Homeschooling explodes in popularity, CCSD and census data shows
Originally Published by FoxVegas.com.
LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Clark County School District students in grades six, nine and 12 returned to classrooms this week under a hybrid model.
Meanwhile, several thousand others are distance learning, but a growing number of students are staying home for a different reason with their parents at the helm.
Surveys show a growing number of Nevada students are being homeschooled. New U.S. Census Data reveals that last year, households homeschooling in Nevada grew significantly, from 2.5% percent in April to 13.1% in October, for a percent increase of 10.6%.
But it’s not just the census reporting a change.
CCSD said that this school year alone, at least 6,277 notice of intent to homeschool forms have been submitted already. For context, in the prior five school years, that number was in the 1,570 to 2,244 range.
“Parents are finally seeing they have an option,” said Elissa Wahl, president of Nevada Homeschool Network and cofounder of RISE Resource Center.
Wahl is a homeschooling mom who mentors other homeschooling parents with her local nonprofit RISE Resource Center. She helps families who are interested in making the switch.
She said she believes the increase in homeschooling has a lot to do with the recent switch to distance learning at CCSD.
“It took a lot of time,” said Wahl. “That was really a frustrating thing, having to work with, okay and this teacher’s got math at this time, so this kid has to be logged in here, and this kid has reading over here at this time, and all together, three or four kids, you don’t have any time to go grocery shopping.”
She said one of homeschooling’s most attractive qualities, leading to the rise, is likely its individualized nature.
“I can say, ‘Oh, he’s not ready to start reading at 5? That’s okay. We’ll wait a year, let him develop, come back and attack it next year.’”
The leader and brain behind Time4Learning agrees.
Time4Learning is a homeschooling software solution with built-in digital curriculums for children.
“In fact, the scheduling is done, the parents start by saying, ‘Okay we’re gonna start on this date, we’re gonna finish on this date, we’re gonna block out vacations.’ And all the lessons are automatically scattered throughout the years,” said John Edelson, president of Time4Learning.
So will this trend continue in years to come?
“I think we’re gonna see at least half of them continue on. Right? Because now they know they have an option, and an option that puts them more in the driver’s seat.”
Click here to learn more from Las Vegas-based RISE Resource Center, and click here to learn more about Time4Learning.
