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Home schooling in 2022 is diverse and different for each family
McCOOK, Neb. — Home-schooling is becoming more user-friendly.
“It used to be just religious people or what you’d call hippies, but now it’s becoming more mainstream,” Rebecca Bogardus said. Bogardus home-schools her four children and is one of six “Mom” administrators for a local homeschool co-op.
People use to be intimidated by it but today, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach for home schooling, she said. “It’s different for every family,” Bogardus said, whose husband, Peter, teaches math at Cambridge Public Schools. “There are as many ways to home school as there are families.”
What’s different now than 20 years ago is how common it’s becoming, thanks to more cooperation with public schools, the variety of social avenues now available, and classes on the internet.
Curriculum in home schools all depends on what parents think is best for their child, she said. That can mean a hybrid of home school and public schools. Kids can attend public school for a few classes, half a year, or attend home school for one year, then public school the next. It also means older home school students can take advantage of online options, such as college classes, or maybe have a tutor in a certain class, such as high school math.
Bogardus started the McCook Area Homeschool Co-op 10 years ago when she and her husband first moved to McCook from Oregon, as a way for her kids to take other courses and for home-schooling parents to connect. “It’s a great community of like-minded people coming together, to share ideas and talents,” she said. The co-op meets once a week at a local church, with members paying dues and assisting with classes.
This semester, there are 23 families participating and 57 children attending classes, including families coming from communities up to an hour away. Classes vary each semester and this year, there’s physical education, martial arts, music, speech, and drama, a teen club and a life skills class, where students learn such things as how to change a tire.
There’s also a local Facebook page that helps parents connect, plan field trips, or get the word out on community events coming up. Homeschool parents put a lot of energy into making sure their kids have social activities, Bogardus said, whether through church, the YMCA, or local organizations.
It’s a far cry from the 1970s, when home schools first appeared as an option and then, it was every man for himself as truancy laws were still in effect. School reform supporters and educational theorists argued in the 1970s that rote learning created an oppressive classroom design to make children compliant employees, according to the Coalition for Responsible Home Education. The home school movement kept growing through the 1980s but parents kept it private as they risked legal issues and the possibility of their children being removed from the home. In the early 1990s, home schools were no longer connected to the educational reform movement as it had been in the 1970s, but rather to conservative religious ideas and the Christian Right. By 1989, the majority of states were moving to allow home schools, with Nebraska allowing it in 1994.
Parents embrace homeschooling for a variety of reasons, Bogardus said, such as academic and curriculum concerns, health concerns if a family member is medically fragile, anxiety/stress and traveling families, such as those in the military or traveling nurses, or for a special needs child, like those with autism. Many children on the autism spectrum find the environment of public school overwhelming with its sights and sounds, so at-home teaching is more conducive to learning.
According to the Nebraska Department of Education, there were 9,452 homeschooled students in the 2019-20 school year. Based on estimates, this jumped to 14,780 students in 2020-21 (during the Covid pandemic when schools went to remote learning) and 13,765 students in 2021-22. Based on homeschool filings as of Aug. 19, 2022, there are 11,657 students for 2022-23.
In Red Willow County, there were 45 students total in 2019-20, according to the Nebraska Dept. of Education.
In Nebraska, “home schools” are referred to as exempt schools and are considered non-approved or non-accredited schools. Parents must file for exempt status with the Nebraska Department of Education. While requirements vary from state to state, in Nebraska, parents must provide 1,032 hours of instruction (elementary grades) or 1,080 hours of instruction (secondary grades) for the school year. Program of instruction must lead to (but is not limited to) the basic skills in language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and health. Assessment/testing is not required of exempt school students, although many home-schooled high schoolers take the ACT for college.
Bogardes’ oldest child, Katrine, at 17, has been home-schooled since second grade and is taking two classes at McCook High School, band and choir. Extra-curricular activities under the Nebraska School Activities Association (NSAA), like sports and competitions for drama, speech, and music, require students attend two public school classes. She’s also completed several college courses online and at McCook Community College as well as taking the ACT test.
When the Covid pandemic in 2020 closed schools, many parents were forced into teaching at home with remote, online learning. Some stayed with it after schools re-opened, for several reasons, Bogardus said, such as health concerns about public school. That added more students to the home school movement.
Parents who choose to home school want the freedom to teach the way they feel education should be taught, she said. But it’s not for everyone. “If you don’t have a desire to do it, it won’t work,” she said.