There were an estimated 5 million homeschool students in grades K-12 in the United States during March of 2021, that’s roughly 9% of school-age children.
That’s also a dramatic increase from 2019 when 2.5 million students, or 4 percent of school age children were learning at home.
And its not just one segment of society that fueling the growth, estimated to be as high as 8 percent a year. Atheists, Christians, Mormons, conservatives, libertarians, liberals, low, middle, and high-income families, and families from all races are contributing to the trend.
The closing of traditional schools due to the pandemic over the past year has certainly been one reason for the increase but the trend was already in place before covid.
The reasons for the growth are many: customized education, greater academic accomplishment than in traditional schools, and the ability for parents to impart their values on their children.
Recent studies also found homeschooled students fair better when they enter the workforce.
69% of peer-reviewed studies on success into adulthood (including college) show adults who were home educated succeed and perform significantly better than those who attended institutional schools, they are more likely to participate in community service and they go to and succeed at college at an equal or higher rate than the general population.