted. This decision fanned anti-Catholic sentiment, sparking

11718-517: The following two centuries) when this ethnic group eventually made up one-seventh of the colonial population. Scotch-Irish settlers spread from Delaware and Pennsylvania throughout the larger Mid-Atlantic region, the inland regions of both the South and North, and throughout the West: American dialect areas that were all uninfluenced by upper-class non-rhoticity and that consequently have remained consistently rhotic. While non-rhoticity spread on

11844-443: The headmaster of Baltimore 's Calvert School , Virgil Hillyer, recognized that various students at his school were unable to attend due to ill health, and began to send out lesson plans to those students' parents. The Calvert method became a popular early home curriculum. Its advertising in periodicals such as McClure's admonished parents that the curriculum was necessary to provide a proper education. This form of homeschooling

11970-432: The higher the level of parents' income, the more likely the homeschooled child is able to achieve academic success, which is in alignment with the correlation between income and achievement for students at conventional schools. In one study of families with parents who had an average of 13 years of schooling, homeschooling was correlated with lower test scores, which was attributed to the relatively lower educational status of

12096-944: The hospital , BrE to hospital ; contrast, however, AmE actress Elizabeth Taylor , BrE the actress Elizabeth Taylor ). Often, these differences are a matter of relative preferences rather than absolute rules; and most are not stable since the two varieties are constantly influencing each other, and American English is not a standardized set of dialects. Differences in orthography are also minor. The main differences are that American English usually uses spellings such as flavor for British flavour , fiber for fibre , defense for defence , analyze for analyse , license for licence , catalog for catalogue and traveling for travelling . Noah Webster popularized such spellings in America, but he did not invent most of them. Rather, "he chose already existing options on such grounds as simplicity, analogy or etymology." Other differences are due to

12222-674: The influence of 18th-century Protestant Ulster Scots immigrants (known in the U.S. as the Scotch-Irish ) in Appalachia developing Appalachian English and the 20th-century Great Migration bringing African-American Vernacular English to the Great Lakes urban centers. Any phonologically unmarked North American accent falls under an umbrella known as General American. This section mostly refers to such General American features. Studies on historical usage of English in both

12348-432: The inquisitiveness and interests of the child. In a unit study approach, multiple subjects such as math, science, history, art, and geography, are studied in relation to a single topic. Unit studies are useful for teaching multiple grades simultaneously as the difficulty level can be adjusted for each student. An extended form of unit studies, Integrated Thematic Instruction utilizes one central theme integrated throughout

12474-456: The issue of school quality and funding. On the other hand, some groups promote homeschooling to enforce white supremacist ideals. An exposé of a Nazi homeschooling network in Ohio with over two thousand members led to no consequences or restrictions on the group due to lax regulatory requirements in the state. Homeschooling is usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an online teacher, but

12600-438: The late 18th century onwards, but which has conversely lost prestige in the U.S. since at least the early 20th century. Non-rhoticity makes a word like car sound like cah or source like sauce . New York City and Southern accents are the most prominent regional accents of the country, as well as the most stigmatized and socially disfavored. Southern speech, strongest in southern Appalachia and certain areas of Texas,

12726-543: The learner's standpoint, the knowledge that they receive is not intentional. Activities such as planting a garden, baking a cake or even talking to a technician at work about the installation of new software can be considered informal learning: the individual is completing a task with different intentions but ends up learning skills in the process. Children watching their tomato plants grow will not generate questions about photosynthesis but they will learn that their plants are growing with water and sunlight. This leads them to have

12852-427: The mid-nineteenth century onwards, so they "are now more different from each other than they were 50 or 100 years ago", while other accents, like of New York City and Boston, have remained stable in that same time-frame. However, a General American sound system also has some debated degree of influence nationwide, for example, gradually beginning to oust the regional accent in urban areas of the South and at least some in

12978-408: The most advantages when being homeschooled, while those from white, well-off families scored overall worse than their public school peers, and suffered the greatest disadvantage in math. This is notable as being the only study of homeschooling outcomes with a complete data set of all known homeschool children in a given population, which does not rely on volunteered information. However, the existence of

