K-12

Data shows homeschooling increased amid the pandemic

April 20th, 2022

Arlena Brown, center, holds her youngest child, Lucy, 9 months, as she and husband, Robert, left, lead their other children, from left, Jacoby, 11; Felicity, 9, and Riley, 10, through math practice at their home in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s experimental Household Pulse Survey, homeschooling in states across the nation increased amid the pandemic.

By October 2020, data shows that 9.3% of households in Atlanta, Sandy Springs and Alpharetta were homeschooling.

Homeschooling enrollments also increased across all racial groups and ethnicities. Possible driving factors of homeschooling rates include COVID infection rates and school districts’ ongoing response to the pandemic.

On Monday’s edition of “Closer Look,” Amber O’Neal Johnston, an author, speaker, and founder of Heritage Homeschoolers, a local non-profit support group for Black homeschoolers and their families, and Raegan Mayfield, an HR professional and mother who opted to homeschool her son, talked with program host Rose Scott about the pros and cons of homeschooling amid the COVID-19 pandemic.