I never took “social studies.” To this day, I’m not really sure what it even is! But every year when we took the state-standardized test as homeschoolers, my scores – as well as those of my siblings – came back in the 90th percentile or higher for all subjects, including social studies. This had nothing to do with luck or even smarts, but it had everything to do with the fact that we didn’t waste time on the social studies curriculum taught in schools in the first place.

If we were finishing up the school year in the spring and encountered an unseasonably warm day, we wouldn’t even crack open the books that day. As homeschoolers, we didn’t take off school for the bad weather, we took off for the good weather. We started our semester later and ended it earlier than our public school counterparts. Continue reading →

While Emily Bute isn’t a mom yet, she has already made one decision for her future kids: she will not be sending them to public school.

As a special education teacher in the public school system herself, she said she has seen first hand how the ‘system does not address the needs’ of children.

Bute, based in Oahu, Hawaii, recently went viral on TikTok after she broke down all the reasons why she has decided that she will homeschool her kids when she has them. Continue reading →

New Jersey is considering a number of bills that would heavily regulate homeschooling.

Will Estrada is Senior Counsel with Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) speaks about the introduced bills. He tells AFN that, right now, New Jersey enjoys a lot of homeschooling freedom.

“So, the context is that New Jersey is one of 12 states in the United States where there is no requirement that homeschool families get permission from the government in order to home school. They don’t have to file with the local school district. They don’t have to notify the local school district. They are free to homeschool their kids,” Estrada explains.

He said there are still educational neglect laws where they still have to make sure they are providing a rigorous education to their children, but Estrada explained they do not have to file with the local school district to do that. Continue reading →

There’s a battle going on right now in our neighboring state of Illinois concerning the Illinois Homeschool Act. This Act takes the current minimal oversight of homeschoolers in Illinois and places families at risk of violation by state appointed truant officers right in their homes.

The bill would require parents to file a homeschool declaration form as well as an education portfolio to their local school district effectively putting their children under the jurisdiction of the very system from which many of these parents are trying to get away. Continue reading →

Now grown, one of them is a pilot, and the other went to college on a full scholarship.

When our sons were 3 and 6, my husband and I attended a homeschooling conference led by an expert and author in the field. During one session, the speaker asked the audience to share what traits they hoped their children would develop in school. Integrity, critical thinking, creativity, and curiosity were among the answers. She then posed a thought-provoking question: “How much emphasis do you think public schools place on teaching these values?” She added, “Who here believes that if parents take control of their children’s education, they can instill those traits?” Continue reading →

Get your children OUT of the System – NOW – and keep them OUT!

Historically, homeschooling rates in Missouri hovered around 3% — roughly one in 30 students (Getty Images)

Over the past few years, education in Missouri has undergone a quiet but seismic shift. What’s most interesting about this change is that it’s happening outside of schools. Continue reading →

Homeschooling is growing across the country following the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report.

The Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy’s Homeschool Research Lab reported its analysis of the homeschooling rate for 21 states for the 2023-2024 academic year. The report also noted that only 30 states keep track of their homeschooling numbers.

Among the 21 states that reported their homeschooling participation for the 2023-2024 school year, only two showed a decline. The other 19 states showed increases, ranging from slight to significant. Continue reading →

The Morans “unschool” on an abandoned Boy Scout camp, where they live in rural Arkansas. Courtesy of Taylor Moran

Raising homeschooled kids on an abandoned Boy Scout camp means never having clean hands – as they build log cabins, tree stump sundials, and a lifetime of memories of fishing by the creek.

The microbes in dirt are great for kids!

So says Taylor Moran, 33, who graduated to be a public school teacher but opted out of teaching in public schools. She prefers to educate her children at home, ideally outdoors. She believes microbes build our immune systems and help our brains produce serotonin. Continue reading →

The Wallicks along on their adventures in homeschooling. Courtesy of Nate Wallick

When dad Nate Wallick had to choose between enrolling his three young kids in public school or leading them on adventures – cliff jumping, canyoneering, and carp shooting across America – it was a no-brainer. Adventures would be had, and there’d be no public schooling at all.

So Wallick, 40, a firefighter from Chicago with a phys-ed degree, and his wife, Sally, packed their furniture and fled the suburbs for a farm a few miles outside Peoria, Illinois. He got his captain’s license, bought a boat, and started leading extreme fishing tours to hunt the carp that teem and jump like crazy from the Illinois River. He takes clients out to shoot the fish from motorboats with bows and arrows tied to strings.

Sometimes they even do this on waterskis.

When their kids were old enough, the family pointed to places on a map where they’d never been and hit the road in the RV they got just for this purpose. The kids didn’t enroll in public school. Instead, they experienced homeschooling as few know it. Wallick and his wife had discussed this before they married. Continue reading →

‘The growth is not driven by a global pandemic or sudden disruptions to traditional schooling.’

Sharomka/Shutterstock

New data from the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy’s homeschool research lab show that 90 percent of states reporting data saw an increase in homeschooling in the 2023–2024 school year.

The report examined data from 21 out of 30 states that collect or report homeschool participation information. The other nine states are expected to report data in the coming months. Continue reading →

The most important thing is to stick with it and believe you can.

Homeschooling can be daunting, but it is a task that you can definitely take on. (Julija Sulkovska/Shutterstock)

As summer winds down, millions of families are gearing up to begin a new homeschool year. For some, it will be their first foray into homeschool life. The homeschool path, of course, isn’t the easiest choice, and starting out into the unknown tends to be the hardest part of the journey.

So, for those brave parents choosing for the first time to take back the reins and steer their own children’s education and development, here’s some advice… Continue reading →

A mom of a gifted child – with 15 years of experience in the teaching profession – is sharing her unique experience of homeschooling her daughter and how it’s been a blessing and growing experience for her family.

Caroline learning the alphabet. (Courtesy of Sallie Borrink)

“As we approach the end of our [homeschooling] journey, I can say it has been completely worth it,” Mrs. Sallie Borrink told The Epoch Times. “We can see how all of the hard work spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally has paid off.” Continue reading →

“For anybody going into this … you need to have that discipline to get to see it through.”

Ms. Kyles with her Pi Sigma Alpha certificate for academic excellence in the field of political science. (Courtesy of Melissa Wheeler)

A homeschool student who began attending college at age 14 is gearing up to complete her bachelor’s degree, graduating from the University of the Pacific this fall.

Abigail Kyles, 19, is a college student from California and the daughter of Melissa Wheeler, 44, who directs a homeschool resource center.

Born and raised in Bakersfield, Ms. Kyles was homeschooled through high school, which enabled her to begin attending Bakersfield College, a junior college, when she was just 14. This made her a college freshman and high school freshman at the same time.

“She graduated high school at 16 years old and is now finishing up her four-year degree at University of the Pacific,” the proud mom told The Epoch Times.

Although many public schools offer dual enrollment, they do not allow students to take a heavier college course load the way Ms. Kyles did. Ms. Wheeler believes homeschooling was the secret to her daughter’s success, allowing the teen to take all the college courses she took and graduate at a young age. Continue reading →

Donya Grant, works on a homeschool lesson with her son Kemper, 14, as her daughter Rowyn, 11, works at right, at their home in Monroe, Wash./AP Photo

Scientific American magazine urged the federal government to regulate homeschooling and suggested that parents of homeschooled children should “undergo a background check.” Continue reading →