Home schooling is one of Florida’s fastest-growing education options.
So what’s driving the increase?
A few newspapers looked at that question recently, and found parents are drawn by factors ranging from religion and safety to dissatisfaction with the public school system and a need to give children one-on-one attention.
The Naples Daily News talked to home school groups in Southwest Florida.
When parents talk about why they chose to school at home, the reasons are a mixed.
Lynda Rowley is a Naples mom who started home schooling her daughters about a decade ago. Looking to connect with like-minded families, she created Southwest Florida Homeschooling Families, a support group for families that home-school in both Collier and Lee counties.
“When we first started the group, people were pulling their children out of school and starting to home-school for different [reasons],” she said. “At first it was religion, sometimes it was medical reasons. A couple of years ago, it turned into ‘my child is being bullied;’ then it turned into the Common Core … a lot of Common Core.”
The Florida Times-Union notes another factor. There are more tools available.
Home schooling has gotten easier than it used to be for parents, especially with the rise of virtual education.
Parents choose from a plethora of online classes, Internet-based learning materials and blended learning centers, allowing in-person and computer instruction. There also are online schools — public, private and charters — which can allow students to take one class or a series of classes.
Much like vouchers and other school choice programs, parents are drawn to home schooling for diverse reasons.
