Some Cape Fear parents consider homeschooling

SNEADS FERRY, NC (WWAY) — As funding and lagging academic performance in public schools in recent years concern parents around the country, some are considering homeschool—including in the Cape Fear.

Lily Deffenbaugh is a parent that home schools as part of Classical Conversations.  

The homeschooling organization meets once a week, with parents and students sharing what they’ve learned, collaborating on what’s next, and keeping their students working at the same academic level.  

Parents in the group say their kids are well above the knowledge level of other kids their age when they take the same standardized tests.  

Deffenbaugh said one of the main draws of home schooling for her is individualized approach to learning.  

“We are all different, and we all learn differently. Parents will go to the ends of the earth for their children and so if I have one child that needs to read hanging upside down from a playground, then that’s what I’m going to do,” she said. 

Deffenbaugh noted another reason some parents are considering homeschooling is because of how state and federal funding is distributed. 

Public school funding is dictated by things like enrollment and property taxes, meaning schools in more affluent areas are often likely to receive more funding.  

“The kids are the ones that really end up suffering at the end because the lower economic levels, those are the ones that are getting the least amount of funding,” Deffenbaugh expressed. 

Though, Deffenbaugh said, homeschooling does come with a number of challenges including your kids not being able to play public school sports in some school districts.

Katherine Walker is another parent in the group.  Being a part of a military family—Walker she said she decided to start homeschooling because of the frequent moves.  

“We had about a year here, and then we moved to Virginia and we had a year there, we moved to Okinawa and we had a year there,” Walker explained. 

Like Deffenbaugh, Walker recommends homeschooling to any parent that has the time to do so—but notes it’s not a realistic option for some. 

“I recognize that it is not an option for everyone,” she said.  “I’m never going to push homeschooling on someone, but if anyone ever asks me ‘well tell me about homeschooling,’ I’m like ‘no one loves your kiddo and no one cares about your kiddo as much as you do.” 

According to the National Home Education Research Institute, more than 3.5 million students are home schooled in the US, making up nearly 7% of all K-12 students.