Guilty. Four out of five enjoyed homeschooling and chose hs over a public school, but our last one is following a different path.

I think this just indicates the paucity of good research on homeschooling in general.

After 19 years fully homeschooling we used a charter school this past year for the first time. Since we moved, it was also the first time we had that option. 2 children went to school part time, but we chose curriculum and did most of the instruction. The school provided extra curriculars and special ed services. The 3rd was there 4 days a week with the school providing all instruction and curriculum The last part of this article is exactly why: "I needed help". It wasn't what we wanted, but the help I needed wasn't available within the homeschool or church community. I was burned out and our youngest, who has Down Syndrome, ADHD, and Autism, reached school age. We will be using the same charters for the first part of this school year, until the military moves us again and we lose that option. We haven't decided what we will do with our youngest, but homeschooling him full time without help is exhausting. I know many special needs families who use public and charter schools for services and supports not available privately. I often wonder if that would change if those things were available. I'd much rather work through my church, or a classical school, or a co-op, to meet those needs - but they simply aren't there. Having someone to help me figure out how to teach my limited-verbal son with severe fine and visual motor delays how to read and write is a gift! Those few hours a week when I can sit, have a hot cup of coffee, and read a book, knowing he is learning, are a balm to the soul. BTW - as I plan for next school year, I've decided I need you and Phil Vischer to work together on videos for Story of the World. My son's auditory comprehension is challenging, but "What's in History? with Buck Denver" would have him singing about Namar and Ashurbanipal in no time. 😂

Here a LOT of homeschooled high school students are part time their junior and senior years so they can attend the tech center. It is super common, and they are considered part time public school students. This is also true of the Catholic and Lutheran high schools. It has been this way for close to 2 decades. We also have something called homeschool partnerships with public schools which allow $350 per class for non core classes per student per semester, and the instructors do not have to be certified to teach, but show relevant coursework and experience for the topic. For 3 years, I taught an aerospace engineering and rocketry class through one school district, and my students were considered part time public school students because it was state per head funding to the district for home, public, and private school students enrolled. There have been flexible education options for a long time in my state.

Aarrgghh. I hate the "purist" mindset that swears that children should never see the inside of a brick-and-mortar school, or that is heavily fixated on the idea of public schools as the enemy. I remember a woman in my city who wanted to start a homeschooling support group, with a special focus on new homeschoolers -- but one of her iron-clad rules was that you couldn't discuss, in any way whatsoever, public schools. I have 4 children, and only one was exclusively homeschooled. The point was not a blind fealty to home education -- the point was to educate each child in the way that best met his or her needs. We did it all -- homeschool, public school, private school, self-study -- long before the pandemic.

Our family technically doesn't even homeschool. One is at a public technical high school learning dental assisting, and my middle schooler goes one day a week to a parent partnership program that he is 100% enrolled in. We homeschool the other 4 days (and use our choice of secular homeschool curricula paid for by the school district), but he counts as a full public schooler. My 4 year old will be in the same program next year.

I’ve graduated 3 - we dual enrolled each of them at some point with multiple school districts. Yep, we like to mix up our options! Every child is different! And I’m thankful for school administrators that are understanding! Some are more willing to work with us than others despite the legislation that allows for us to participate. I’ve learned to build relationships with the schools.

I wonder if it seems ‘new’ because many of families that never would’ve considered homeschooling chose that route after the pandemic for at least one of their kids and weren’t the stereotype of homeschoolers.

Yes being flexible for the child. And HSing a kid with post infectious disease from Lyme, and my middle son, and dealing with autoimmunity myself, it was easier to send my daughter to K. She thrived and I kept her challenged at home with books and trips etc.

I have so many thoughts rolling-- these comments are helpful to a Mom/Grandma now -- who homeschooled 6 children and now watching 15 grandchildren being schooled in various ways. Thankful for healthy growing families.

