There is a growing list of reasons why today's families choose home education. Modern families are discovering more options and better solutions by directing the education themselves, no longer trusting traditional schools to prepare their students for success.
Because Florida home education laws are moderate and simple to follow, parents can choose home education without any special background or training. Since freedom and flexibility are guaranteed, most anyone can begin a Florida home education program right away.
We've gathered a list of the most common reasons we hear repeated by Florida families over and over. While this list is not exhaustive and has changed from decades ago, it reflects the reasons our members choose home education right now. And while we are not quoting specific research in this article, our list correlates to studies performed by national research and education institutions, too.
Why Floridians Choose Home Education (in no particular order):
School Violence: This reason is about student safety, and includes guns and school shootings, bullying or responses thereto, discrimination against students, and more.
Seeking Excellence: This reason comes from families who reject the notion that a standardized curriculum is appropriate for all students, and endeavor to provide a customized/superior education instead.
Greater Control: This reason is about greater control over lifestyle, one which creates opportunities for travel or living differently than the norm.
Special Needs: This reason comes from parents who are concerned that the needs of ESE students or other unique learners are either not being met in traditional school, or the services are inadequate or non-existent.
Unwanted Influence: This reason is when families express a desire to remove children from unwanted social or cultural influences they do not want them exposed to all day. This includes things like interests or behaviors parents prefer to limit in their own student's lives.
Worldview/Religion: This reason comes from the parent's desire to provide a faith-based education or environment, according to their own belief system. This reason is either about providing separate religious instruction, using curriculum materials which align with their specific beliefs, or a general objection to lessons or environments that are absent from religion and/or prohibit it.
Student Disability: This reason refers to the mental or physical illness or disability of a student, making traditional school difficult if not impossible.
Family Focus: Families citing this reason are expressing an interest in strengthening family bonds or are emphasizing family activities and/or work.
Practical Reasons: These reasons revolve around unsolvable challenges, like distance from an acceptable school district, the rising cost of private school, too much homework, and others.
Time Efficiency: This reason comes from families who choose home education in order to create more time for greater learning and the pursuit of interests, or to create room for other opportunities altogether.
In the future, we at Florida Homeschool Association expect the availability of tax-scholarship funding to be added to the list of popular reasons Florida parents choose a home education. We also expect concerns over changes to Florida's standards and school curriculum become a possible reason why parents may reject public education in the future, too.
For more about Florida home education, visit our website and read more articles like this one. We provide expert guidance for our members as well as activities and events throughout the year.
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