海角大神

Opting out: A wider range of parents drives home-school surge

In the 1970s and 鈥�80s, groups of primarily white, 海角大神 fundamentalists drove a surge in the number of home-schooling families around the United States. As they pulled their children out of public schools, they also worked to dismantle state and local regulatory hurdles that kept kids in bricks-and-mortar institutions. By 1994, over 90% of who home-schooled were white.

During the pandemic, there鈥檚 been another increase in the number of families that are home-schooling, only this time, the families leading the charge are decidedly more diverse.

Census data shows that rates of home schooling between the start of the pandemic in March 2020 and the fall of that year. The largest growth was among Black families, with a fivefold increase, but all racial groups tracked have seen increases. By October 2020, nearly 20% of adults who reported home-schooling their children were Black, 24% were Hispanic or Latino, and 48% were white, according to data from the Household Pulse Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau. The same survey found that only 19% of all adults who reported聽home schooling聽have a bachelor鈥檚 degree or higher, and 53% report their income to be less than $50,000 a year.

According to Census data, the number of Hispanic families home-schooling doubled over the first several months of the pandemic. This increase has been felt by leaders on the ground, including those who run home-school groups or online home-school communities for Hispanic and Latino families.

Gisela Qui帽ones in Indiana has been home-schooling her two children for years and runs a Facebook group for Latino families who home-school. Over the course of the pandemic, 鈥渢he group pretty much exploded nationally,鈥� says Ms. Qui帽ones, mother of a 10- and a 12-year-old.聽

鈥淪ome parents are really worried about COVID and their child getting sick, but one of the main reasons is about culture. We want our children to learn certain things now,鈥� says Ms. Qui帽ones. 鈥淲e want them to know a lot about their culture.鈥�

The聽Census survey didn鈥檛 separate out data for Native Americans, nor did it explore home-school participation by religion. But Native American and Muslim leaders say they believe rates have increased in their communities as well, after the pandemic gave families the time and space to reflect on whether traditional schools were really serving their needs.聽

While hard data is scarce, participation in Muslim home-schooling groups has gone up. The nonprofit Muslim Homeschool Network now has several thousand likes and follows on its Facebook page. The group connects Muslim home-schoolers in Southern California by hosting events and providing resources, such as books and curriculum. Fatima Siddiqui, an MHN member, says the group also has a WhatsApp group that is now up to 150 members.聽

, a private Facebook group,聽now has more than 22,000 members, while another, , has been followed and liked more than 13,000 times.

Since 2015, Kelly Tudor, in Texas, has run a for Indigenous home-school families. In the past year and a half, that number has ballooned; there are now over 1,000 parents in the group.

鈥淚 had a lot of issues and there was a lot of incorrect information and stereotypes taught to us,鈥� says Ms. Tudor of how her teachers taught Native American issues in school. 鈥淲hen we would try to inform the teacher, we would get called names.鈥�

The three families profiled below came to home schooling for different reasons, but each family expressed disappointment with the public system and a desire to ground their children more firmly in their family鈥檚 identity and values.

The Gaddies

Before 2020, Helene Gaddie had never really considered home schooling. But ever since the 6- and 9-year-olds she鈥檚 raising were sent home at the start of the pandemic, she and her husband have been their primary teachers.聽The family has chosen a hybrid home-school model 鈥� half a day of distance learning with the local school and half a day of activities and lessons arranged at home.

鈥淚 thought we were failing, but the boys鈥� grades are OK,鈥� says Ms. Gaddie, a member of the Oglala Lakota Nation. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e average.鈥�

When the boys鈥� no-fee private school 鈥� on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, where the family lives 鈥� reopened to in-person learning more quickly than Ms. Gaddie thought was safe, she enrolled them in the tribally controlled public school she鈥檇 gone to as a child. That school continues to offer a distance-learning option 鈥� three hours a day of instruction from a grade-level teacher 鈥� and Ms. Gaddie and her husband take care of the rest.

鈥淔or our recess they get to go outside and practice archery,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey get to tan the hides that they make, make drums, work directly in the garden and be present.鈥�

It鈥檚 also easier to participate in events on the seasonal Indigenous calendar, like the annual buffalo harvest or sacred site visits, that would previously have meant pulling the children from school.

The boys, whom she refers to as her grandsons, or takoja聽in Lakota, are her nephew鈥檚 biological children. She sees their upbringing, steeped now in the traditions and language of their people, as a sure path to making them stronger individuals. 鈥淚f you know your culture, if you know where you come from, you鈥檙e stronger,鈥� she says. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e stronger minded. You learn better.鈥�

Ms. Gaddie has thought deeply about the education of the young people of her tribe. In 2013, she, her husband, and her cousin founded a nonprofit called that offers after-school science programs and seasonal outdoor science camps.

鈥淲hat we鈥檙e trying to do is revive our culture,鈥� she says. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 really hard having them in school anyway, because our culture is more diluted. These [schools] are in our homelands, our Lakota homelands here. But there鈥檚 no enforcement of language or kinship.鈥�

It鈥檚 not easy maintaining jobs, motivating the boys 鈥� 鈥淚 don鈥檛 care about what anybody says, stickers work鈥� 鈥� and making ends meet. They get free school lunches delivered, but the family receives no other outside financial support. She and her husband are both artists, and Ms. Gaddie earns a modest stipend from their nonprofit. It鈥檚 not really enough, she says, but 鈥渨e make it work.鈥�

She鈥檚 not sure if she鈥檒l continue home-schooling once she feels it鈥檚 safe for the children to return to school in person. She thinks she鈥檒l let her older boy make his own choice.

