GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — While many kids will be packing their lunches and heading out to the bus stop this morning, many will be preparing for their school day from the comfort of their home; kids like Ali Toman.
On this day, we found 12-year-old Ali Toman busy working on a writing assignment.
“Right now I’m working on a fantasy novel,” Ali said.
Ali is one of four siblings learning from home. She’s had a love for writing since day one and is already taking high school courses to master her skills.
“It’s about this boy and he’s never believed these prophecies, but then he’s thrown into the middle of them."
It’s one reason why the Toman’s decided to keep their kids at home.
“It allows you to kind of have that flexibility to go ahead in the areas that they excel at, but then slow down with areas that they need more help with,” Homeschool mom and Ada Homeschool Hub teacher Amy Toman said.
Last year, the pair started the Ada Homeschool Hub where kids meet for a half day a week to take courses in everything from woodworking, jewelry making, the election process, — even duct tape history.
“We started last year as our first semester with just about 15 kids, and then this fall semester, we’re actually up to 50 kids.
Their jump in numbers is on par with the growing trend nationwide.
According to a study done by Forbes, the number of homeschooling has jumped roughly 60 percent since before the pandemic.
“I think a lot of them were forced, during COVID to do that, and they found out it wasn’t a big, scary thing,” Kim Malski, Director of the Parent Co-op out Bryon Center. “They enjoyed having their kids at home, they found their kids thriving.”
Malski has been in charge of the Parent Teacher Co-op for nearly two decades.
“We’ve got classes that are like chemistry and biology,” Kim said. “Those types of classes are full within the first five minutes of registration.”
They too, are maxed out on spots available this year, nearly outgrowing their current building. 300 students come and go throughout the week, including Tammy Hedke’s kids.
“This is their place to hang out,” Tammy said. “This is their place to make friends.”
And a place to help parents like Tammy teach their kids courses best suited outside of their kitchen table.
“Both of our kids have dual enrollment, so starting college in 10th or 11th grade college classes and then finishing high school with 15 to 20 credits." Hedke explained.
Ali may only be in the 7th grade but also has her sights set on the future.
“I’m hoping to publish this one, like self-publish it, and then maybe to go on to traditional publishing later,” Ali said of her book.
And she says homeschooling has made those dreams possible.
“I’ll probably stay homeschooled through high school so that I can do my writing,” Ali said.
The Toman’s say every year they give their kids the option to be homeschooled, go to private school, or public school and— every year so far— they’ve opted to stay home.
While we looked into the reasons some are turning to homeschooling their kids, we wanted to see how these students are performing at home versus in the classroom.
We found a study done by the National Home Research Instituteon how they score.
The study found homeschooled kids typically score 15-25% above public school students on standardized tests and 78% of peer-reviewed studies on academic achievement show homeschooled students perform significantly better than those in institutional schools.
Obviously both have their pros and cons, and experts say it really comes down to the needs of your own child. Studies show the public school route on average does cost much less and offers better social interaction for students.
