Vermonters Googled "How to homeschool" more than most of the rest of the country

April Barton, Burlington Free Press
·1 min read

Vermonters showed some of the highest interest in homeschooling in 2021, according to search trend data.

A report from MyElearningWorld.com evaluated the volume and frequency of Google search terms related to an interest in homeschooling, and Vermont came in with the third highest result in the country.

There seemed to be no geographic link to where interest lay. Alaska and Idaho were the top two and rounding out the top 10 were South Dakota, Arkansas, Delaware, Kansas, Montana, New Mexico and West Virginia.

The report took demographic data on income, education level, political party and 2020 presidential voting data to further evaluate the results.

Lily Osgood, 7, selects a book to read from the family library of nearly 2,000 books she shares with her brother, Noah, Tuesday, July 20, 2021, in Fairfax, Vt. The Osgood children will continue to be homeschool this upcoming school year. As the pandemic took hold across the United States in the spring of 2020, it brought disruption and anxiety to most families. Yet some parents are grateful for one consequence: they are now opting to homeschool their children even as schools plan to resume in-person classes. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

States which showed some of the highest interest in homeschooling also tended to have higher than average education levels, lower average income and were a little more likely to be a Republican state.

The search trends bear out what Vermont has seen over the last two school years during the COVID-19 pandemic. Before 2020, the state averaged about 2,500 home-study students. Homeschool enrollment more than doubled in Vermont during the 2020-21 school year to 5,504 students. By October of 2021, this school year was showing lower numbers than than the previous year but still on track to have 50% more students homeschooling than a typical year, with 3,643 enrolled.

More: Homeschooling stays as pandemic keeps shaking up Vermont families' school choices

In addition to homeschooling trending upward, private schools also reported high interest and higher enrollments since the beginning of the pandemic.

More: Home schooling? Private school? Remote learning? Parents are weighing the pros and cons.

Contact reporter April Barton at abarton@freepressmedia.com or 802-660-1854. Follow her on Twitter @aprildbarton.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont has third highest interest in homeschooling, search data shows