鈥淗e鈥檚 a normal, wild Lakota boy,鈥� she says, a smile in her voice. 鈥淗e鈥檒l adjust to anything.鈥�

The Hidalgos

Olga Hidalgo had been volunteering at her children鈥檚 schools for years by the time the pandemic hit. The mother of two, who lives in Florida and runs a mobile pet grooming business with her husband, considered volunteering to be the best way to play an active role in her kids鈥� education.

鈥淚 noticed the kids were not respecting authority,鈥� Mrs. Hidalgo, who is originally from Peru, says in Spanish, through an interpreter. 鈥淢any teachers were not motivated to teach the young people, and they felt like the students were not being respectful toward them.鈥�

Even before the pandemic, her daughter asked to be pulled from high school. And once she transitioned to virtual instruction, Mrs. Hidalgo鈥檚 daughter grew more interested in learning at home.

Mrs. Hidalgo鈥檚 son, meanwhile, struggled to complete virtual class assignments without a cellphone or laptop. Once he had the right technology, Mrs. Hidalgo says, he was exposed to inappropriate pictures on Instagram shared by other students.聽聽

鈥淚 had a friend who already did home-school,鈥� Mrs. Hidalgo says, 鈥渁nd when I went to visit, I saw how she was doing the schoolwork with her children. It just made me think my children had another option to learn at home without that hostile environment.鈥澛�

Early in fall 2020, Mrs. Hidalgo and her husband scoured the internet for curriculum and lesson plans that they could use at home to teach their kids. All four Hidalgos love American history, and a dual-enrollment course allowed their 17-year-old daughter to earn college credit while sharing the class content with her brother and parents. The Hidalgos鈥� 14-year-old son also jumped at the opportunity to earn college credit early, and enrolled in communications and composition courses.

The Hidalgos joined a home-schooling group at their church, where her children play the drums and piano in the band.

鈥淣ow they have even more friends 鈥� closer and more meaningful relationships 鈥� than they had at school,鈥� Mrs. Hidalgo says.聽

Although she hesitates to speak for the thousands of Hispanic and Latino parents who choose to home-school, Mrs. Hidalgo says her culture is very family-oriented.

鈥淲e like our children to have a connection with parents and grandparents and extended family,鈥� she says. 鈥淗ome-school is attractive because you get to spend more time as a family.鈥�

The Siddiquis

Fatima Siddiqui always knew she wanted to home-school her kids.

She became fascinated with the idea while studying for her degrees in childhood education, psychology, and math education. She thought the idea 鈥渏ust went so well ... with that natural bond between a parent and child.鈥�

A former private school teacher and assistant principal in New York, Ms. Siddiqui began home-schooling her kids six years ago after moving to Diamond Bar, California. She represents a growing number of Muslim families who are forgoing the public school system.

Many of the Muslim parents who are now choosing to go this route, unlike those in the past, are younger, born and raised in America, public school graduates, highly educated, and more diverse. The lack of personal attention students receive in a public school setting, the possibility of encountering bullying or Islamophobia, and a take on human sexuality and gender that many parents find too liberal were among the reasons Ms. Siddiqui and others she knows in the Muslim community cite for choosing to home-school. The ability to structure a school day to include the five daily prayers and to incorporate Islamic knowledge and study of the Quran, the Islamic holy book, side by side with secular subjects like reading, writing, math, science, and history was also appealing to Muslim home-schoolers interviewed for this article.

Ms. Siddiqui says she鈥檚 able to provide her kids with a 鈥渟tronger Muslim identity鈥� because they鈥檙e reading about Muslim characters. She can also help them apply Islamic thinking, and is able to introduce principles and concepts of Islam into all subjects. For example, when teaching a unit on telling time, Ms. Siddiqui says she would incorporate verses from the Quran that talk about time.

For many parents, including Ms. Siddiqui, religion isn鈥檛 the only driving force.

鈥淚 felt like I would be able to give more of the world to my kids based on their interests, on their skill sets, and help them become more well-rounded individuals by exposing them to a lot of different things at their level, at their pace,鈥澛燤s. Siddiqui says.聽

The mother of five has home-schooled four of her kids so far. Her high schoolers are now independent learners. One daughter is a dual-enrolled student at a community college and in a seminary program. Ms. Siddiqui is the primary home educator for her two younger children.

She says home schooling allows her to give her kids opportunities to 鈥済o really deep into topics.鈥� When it was time to learn about the ocean, for example, they went to the beach. That way, Ms. Siddiqui says, 鈥渨e鈥檙e learning about the ocean, not through a book, but we鈥檙e at the ocean, learning. We鈥檙e at the tide pools. ... We鈥檙e making learning not just theoretical, but practical.鈥�

At the same time, she says she is able to develop a stronger bond with her children by learning alongside them.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e able to have deeper conversations, go deeper into a subject,鈥� she says. 鈥淚f there鈥檚 a math lesson that needs to be repeated, it鈥檚 fine. We had to repeat a whole year of math and it was OK. We could spend the whole year on a topic and get really deep into it.鈥�

Prior to the pandemic, and even during its first year, Ms. Siddiqui says many parents reached out to her, asking how to get started. However, this school year聽she鈥檚 noticed that some families who started to home-school in 2020, and even some veteran home-schoolers, put their kids back in public schools, citing issues related to mental health.

鈥淭he pandemic really took a toll on kids, mostly middle school and high school,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t was difficult on parents. It was difficult on the kids.鈥�

But despite that reversal by some families, Ms. Siddiqui says she expects home-schooling numbers to rise again in a year or two.

Editor鈥檚 note: This story has been updated to clarify how the Census data on home schooling relates to Native Americans.

This story about home schooling was produced by , a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education.