An increasing number of families are turning to homeschooling, and with good reason. It isn’t the best answer for everybody, but more and more households are attracted to the flexibility and control that homeschooling offers. Should you consider homeschooling?
The numbers
Survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau and reported by Education Next indicates that 3.1 million school-aged children nationally, about 6 percent, were homeschooled in 2022-23. That percentage has been rising steadily, with a big jump during the COVID-19 years of 2021-23.
The same survey shows that the racial and ethnic background of homeschoolers is similar to that of the general population. Among respondents with homeschooled students in their household, 19 percent were Hispanic or Latino, 60 percent were white, 12 percent were Black, 2 percent were Asian, and 7 percent were two or more or other races.
The educational background attained by parents of homeschooled children also is close to that of the broader public. The survey says 27 percent of homeschool parents hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, 33 percent have some college education, 29 percent have a high school diploma or GED, and 11 percent don’t have a high school diploma. Among public-school parents, 29 percent hold a bachelor’s degree and 9 percent didn’t finish high school.
Family income does not have a big effect on who chooses homeschooling. In the survey, 49 percent of homeschooling families who responded reported earning less than $100,000 annually, while 23 percent said they earn more than $100,000. “The reported income levels for respondents with homeschooled children are modestly lower, on average, than those of respondents with children in public schools,” the Education Next article says.
Why homeschool?
Families choose homeschooling because they believe it will better fit their goals and needs. Those goals can vary, from a desire for alternative teaching styles to instilling moral values to avoiding what parents believe is a negative atmosphere in public schools. According to a 2019 survey by the Census Bureau’s National Household Education Survey, more than half of the respondents cited these reasons for homeschooling:
- A concern about the public school environment, including violence, drugs, or negative peer pressure.
- Providing moral instruction.
- Building a stronger family life.
- Dissatisfaction with academic instruction in the schools.
- A desire for religious instruction.
- Seeking a nontraditional approach to education.
A smaller but still significant number — about a quarter of the families — cited the desire to meet a child’s special needs. A homeschool advocate offers a longer and more personal list of reasons for homeschooling at the Raising Lifelong Learners website.
While concerns about safety and values certainly drive many homeschool families, our emphasis will be on academics, particularly as to children with learning disabilities. Can homeschooling help your child learn better?
‘A really good option’
Lawrence Kloth, co-founder of Reading Success Plus, has experienced the benefits of homeschooling. Lawrence, who has dyslexia and ADHD, struggled in traditional classrooms. As part of his family’s search for an instructional method that would be effective with Lawrence, they homeschooled him for about three years.
“I loved homeschooling,” Lawrence says. It was a really awesome experience for me. I highly recommend it if you can do it. It’s a really good option for people who have certain belief systems, or whose kids are having a hard time in traditional schools.
“It’s not for everybody. It depends on what the family is able to do and what the student needs. But it can be a huge win for our kids, especially those who are really struggling.”
Numbers show that homeschooling is effective academically. “There are some mind-blowing statistics,” Lawrence says.
The National Home Education Research Institute reports that:
- The home-educated typically score 15 to 25 percentile points above public-school students on standardized tests.
- 78% of peer-reviewed studies on academic achievement show homeschooled students perform significantly better than those in regular schools.
- Homeschool students score above average on achievement tests regardless of their parents’ level of formal education or their family’s household income.
- Home-educated students typically score above average on the SAT and ACT tests that colleges consider for admissions.
“People stereotype homeschoolers as dorky, or a little bit geeky, or whatever,” Lawrence says. “But these are really smart kids.”
Reduced stress
Those with learning disabilities sometimes find it easier to thrive in a homeschool environment because it is free of the stress these kids feel in a traditional school.
“The family of a dyslexic or ADHD person, or someone on the spectrum, has a lot of anxiety about regular school. ‘What’s going to happen? How will they do in that environment?’
“Especially if they’re a little different. I have personal experience with going into a school and knowing you’re different. It takes a toll on self-esteem for a lot of kids. They want to fit into the crowd, right?”
Homeschooling relieves some of that pressure and lets a child become comfortable with who they are.
“As I got older,” Lawrence says, “I realized that it’s OK to be different. You can still be really smart, and you can have strengths and weaknesses in different areas.” By removing social anxieties, homeschooling can help the child flourish as the person they really are.
