Homeschooling in KY becoming more popular

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) — With all the uncertainty surrounding what school will look like in the fall because of the coronavirus, interest in homeschooling is up.

For example, the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) says it has seen a 40% increase in interest and that number is growing.

Caitlin Tudor’s daughter is heading into first grade making the move from Montessori school to public school.

“It was gonna be a big transition for us to begin with but that’s not the best option for her at this point with the new guidelines,” says mother Caitlin Tudor.

Tudor fears her daughter’s public school experience wouldn’t be a good one with wearing masks and social distancing.

“For a first grader that’s a really high expectation. She’s used to small group work, she’s used to hands-on interaction with her teachers and lots of outside time,” says Tudor.

So she and her husband are looking at other options like home schooling.

“It’s literally kind of flipping everything upside down at this point trying to decide what we’re going to do,” says Tudor.

But they’re doing what they can to make sure their child gets the schooling she needs, whatever the cost.

“When you have no separation of home, of work, of school, of family time it can cause some anxiety with all members of the family,” says Tudor.

For Rhonda Lawson, her daughter won’t be attending public school in the fall for different reasons.

In 2015, her then five-year-old daughter was diagnosed with CYP2D6. Lawson says her body doesn’t process certain medications the way normal bodies do.

She fears the coronavirus would be deadly for her daughter so she wants to home school her, but she’s worried about the cost since she is a single mother. Lawson thinks there should be other options for future generations.

She is hoping her daughter is approved for home bound, where the teacher comes to their home and teaches.

The Home School Legal Defense Association is trying to help parents like Tudor and Lawson navigate the unknown.

“Beginning homeschooling can be a little intimidating for parents so they may have a lot of questions and so plugging them into a local group so they can find that homeschooling community and talk with some home school veterans,” says Tj Schmidt, a staff attorney with HSLDA.

Groups like Christian Home Educators Kentucky and the Facebook group Kentucky Homeschooling are both great resources HSLDA recommends.

They’re all there to answer parents questions like expectations, how to prepare, or can they take it on?

“While homeschooling may not be for everyone, I believe personally that everyone can home school their children,” says Schmidt.

Schmidt says home-schooling can be affordable if families know the resources out there, like old lesson plans and school books that can be borrowed from home school veterans. He says the Facebook page ‘Homeschooling in Kentucky” is helpful in finding those.

Kentucky is a ‘low regulation’ state when it comes to homeschooling which can make it easier to get started.

Kentucky considers a homeschooling program to operate in the same manner as a private school.

Law requires a notice of homeschooling to be submitted to the district within the first two weeks of the school year.

Homeschooling groups remind parents it’s important to be flexible and know that one curriculum doesn’t fit all.

So parents need to do their homework first and they can start by clicking this link.

You can also find more information locally here. To join the Facebook group, click here.