Home schooling — Utahns feel less stigma as more families try it

WEST VALLEY CITY — Regan Barnes wasn't satisfied with her experience in public school.

Most of the time school felt like a game. All she had to do was figure out what the teacher wanted and then do it. She didn't feel like school was expanding her mind until she got to college.

That's why she decided to offer her kids another option — home school.

"I want my children to learn how to learn and to value education and have a sense of satisfaction that even though learning may not be easy and won't always be fun, it will always be worthwhile," the mother of five said. "That is what I felt like was missing from my years going to public school."

Barnes is not against public school, she just feels home school is a better option for her family. Two of her kids are home-schooled full time and her other two school-aged children attend half-day kindergarten, but she plans on having them come home for first grade.

Over the last few years, more parents are choosing home school for the same reason as Barnes. From 2007 to 2010, the number of home-schooled children nationwide rose by about 25 percent to the current estimate of 2 million. There are a number of reasons why parents are choosing this option, but one of the main reasons for this is because parents are unhappy with the quality of instruction at public schools, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. In Utah, many parents choose home school to spend more time with their child while others said large classroom sizes have made home schooling more appealing.

And as more people choose home schooling, it is becoming more acceptable and popular for others to follow suit.

"I would say that what has changed recently is that because there are so many more people home schooling than in years past, it is basically a mainstream choice," said Brian Ray, president of the National Home Education Research Institute based in Salem, Ore. "And it's a choice that most mainstream America will consider."

Choosing to home school has become a "lighter decision" for parents, Ray said. It has also become easier to home school children with the many resources online and home-school groups becoming more popular. The variety of people choosing home school has also grown over the past several years.