‘What education is and can be’: Homeschooling on the rise across Virginia as parents choose flexibility, affordability

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Homeschooling is regaining momentum in Virginia following a post-pandemic dip as more families choose to educate their children at home, prioritizing flexibility, affordability and educational oversight in recent years.

Data from the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) showed the number of children receiving their education at home has continued to rise steadily, adding thousands each year since the 2022-23 school year.

At least 50,000 children have been homeschooled each year since the pandemic, which sparked a peak during the 2020-2021 school year when 59,638 Virginia children were educated at home. The 2025-26 school year recorded numbers nearing pandemic levels with 59,055 homeschooled children, a 5.34% increase from the 2024-25 school year and roughly a 16% jump from 2022-23.

Home instruction for K-5 students reached its highest point during COVID-19 with 35,138 students, nearly 60% of the total homeschool population in the 2021-22 school year. Though that number has since declined, the demographic still represents the largest share in the 2025-26 school year at 29,489 students.

Homeschooling also remains popular among high schoolers in grades nine through 12 as participation continues to grow since the 2018-19 school year and has not yet reached its peak, per VDOE data.

Homeschooling, religious exemptions on the rise in Virginia: VDOE

The rise in Virginia reflects a broader trend across the country where more parents nationwide are opting for home education, said Patricia Beahr, director of government relations with the Home Educators Association of Virginia (HEAV).

A veteran home educator, Beahr has been homeschooling her daughters since 2013. She said the method provides parents with the opportunity, flexibility and freedom to meet their child's needs.

When the pandemic forced institutions to close and students to learn virtually, many parents were introduced to homeschooling for the first time. That's when they saw what home educators like Beahr have known for years, "that home education works and it helps their children thrive," she said.

"It changed their paradigm on what education is and what education can be," Beahr added.

Parents choose flexibility, affordability and educational oversight

Homeschooling allows parents to explore different methods and tailored approaches best suited to their children, including the ability to move at the child's pace rather than at their grade level or age, Beahr said.

"You are meeting the child where they are, and then you're teaching based on that position," she said.

This provides parents with the opportunity to establish a "firm foundation" in the two foundational subjects -- language arts and math -- especially for students in younger grades, Beahr noted. A veteran home educator with two homeschooled daughters, Beahr is no stranger to the many perks homeschooling brings.

"We've never spent more than $600 a year because we had access to so many resources, free, very low-cost," she said.

In Central Virginia, school districts have also reported a steady increase in the number of children receiving their education at home, reflecting the statewide upward trend. The region recorded the most homeschooled students during the 2021-22 school year at about 11,184.

The numbers have hovered around the 10,000 mark in recent years after briefly dropping to about 8,700 during the 2022-23 school year.

In the state capital, the Cultural Roots Homeschool Cooperative is putting a twist on traditional homeschooling. The Richmond nonprofit was founded to create space and celebrate the cultures of Black and marginalized students, said founder and director Alycia Wright.

What started as a series of informal meetings during the 2016-17 school year grew into a community of proactive parents and educators, delivering educational instruction to more than 100 K-12 students each year.

A culturally centered community serving families in the Richmond area, the co-op has created opportunities for many parents like Danette Sajous to step into teaching roles after volunteering at the center. With a background in finance and entrepreneurship, Sajous now teaches an around-the-world cooking class and a life skills class centering on entrepreneurship for elementary students.

The decision to initially homeschool her children stemmed from concerns for their health, Sajous said.

"Both of my daughters have a lot of allergies, so I have to get very creative with cooking healthy meals that are safe for both of them. So it made sense to do the [cooking] class as well," she said.

Cultural Roots separates itself from small private and micro schools in many ways, one of which is the requirement that at least one family member be on-site to support the child and the co-op during school. Another is the freedom for parents to choose and control what is taught at the co-op.

The nonprofit said that although other schools might label themselves as a homeschool space, what they provide might not meet the child's needs, as some parents treat those as a "drop-off situation." Sajous said in addition to bringing her children to the co-op twice a week, she also homeschools them on the remaining days.

"As we continue to see growth, we'll continue to see the build-out of these two separate worlds. I think that there'll eventually need to be some legislation around what these two worlds look like and what the potential ramifications of them might be," Wright noted.

Experts dispel homeschooling myths, misconceptions

A lack of socialization and "making up grades" are two of the more common fears preventing parents from seeking out the method. Sajous said the flexibility that homeschooling provides allows her children to study earlier in the day and have the rest of the day free for activities like museum visits and playgrounds.

With Cultural Roots fostering a classroom setting, students also have the opportunity to eat lunch, learn, play and go on field trips together, she said.

"My kids are extremely social. And then once we joined the co-op, even more so, because they're around other students who are also being homeschooled," Sajous said.

Beahr echoed Sajous' sentiments, noting that homeschooling communities are diverse, with the growing population of Black, Hispanic and special-needs families. These communities engage in sports, clubs, volunteer work and other community programs, allowing homeschooled children to develop their social and cultural skills through real-world experiences outside of a traditional classroom.

"One thing that parents need to know is that homeschool kids are just like any other kids," Beahr said. "They play, they socialize, they make friends while learning in ways that best fit them."

With false or lesser grades compared to the national educational standards being another myth, Wright said the misconception enables her to push high schoolers at the co-op to take standardized tests like the SATs. She noted that her older students have also taken dual-enrollment courses at local higher education institutions, such as Bright Point Community College and J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College.

According to a 2022 HEAV study, Virginia students scored between the 81st and 87th percentile in language, math, science, social studies and reading, well above the national average of 50th percentile for the five subjects. Beahr said the data reflect the national population, where 85% of students attend traditional public schools.

"Research on homeschool academics goes back nearly 50 years and across multiple studies... So the academic achievement, the numbers are there for that," Beahr said.

Beahr reiterated that families who homeschool today recognize the benefits of homeschooling and will continue to make "intentional, informed decisions" for as long as the method meets their child's needs. She noted that as parents also seek out alternative education options, these parts of the educational landscape have also shown growth.

"All signs indicate that homeschooling will remain stable as part of Virginia's education landscape," Beahr said. "I think it's going to continue to hold steady."