who has autism and ADHD diagnoses that made
middle school a challenge. But she always felt
her 10-year-old daughter was “built for school.”
Now with the pandemic raging, she is pulling
them both out for the year.
“We just saw that with her wearing a mask for
the entire day, that would make learning more
difficult for her,” she said. “It was going to be such
a different environment. We didn’t think it would
be as beneficial for her.”
Homeschooling applications are surging in
states including Nebraska, where they are up
21%, and Vermont, where they are up 75%. In
North Carolina, a rush of parents filing notices
that they planned to homeschool overwhelmed
a government website last month, leaving it
temporarily unable to accept applications.
There were about 2.5 million homeschool
students last year in grades K-12 in the U.S.,
making up about 3% to 4% of school-age
children, according to the National Home
Educators Research Institute. Brian Ray, the
group’s president, is anticipating that their
numbers will increase by at least 10%.
“One day the school district says X and four days
later they say Y,” Ray said. “And then the governor
says another thing and then that changes what
the school district can do. And parents and
teachers are tired of what appear to be arbitrary
and capricious decisions. They are tired of it and
saying we are out of here.”
Interest in homeschooling materials also
has been surging, driven in part by parents
who are keeping their children enrolled in
schools but looking for ways to supplement
distance learning.