Parents pulling their kids out of school to teach them at home is on the rise

The number of families who have pulled their children out of school in NSW to teach them at home has jumped by 33 per cent in just a year. There are a number of reasons why kids are pulled out but it’s surprising how many leave due to bullying.

• Religious bullying link to more homeschooling
• Parents should delay start of schooling for kids

The number of families who have pulled their children out of school in NSW to teach them at home has jumped by 33 per cent in just a year.

In 2017-18, 3,027 families homeschooled their children, up from 2,269 in 2016-17.

The driving forces for home schooling have remained the same since 2015, with philosophical and religious reasons and special learning needs the most common reasons.

Very few parents — just 0.4 per cent — take their kids out of school to stop bullying.

Homeschooling has jumped 33 per cent in just a year, with parents citing a number of reasons. Picture: Supplied

MORE NEWS FROM JACK MORPHET

GIRL SPENT 30 MINS IN TOILET WITH NAKED MAN

JACENKO FORCED TO REPRINT BOOK AFTER JACKIE O TRIBUTE

STARVED DOG SAVED FROM DEATH NEEDS NEW HOME

The rise will continue according to Don Carter, a senior lecturer in the teacher education program at the University of Technology Sydney and former home school supervisor.

Dr Carter said parents are increasingly confident to take the plunge because there are more home schooling parents’ support groups, many of which are on Facebook, which makes single-handedly teaching kids less daunting.

“There are more and more resources … including support network, online learning resources and advice from authorities who evaluate their learning programs,” he said.

“As more parents who believe schools aren’t meeting the needs and interests of their children find out homeschooling is a legitimate option, I can see numbers of home schooling increasing.”

Six-year-old Nevayah Cram, one of the 5,066 kids now home schooled in NSW, was pulled out of South Coogee Public School in August.

She will never go back to a classroom. Instead Nevayah will be homeschooled until she’s 15, then enrolled in TAFE to study a trade.

Heloise Cram teaches her daughter Neveyah, 6, what she considers real life skills. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Nevayah’s mum, Heloise Cram, 33, favours the play-based learning school of thought and has a philosophical disagreement with keeping kids indoors for close to five hours a day to learn what she considers to be abstract, impractical academic concepts.

“I’ll teach her real life skills like how to manage money, invest her super and do her tax, instead of stressing her out as a teenager about whether she knows Pythagoras’ theorem,” Ms Cram said.

If it’s hot and sunny or Nevayah’s simply tired, classes are cancelled.

“When we’re at the shops Nevayah learns maths by counting the change and if it’s hot we’ll go to the beach and talk about what lives in the sea,” Ms Cram said.