13104-617: The most formal contexts, and regional accents with the most General American native features include North Midland, Western New England, and Western accents. Although no longer region-specific, African-American Vernacular English , which remains the native variety of most working- and middle-class African Americans , has a close relationship to Southern dialects and has greatly influenced everyday speech of many Americans, including hip hop culture . Hispanic and Latino Americans have also developed native-speaker varieties of English. The best-studied Latino Englishes are Chicano English , spoken in

13230-410: The necessary skills, and the child's role as being responsible for asking and learning. Another prominent proponent of unschooling is John Taylor Gatto , author of Dumbing Us Down , The Exhausted School , A Different Kind of Teacher , and Weapons of Mass Instruction . Gatto argues that public education is the primary tool of "state-controlled consciousness" and serves as a prime illustration of

13356-583: The number went from under twenty thousand in the 1970s, to nearly 500,000 by the end of the 1980s. Homeschooling is heavily restricted in Germany. The history of public schooling dates back to the time of Martin Luther , who called on the government to provide schooling to both boys and girls in To the Councilmen of all Cities in Germany ( An die Ratsherren aller Städte deutschen Landes ), so that they might read

13482-460: The opinion that certain temperaments are promoted in school, while others are inhibited which may also be a reason to homeschool their children. Many parents also homeschool their children and return their child into the school system later on, for example because they think that their child is too young or not yet ready to start school. Some parents have objections to the secular nature of public schools and homeschool in order to give their children

13608-428: The parents in the sample group; meanwhile, in studies with highly educated parents, homeschooling for longer periods of time, on average, had no effect, positive or negative. A study which collected all homeschooling outcomes in Alaska (a state where homeschooling is extremely popular due to government financial incentives and support) found that low income students, students of color, and students with disabilities gained

13734-402: The past forms of a few verbs (for example, AmE/BrE: learned / learnt , burned / burnt , snuck/sneaked , dove/dived ) although the purportedly "British" forms can occasionally be seen in American English writing as well; different prepositions and adverbs in certain contexts (for example, AmE in school, BrE at school ); and whether or not a definite article is used, in very few cases (AmE to

13860-592: The physical impossibility or difficulty of getting their children into school, and those who want to spend more time with their children. Health reasons and special needs can also play a role in why children cannot attend a school regularly and are at least partially homeschooled. Critics of homeschooling argue that children may lack adequate socialization and therefore have poorer social skills . Some are also concerned that parents may be unqualified to guide and advise their children, or that abusive parents may use homeschool to isolate their children. Critics also say that

13986-521: The programs shifted to preparing students for life at university and in the world of work. The year-long program and the semester-long program were retained; additional programs were added. Year On currently offers several programs. The year-long program has three phases: Explore, in which students take a service learning trip abroad; Focus, in which students learn life skills and work skills, and receive one-on-one mentorship; and Launch, in which students may take an internship, take an apprenticeship, work on

14112-632: The proportion dropped to just over 1 in 3. In a survey of adults homeschooled in Christian households, over half of respondents characterized their family as fundamentalist, and over 80% reported being taught Young Earth creationism as part of their science education. Homeschooling parents tend, in general, to lean more conservative than the general population. In Asia, the majority of homeschoolers cited religion - Christianity , Confucianism , or Islam - as their primary reason for homeschooling. Some African-American families choose to homeschool as

14238-474: The public school system and were the main demographic that organized to promote home education in the United States. Prominent Evangelical pastor and activist Jerry Falwell expressed horror that sex education and lessons on evolution had replaced prayer and Bible study in schools . This movement embraced research conducted by other religious parents that advocated for homeschooling such as Raymond and Dorothy Moore. Another influential figure associated with

14364-533: The rise of the homeschooling movement was John Holt . Holt believed that informal education was better than compulsory education and expressed these views in his books How Children Fail and How Children Learn . Holt advocated for unschooling , where children learn without any formalized curriculum or expectations. As homeschooling caught on in the Evangelical movement, the number of children being homeschooled increased massively, with some estimates suggesting

14490-422: The student in his/her independent learning. However, a student must not start their autonomous learning completely on their own. It is said that first having interaction with someone who has more knowledge in a subject will speed up the student's learning and allow them to learn more independently. Some degree of autonomous learning is popular with those who home educate their children. In true autonomous learning,

