More families opt for homeschooling as students head back to the classroom

During the pandemic, many parents got good at navigating how to teach and help their kids away from the classroom.

Now, homeschooling is a trend we’re seeing pick up across the country and here at home.

For students at DeKel mPact Services, it was a warm welcome back to school.

“This is something different that’s needed in the community,” Saundra Kelly said.

Kelly and Ricarda Deeds opened this homeschooling facility in the middle of the pandemic.

“Through the pandemic, we have served students who were learning virtually from Cobb, Aiken, Richmond, and Burke County,” Kelly said.

They say for many parents, it was a temporary option, but now they have doubled their numbers and expanded the facility.

“80 percent of our families are returning families. We thought that we would lose them post-pandemic, but everyone returned with the exception of maybe one or two,” Kelly said. “Within one year, we have expanded and pretty much doubled our numbers.”

ther facilities like Jessy Norman and Challenge Prep say they’ve also noticed an increase as well.

And according to the U.S. Census Bureau, nationwide, the number of households homeschooling at the start of the 2020-2021 school year had doubled, with Georgia increasing by nearly 9 percent.

“Parents are concerned about their children’s health, but they also want to keep their child’s learning environment as structured as possible,” Kelly said. “Being able to keep those academics going by inviting their families to those meetups... The confidence is just overwhelming.”

The Census Bureau also reported a homeschooling increase was largest in black households. Their homeschooling percentage rose from 3.3 percent in the spring of 2020 to 16.1 percent in the fall.