I mean. This article is a big “duh” for anyone who homeschools. My oldest went to public school until it didn’t work. Then we went to a Parent Partnership Program which is technically part of the public school system. During Covid we went fully homeschool. After my oldest took a couple classes at the local high school and a couple classes at community college. Now she’s fully in community college and my second went full time public high school this last year. My two youngest are going to stay primarily in homeschool at least until their freshman year and then we’ll see what they need. The beauty of homeschool is the ability to tailor the education to the child.

Um, you wrote a whole book on this entire subject before the pandemic 😅 "Rethinking School" was one of the first books I read when starting to homeschool, and I often refer to it. Most homeschoolers are not anti-public school. We just have kids who don't fit the current model 🤷‍♀️ our public school provides us with evaluations, IEPs, and speech therapy for my kids. I'm so grateful for them!

We public schooled my older kids in K & 1, homeschooled for 5 years because public wasn’t working for my neuro spicy family, are sending them to a small private Classical school next year and continuing to homeschool the youngest because she has special needs the private school can’t accommodate. Like someone else posted, we’re just doing what’s best for each kid!

Perhaps homeschool parents are actually considering the individual needs of each child using the resources available to them to do so? 😅❤️

I was a public school student raised in a very Charlotte Mason-esque household. Now, I homeschool both with the CM method, my oldest being in ELC funded daycares prior to pulling her out. Growing up in rural Oklahoma, I had friends in public school with homeschooled siblings, and we all attended the same church groups.

Let’s not forget that if our homeschoolers are participating in public school sports, we’re forced to “enroll” at least in tge state of WA

Oldest was always homeschooled until he dual enrolled at CC for 10th and attended a traditional school for 12th. Younger kids have been a mix throughout the years. Last year all four kids were in a public charter--first time in 12 years no one was homeschooled. We just made the best choice, given our resources, that we could for each kid each year. But now that I have them in my dream school, I'm perfectly content to hang up my homeschooling hat.

If your only reason to homeschool is that you don't like/trust the public schools, I don't think that's enough. You need reasons to be FOR homeschooling. One of them is flexibility. A friend of mine once told me that we've forgotten professional educators are "subcontractors" to parents, not the other way around. Parents should be able to pick and choose. We used charter schools, participating in 4 different types as we moved during our homeschooling years. The key was knowing what reporting requirements we would/could accept and what we would/could not. If the charter wasn't flexible, we moved on. They helped by curriculum when my husband was out of work, we usually had teachers we could work with (and when we didn't, we requested a change), and for one kid, a high school charter and supervising teacher provided a very valuable buffer between parent/kid when very much needed. It was what worked for each of 4 kids, and that is exactly the flexibility and right to be independent that we were looking for. 😎

I agree with you, homeschoolers tend to adapt the learning environment to the child. That might include trying different options. And of course different children learn differently.

All five of mine used the ps for sports--one kid lettered 9 times in 7 different sports! And they all started at a public university by 14. We had to pay for the university classes. They all graduated with at least a year of college credits; one of them, two years.

Back in ‘90-91, my mother was homeschooling us until my father went to the first Gulf War. She enrolled us half day in our local high school because she could only do so much with a husband at war. We then learned of several other families that were in and out of that school depending on what they needed.

Yep, I schooled 4 kids. One homeschooled through graduation, one until 3rd grade, and two through 8th grade. Those around me with multiple children took the same approach. We chose what was best for each kid.

This is so ignorant it's laughable. I was homeschooled and the majority of the homeschooling people I knew growing up homeschooled because they were "anti public school." And even I know this is not and was not the case for most homeschoolers.

Think that would be called meeting the needs of the child, or there is no one size fits all education or school choice

I remember when I was in high school, there was a homeschool girl who came to play in band with us (this was like '93, '94). But she could just show up and go right in the entrance near the band room. Didn't have to check in at the office or anything. Now, my friends with kids who do this have to check in, be escorted to class. And they can't come early or stay late. And they have to be registered as a part-time student.