Custom curriculum
Because it is so individualized, homeschooling can better address those strengths and weaknesses.
“If the child is struggling in language arts, you spend more time on that,” Lawrence says. ‘If math is a problem, maybe you work more on that and less on social studies. You’re not locked into a curriculum that must serve 25 other kids in the classroom.”
Likewise, homeschooling lets students go deep into subjects that interest them. If your 9-year-old is fascinated with butterflies, make that your science topic. Find books on butterflies for language arts. And it’s a perfect topic for art projects. Learning is easier when the student cares about the topic.
Homeschool parents have other opportunities to deliver lessons creatively. A trip to the zoo can be a biology lesson; a museum visit can teach more than two hours with a textbook and multiple-choice quizzes. Family vacations – which are easier to schedule if you’re not bound to a school calendar – become more than sightseeing trips. Can any geology readings match what a child learns visiting the Grand Canyon?
These real-life lessons would be more vivid for any child, but they are especially effective for students with learning disabilities, who struggle with textbooks but are strong visual and tactile learners. And you don’t have to go to a national park to take advantage of that.
“Turn on a video,” Lawrence says. “I remember watching the movie ‘Gettysburg’ when I was studying the Civil War. It’s almost four hours long, and no classroom could show that. Being homeschooled, I could watch it. And I learned so much!
“Remember, when you’re teaching someone with dyslexia or other disabilities, showing a video isn’t just killing time. It’s the most effective way to get to these kids. It’s teaching them in the way that they best learn.”
How Reading Success Plus can help
Families with children who have learning disabilities, including dyslexia, see many advantages in homeschooling. Parents don’t have to navigate a complicated and sometimes uncooperative educational system to get their children the accommodations they need. The child gets the time and attention that a classroom teacher, no matter how dedicated and knowledgeable, simply cannot give to one child in a class of 25. And rather than being forced into a system that is not geared to their learning style, children are taught in the way they best learn, with a multisensory approach.
Still, homeschooling can leave gaps. Not all parents understand nontraditional teaching styles . After all, they probably were taught in the usual fashion, with textbooks and written assignments as the backbone of the curriculum. They understand that doesn’t work for their child but don’t know how to replace it.
Reading Success Plus offers programs in reading, writing, and math that will help. Our research- and evidence-based tutoring programs reach struggling learners by engaging them in visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile methods they can grasp. Tutoring is online or in person.
“At some point, homeschool parents realize that they can only go so far in teaching their child with dyslexia or other learning disabilities,” Lawrence says. There’s nothing in their experience that tells them what to do next. That’s where we can help.”
RSP screenings identify the child’s strengths and weaknesses and to see if our programs are the right fit. If so, our proven programs will help them develop the skills they need to lead successful lives, whether that eventually means college, trade schools, arts programs, military service, or anything else.
“It’s a great program,” Lawrence says. ‘And we have great tutors who are highly trained and specialized, who get to know your kids and learn what’s going on.”
We’ll make it work
Not only does RSP have the programs to fill some gaps in the homeschool curriculum, but it also has the flexibility to match. We recommend two tutoring sessions a week, but some families have chosen to do as many as four to accelerate the process.
“A lot depends on the family’s situation,” Lawrence says. “Some may only be able to manage one lesson a week. It’s not ideal, but it’s still progress. We’ll work with whatever you can do.”
Homeschool families also can pick the hours that suit them best. Our tutors’ schedules are packed between 3 and 7 p.m. after students get out of school. Homeschoolers can work RSP tutoring into their schedule earlier in the day and not have to compete for those popular time slots.
“Homeschooling can be a fantastic way of learning,” Lawrence concludes. “But it must be done the right way. We can be a solution for people who aren’t sure what to do and just need help.
“If you have kids who are struggling and you just don’t know what to do or who to turn to, just give us a phone call. See if we’re the right fit for you.”
Reading Success Plus has offices in Grand Rapids and Troy and offers one-on-one tutoring online or in person in reading, math and writing. You can get more information at readingsuccessplus.com. To contact us, call 833-229-1112 or go online to https://readingsuccessplus.com/#contact.