14616-476: The studies available, a 2022 review found it was unable to offer firm conclusions because of these issues, but did not find systematic evidence of poor educational or social outcomes. Another survey of studies related to homeschooling found that, controlling for demographic bias, homeschoolers were generally on par with non-homeschoolers, with a slight advantage in reading and writing, and a slight disadvantage in math. A study conducted by Ray in 2010 indicates that

14742-570: The traditional standard accent of (southern) England, Received Pronunciation (RP), has evolved a trap–bath split . Moreover, American accents preserve /h/ at the start of syllables, while perhaps a majority of the regional dialects of England participate in /h/ dropping , particularly in informal contexts. However, General American is also innovative in a number of its own ways: The process of coining new lexical items started as soon as English-speaking British-American colonists began borrowing names for unfamiliar flora, fauna, and topography from

14868-417: The verb-and-preposition combination: stopover, lineup, tryout, spin-off, shootout , holdup, hideout, comeback, makeover , and many more. Some prepositional and phrasal verbs are in fact of American origin ( win out, hold up, back up/off/down/out, face up to and many others). Noun endings such as -ee (retiree), -ery (bakery), -ster (gangster) and -cian (beautician) are also particularly productive in

14994-775: The word corn , used in England to refer to wheat (or any cereal), came to denote the maize plant, the most important crop in the U.S. Most Mexican Spanish contributions came after the War of 1812 , with the opening of the West, like ranch (now a common house style ). Due to Mexican culinary influence, many Spanish words are incorporated in general use when talking about certain popular dishes: cilantro (instead of coriander), queso, tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas, tostadas, fajitas, burritos, and guacamole. These words usually lack an English equivalent and are found in popular restaurants. New forms of dwelling created new terms ( lot , waterfront) and types of homes like log cabin , adobe in

15120-609: The world. Any American or Canadian accent perceived as lacking noticeably local, ethnic, or cultural markers is known in linguistics as General American ; it covers a fairly uniform accent continuum native to certain regions of the U.S. but especially associated with broadcast mass media and highly educated speech. However, historical and present linguistic evidence does not support the notion of there being one single mainstream American accent . The sound of American English continues to evolve, with some local accents disappearing, but several larger regional accents having emerged in

15246-484: The year-long program was rebranded as a gap year program, designed for students to take in between high school and university or vocational training, or for university students taking a year-long break from their studies. A semester-long program was subsequently introduced, branded as a gap semester, consisting only of the Voyage and Launch phases of the year-long program. In 2018, UnCollege rebranded as Year On. The goal of

15372-515: The yearlong program reversed the order of Launch and Voyage, eliminated the Project, and/or allowed students to choose between an Internship and a Project. Initially, the year-long program was presented as an alternative to university. Students were encouraged to take a pathway, similar to Stephens' own, that avoided university studies. However, Stephens found that this pathway was neither practical nor desirable for most of his students. Subsequently,

15498-512: Was highly successful in influencing the legal status of homeschooling in the United States. In the 1980s, homeschooling was illegal throughout much of the United States for parents who were not themselves trained educators. Today, the United States enjoys some of the most lax laws around homeschool in the world, with most states requiring little to no oversight for homeschooling and no educational requirements for parents. Conservative Evangelical Christian parents were increasingly dissatisfied with

15624-433: Was in the first batch of Thiel Fellows. The UnCollege website featured resources, forums, and workshops designed to help students, both in and out of college, with the task of self-directed learning. The site also hosted The UnCollege Manifesto, a 25-page document written by Stephens that covers subjects like "The value (or lack thereof) of a college degree" and "Twelve steps to self-directed learning." Stephens expanded upon

15750-517: Was targeted primarily at those who needed to educate their children at home due to ill health, and many of their materials were dispatched to hospitals. 1940 brought the advent of remote education by telephone. In the 1960s, Rousas John Rushdoony began to advocate homeschooling, which he saw as a way to combat the increasingly secular nature of the public school system in the United States. He vigorously attacked progressive school reformers such as Horace Mann and John Dewey , and argued for

15876-469: Was written by Noah Webster in 1828, codifying several of these spellings. Differences in grammar are relatively minor, and do not normally affect mutual intelligibility; these include: typically a lack of differentiation between adjectives and adverbs, employing the equivalent adjectives as adverbs he ran quick / he ran quickly ; different use of some auxiliary verbs ; formal (rather than notional) agreement with collective nouns ; different preferences for

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