The homeschool shift

It seems every week I hear of another family making the switch to homeschooling. At first I thought it was just chatter around town, but the more I looked, the more I realized it’s part of a massive shift happening across the country. What used to be a rare decision is now a growing movement that’s reshaping education.

Lena and I chose this path early, before school shootings, bullying, and safety concerns dominated the conversation. Our five children have all been homeschooled from the start. Each Monday we join our Classical Conversations group at Camden Church of Christ, where I see firsthand how this way of learning shapes not only knowledge but character. We were drawn to the classical model—the trivium of grammar, logic, and rhetoric—and the grounding it gives in great books and enduring ideas.

But I’ve noticed a difference in the families joining us now. While some share our love of rigorous academics and moral training, many are simply leaving troubled classrooms behind. They describe children coming home in tears, constant worry about safety, or classrooms that feel more like battlegrounds than places of learning.

The numbers back this up. In 1999, only 1.7% of American students were homeschooled. By 2019, about 3.3%—roughly 2.5 million. Then the pandemic hit, and homeschooling spiked to nearly 11%. Experts predicted the surge would fade. It hasn’t. As of 2024, around 4.6 million students—6.7% of all school-age children—are learning at home, with growth continuing across nearly every state.

And the reasons have shifted. Religious instruction, once the main driver, now ranks low on the list. Families point instead to safety and school environment: 74-80% cite concerns like drugs or negative peer pressure, 62% school shootings, 58% bullying, 64% dissatisfaction with academics, and 68% desire for moral instruction. Only 34% now cite religious training.

The safety issue looms largest. Last year there were 82 school shootings in the U.S., up sharply from just 22 in 2020. Even beyond those tragedies, the constant lockdown drills, threats, and fear take a toll. As one parent told me, “I didn’t want my daughter’s childhood to be shaped by active shooter drills and metal detectors.”

It’s worth noting that most families aren’t blaming teachers. I don’t either. Teachers are doing the best they can in an almost impossible environment—trying to reach students while also managing discipline, safety, and broken homes. The real divide comes at home. Homeschooling works best not because parents are professional teachers, but because they are engaged. The single most important factor in a child’s education is still what happens under their own roof.

This great homeschool shift is more than a trend. It’s a reflection of deeper questions about what kind of world we’re raising our children in, and who gets to shape their values and daily experiences. For some, that means bringing education back into the home. For others, it’s a wake-up call to strengthen our schools so every child can learn in safety.

Behind every statistic is a family making the choice they believe best protects and prepares their children. In a free society, that freedom to choose—and the willingness to act on it—may be the most important lesson of all.