The rise in the number of children who stay home for classes has changed the way they interact with schools during the pandemic. They have been kept home for safety and learn via video conferences with their teachers. These students continue to learn via traditional methods, even though the process is not in a physical classroom. However, some children actually learn from their parents permanently, perhaps with the aid of tutors. They do not interact with traditional schools at all. In Alaska, this number is particularly high.
According to recent research, 6% of children in Alaska between the ages of zero to 18 are homeschooled. This amounts to 11,875 students. The reason may be that Alaska is the largest state by area, and some children may not have access to normal schools at all.
The figure for the next state on the list is harder to understand. Five percent of the children in North Carolina are homeschooled. Almost the entire population lives in or is near a city town or village. One theory is that the laws that allow people to homeschool are more open after a child turns seven. Parents have to register with the state, but the process does not appear to be overly onerous. The number of children homeschooled in North Carolina is a relatively large 118,268.
The other states with high homeschool rates are a mix of small ones with fairly low populations and those in the west that are vast, in terms of square mileage. West Virginia is at 2.7% with 11,080 students. Arkansas is at 2.6% with 19,229 students. In New Hampshire, the figure is 2.5%, or 6,655, while in Oregon the number is 2.5%, or 21,767. And Montana has a rate of 2.2%, or 5,262 homeschooled students.
Will more students be pulled out of traditional classes that are currently taught online by traditional teachers? That may turn on the opinions of parents who do not believe this is an effective means of education.
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