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Decades ago, when I was homeschooled, there were few curriculum options available to homeschooled students, homeschooling wasn't clearly legal in most places, and homeschooled children had few options to socialize or experience group learning events common to schooled children. But that's no longer true. Homeschooling has grown to the point that there are many resources for homeschooled children. Many publishers and programs actively pursue homeschoolers. Colleges make it easy for homeschoolers to apply with special forms and requirements designed just for them. Homeschool groups host a variety of clubs, classes, dances, field trips, science fairs, sporting events, talent shows, and more. A graduation ceremony with hundreds of homeschoolers from across Florida happens every May. Many homeschooled students graduate high school with college credit already earned. And more. Homeschooling doesn't have to mean sitting at home for 6 or 7 hours a day, working alone at a desk, with little interaction with other children. Instead, many homeschooled children get together with others through support groups and co-ops for some or all of their learning. They visit museums or zoos or other educational institutions and might take classes or have guided tours. They may go to sports practice or scouting groups specifically for homeschoolers. They may take classes online with others around the state or even around the world. Many children were forced to learn at home when public schools shut down due to the pandemic in the Spring of 2020. Many may equate that experience with homeschooling, but learning at home when a parent gets to choose the learning materials and methods, the assignments and schedules, etc. is very different from learning at home through a school's hastily-organized program. When parents are in charge, they can work with the child's learning style, skip lessons the child has mastered, go back and better prepare the child for lessons that were frustrating, get snacks and exercise when needed, use the child's interests to maximize learning, and more. The option of finding others to periodically learn with can enrich homeschooling greatly. The ability to help your child learn at his or her own pace makes true homeschooling so much better than anything most schools offer. Cheryl Trzasko, Oct. 2022 How many homeschoolers are there in Florida?
Home education statistics collected by the Florida Dept. of Education for 2021-2022 show 152,109 homeschooled children and 104,961 homeschool families in Florida at the beginning of the school year. This is up from their statistics for the previous school year which showed 143,431 home education students total statewide. Use the button below to view details including breakdowns by counties (every Florida county is a Florida school district). Note that these numbers do not include all the children learning at home. These numbers only include those home educating--i.e., who sent in a Letter of Intent. Those who learn at home under the auspices of a private school (aka umbrella school) or a public school (such as FLVS Fulltime or Connections Academy or other publicly-funded public school program) are not included as legally their parents are not in control of their education. How many homeschoolers are in the US?
Approximately 3.135 million children were homeschooled in the US in 2022 according to the National Home Education Research Institute. The link below gives data through 2022 regarding the number of homeschooled students, their average academic and social success, and more. . |
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Busy Season Is Winding Down Sep. 18, 2023
The busiest busy season ever in Florida home education evaluations is winding down. We are catching up on messages sent to us and we are getting evaluations done that were sent to us in the past 3 weeks as the numbers wind down. We brought in an experienced evaluator, Dana, who helped complete evaluations for us when the numbers became too much--she's been a valuable addition to our team.
We have plans in place to change some of our forms and processes in the upcoming months to make the process more efficient during the next busy season--especially in regard to questions about receipt of evaluations and other questions about evaluations as we were not able to keep that up this year as we have in the past.
If your deadline is here (or has passed or you've received a message from the district that says you've been removed from their roster), send an email to the district telling them that you are working with an evaluator and will get the evaluation to them as soon as you can. That will buy you extra time. We don't encourage lateness but there is nothing in the law that allows them to reject an evaluation for being late.
If you are terminating a home education program to sign up for the PEP or to enroll a child in school, you can send a Letter of Termination to the district's Home Education Contact and tell them an evaluation will be coming. You have 30 days to get it in.
If you decide to cancel an evaluation, please notify us first so that we don't spend time on that evaluation.
Thank you for your understanding,
Cheryl Trzasko
The Trzasko Family
Cheryl & Mark Trzasko
(pronounced Trahs-koh) have always homeschooled their children; two graduated high school, as homeschoolers, with college credit. Both Cheryl and Mark are long-time Florida certified teachers. Together, they are a team of experienced evaluators with a passion to help other homeschool families. Discover us on social media!We offer a free support group on Facebook. Answer the questions fully to join. |
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