Gem State Wire

In addition to being frustrated with content either being taught to his child or not being taught in public school, Idaho parent Shaun Fisher was also worried about bullying.

“My son would come home crying almost every day,” Fisher told the Gem State Wire. “It seemed like the teachers and principal all had the same answers and that nothing was being done. I finally decided that I needed to step up and make a change."

It’s been two years since Fisher traded in public school for home school. 

Shaun Fisher | Submitted

“I discovered Acellus through a web search, and the more I read about it, the more I liked it,” said Fisher, who authored a blog about his experience. “It seemed really user friendly and adaptable for my child.”

The Fisher family is among 2.5 million American parents whose children are homeschooled in grades K-12, – the equivalent of 3 to 4% of school-age children, according to the National Home Education Research Institute.

It’s no wonder that the number of home-school population is continuing to grow at an estimated 2 to 8% yearly. 

Fisher characterizes the experience as amazing.

“I love that we can start at our pace, take breaks when needed, and adjust goals when something comes up,” he said. “This feels like the education my son needs because it is so adaptable.”

The NHERI further found that home-educated students typically score 15 to 30% higher than public-school students on standardized academic achievement tests. The public school average is in the 50th percentile with scores ranging from 1 to 99 with a 2015 study finding that home-schooled students of African American descent scored 23 to 42 percentile points above African American students enrolled in public school.

Fischer attributes the stellar performance to the curriculum.

“Acellus is so adaptable and user friendly,” he said. “I couldn't see myself using anything else. The videos are also great. I sometimes watch them with my son and I am impressed with how well they are done. Overall, it's just a solid program that works for us.”

Homeschooling finances likely represent more than $27 billion that American taxpayers do not have to spend annually because families providing their children with a home-based education are not dependent on public, tax-funded resources, according to NHERI data. In fact, taxpayers spend an average of $11,732 annually per public school in addition to capital expenditures. Taxpayers spend nothing on most homeschool students and homeschool families spend an average of $600 per student annually for their education.

Fisher advises other parents interested in homeschooling to be patient. 

“There's a learning curve for the parent and the student,” he said. “You can't just go from a traditional school to an online school and expect everything to work out perfectly. If you give it some time, you'll see that it's one of the best decisions you can make.”