The number of children being homeschooled in Western Australia has almost doubled in the past six years, with about 6,000 children now registered with the Education Department.
Figures show a 35 per cent increase in the past year alone.
Home Education Association Australia president Janelle Barnes said many parents who began homeschooling during the COVID pandemic had decided to continue with the method.
Ms Barnes started homeschooling her own two children in 2020 and is continuing to homeschool her youngest daughter.
"No offence to schools; teachers do an amazing job with the resources that they have, but I was working with two kids, whereas in the classroom, they were one of 20," she told Nadia Mitsopoulos on ABC Radio Perth.
"My younger daughter has dyslexia and so it was always a struggle in the classroom because when you can't keep up with the reading and writing of the other kids; it's very difficult to get the same work done.
"While the teachers do their best, they can't give her the same amount of attention that I can give her working with her directly at home."
School 'refugees'
Ms Barnes said the Home Education Association was seeing homeschooling increase across the country.
Anecdotally she said this was for a "variety of reasons".
"There is definitely a large and growing cohort of what we colloquially call the 'school refugees' — they are the kids who've left school because school has not been meeting their needs," she said.
"It might not be meeting their needs in terms of neurodiversity, or they've had issues with bullying, or they've just been struggling and not getting what they need in the school system.
"Families are feeling like sometimes their only option is to take on homeschooling so that their kids can come out the other side as functional adults."
Curriculum flexibility
In Western Australia, home educators are required to develop a learning program that meets the guidelines and requirements of the school curriculum and standards legislation.
Student progress is assessed annually by Department of Education moderators.
Ms Barnes says there is a "huge amount" of flexibility in home education that allows for personalised learning.
"[Moderators] assess us every year to ensure that our kids are showing progress but the great thing about a home educator is that as long as my child is showing progress in all of her learning areas, then I am meeting my milestones," she said.
"Everything in life is learning — the world is our classroom. We will be in the grocery store and we're adding up, we're working out quantities.
"It's not: this is school, and this is life — life is a learning adventure."
WA Department of Education director-general Lisa Rodgers said there were many factors that influenced a parent's decision to educate their child at home.
"This isn't limited to but includes the COVID-19 pandemic as well as increased availability of online resources and learning materials, which have made it more feasible for many parents who choose home education," she said.
"Registered home education represents just over 1 per cent of the total number of school students enrolled in WA.
"In WA, we had a unique and successful experience whereby schools were able to open and continue face-to-face learning over the course of the pandemic. This was a far different experience to that of students and their families in a number of other jurisdictions."
Ms Rodgers said the Department of Education had "streamlined" the process for evaluating the progress of a child educated at home by introducing the option of online evaluation meetings.
ABC Radio listeners had a range of reasons why they had chosen homeschooling:
Anonymous: I'm homeschooling my son due to bullying at school that wasn't actioned upon by school administration. He's autistic and cannot lie, yet he wasn't believed by staff when he was punched in the head!
Debbie: We homeschooled whilst on the road for 26 weeks with the two older children in the 90s, one in primary school the other in high school. Both came back to mainstream as they had music scholarships. Our daughter was homeschooled for 16 weeks while we travelled. All have degrees from university.
Fiona: I homeschooled my three children all the way and my eldest is 22. They are wonderful human beings, hardworking, community-minded and have a wide range of friendships.
Twelve-year-old Eiman called ABC Radio Perth Mornings to describe her experience.
"It's just like school but in a different environment," she said.
"I like to be homeschooled because I do stuff at my own pace and follow my interests and combine different subjects together. I did (mainstream) school for primary school; it did work for me."
Sophie: With all due respect to homeschooling parents, school, while it can be nightmarish, is necessary training for life. Adults are frequently bored, ignored, bullied, ahead or behind their peers: we learn how to cope with this at school!
Peter: Is it fair to deprive active youngsters from peer support contact at school simply because their parents are sold on the homeschooling concept?
Stephen: I work as an education assistant in a high school, and it amazes me how these people who have no educational training think that they can provide a better education outcome for their children. One of the big issues we see at school is the lack of resilience that the kids coming through now have. Taking them out, wrapping in cotton wool will not teach them resilience.
But "Chantelle", whose children were homeschooled after experiencing bullying at several schools, said there were opportunities for homeschooled children to make friends and socialise.
"We joined a homeschooling bushwalking group. There are lots of social events and groups," she said.
