CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — As the school year begins, the majority of parents are sending their children back to public school for the upcoming school year. However, many parents are choosing an alternative route in homeschooling.
The shift comes amid concerns from parents over the environment at public schools, as well as safety and curriculum.
Amanda Lindsey is a stay-at-home mom who leads a Christian homeschooling group, and she believes that homeschooling can offer more than just pens and paper.
“Children learn at different levels. One of my kids is not going to learn as quickly as the other, and that’s okay,” Lindsay said. “Homeschooling gives me the opportunity to really hone in on, you know, what they’re good at, and how quick they’re learning. I can move on quicker, I can slow it down and that’s really important to me.”
West Virginia ranks among the highest in the nation for homeschooled children, with the number growing every year, according to the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy. This can be attributed to the prevalence of the Hope Scholarship program, which diverts money from the public school system and distributes it to parents of students enrolled in the program for things like tuition at private institutions and homeschool assistance.
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“I think it’s a wonderful thing, I think that a lot of families are afraid sometimes when they pull their children because they feel that it is expensive to homeschool your kids or send them to private school. Private schools are very, very expensive and the Hope Scholarship gives them that peace of mind that financially they will be okay,” Lindsay said.
The push for homeschooling doesn’t stop at just financial aid. In 2023, House Bill 2820 was passed by the West Virginia Legislature, which opened the door for qualifying homeschool students to participate in public school extracurricular activities.
As a whole, homeschooling and alternative education are on the rise in West Virginia, with many parents expressing a desire for control over what their child learns and believes.
“I wanted the control over the curriculum of what my daughter was going to learn, and I wanted to be able to spend more time with her,” stay-at-home mom Leah Hardman said.
The feelings felt by these parents are corroborated by a recent Pew Research study, which cited concerns about school environment, religious reasons and overall dissatisfaction with academic instruction as some of the reasons parents across the country choose homeschooling.
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