Imagine departing from the routine of rolling out of bed and trudging through the school day. Step into the realm of homeschooling, where a classroom can be on sandy shores or a hiking trail.

Homeschooling’s national prevalence has surged in recent years. Since the start of the pandemic, homeschooling has been on the rise with an estimated 30% increase in enrollment between the 2019-20 and 2021-22 school years. According to the Washington Post, it is now the fastest-growing form of education in the U.S. 

Many families turn to homeschooling in response to the lack of specialized attention from teachers in the public school system. Because of the high volume of students that public school teachers are bombarded with, it is difficult to create tailored education programs based on ability. Nicholas, who chose to be identified by his first name for privacy reasons, is a father of three homeschooled children. 

“Many students, especially when they get to high school, are inundated with the daily routine and extracurriculars,” Nicholas said. “The freedom and flexibility to explore your passions and interests become limited through that process. In the hypercompetitive world of college admissions, you’re trying to check all these boxes to impress the college admissions committee. And at some point, many students lose their way.”

With homeschooling, families can construct a curriculum that tailors to the individual needs of each child. By adopting this personalized system, students can explore subjects of personal interest.

This freedom opens doors to world travel and hands-on learning experiences. Senior Trisha Iyer, who was homeschooled by her mother in third and fourth grade, reminisces about the experiential learning system.

“The state allocates funds to homeschooled families, so I was able to get a simple microscope in fourth grade,” Trisha said. “I would go out into this park and collect stuff to look at with wet slides. I was really into biology at that time, so that was a way for me to extend my interest in a way that was self-directed and self-guided, more so than you could get at a school lab.”

To make sure that homeschooled students meet developmental milestones, many states, including California, conduct quarterly checks and monitor the basic curriculum. For Trisha, the meetings with her designated check-in conductor served as a way to demonstrate her work.

“One of the things that I’m grateful my mom did for me was she would make me choose what worksheets to present to the person who had to meet with me,” Trisha said. “I would just talk through very genuinely about what I cared about and what I was learning, as well as my main takeaways. Those were great skills that I think I’ve carried forward.”

The check-ins also helped Trisha refine her communication skills and articulate her progress in a more effective way than traditional assessment methods allowed. 

Misconceptions about homeschooling proliferated by the media can be misleading. Ismail Akeel, who has been homeschooled since sixth grade, said there are a lot of false assumptions associated with the lifestyle. 

“I think traditional schooling and homeschooling are parallel,” Ismail said. “People think homeschooling is a completely different thing where your parent teaches you everything. In reality, it’s quite similar to what a regular school would be except that you can focus on things you are interested in.”

Some parents gravitate toward this learning strategy because it allows them to control their children’s education. While some critics say this could hinder the next generation’s ability to navigate society as open-minded global citizens, Trisha said her homeschooling offered a balance between individual exploration and social awareness.

“It’s somewhat unintuitive because you would think homeschooling makes you more sheltered,” Trisha said. “But I think for me, it encouraged me to reflect a lot more about the world and, everything was a learning opportunity because there wasn’t a defined set place to do it. I could go out and the pond water could be as much of a learning opportunity as a museum or a worksheet.”