By Naomi Delkamiller and Owen Reimer
Nebraska News Service
Mindy Swenson began homeschooling after the pandemic when she realized she could teach her children on her own, she said.
“You’ve taught your child how to sit up, walk, potty train, read like you have taught them all these things,” Swenson said. “Why can you not continue to teach them?”
Religious freedom, fears of bullying, the disruption of a pandemic and a desire for shorter school days are some of the many reasons why an increasing number of Nebraskans are opting to homeschool their children.
Homeschooling, often referred to as ‘exempt schooling’ in Nebraska, has increased 31% in the last five years, according to data from the Nebraska Department of Education.
“In Nebraska, we have seen a steady 1,500-2,000 student increase in exempt students each year for many years,” said David Jespersen, a public information officer at the Nebraska Department of Education, in an email. “There is typically an increase as families find the right fit for themselves.”
The Nebraska Legislature legalized homeschooling exclusively for religious reasons in 1984, expanding to all purposes in 1999. Since then, filings have gradually increased each year, with a drastic boost in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, where the number rose from 9,452 in the 2019-2020 school year to 14,780. Since then, the numbers have slowly decreased, but they remain above pre-pandemic statistics.
During the pandemic, Katie Anetsberger taught her 4-year-old daughter Mariana how to read at home. By the time schools reopened Mariana was reading The Hobbit, a book two times the normal reading level for her age. Soon after, Anetsberger decided to keep homeschooling to ensure her daughter would stay challenged in the subject areas she loved most.
“As a teacher, I noticed children were tapped out in the afternoon,” Anetsberger said. “At home, schoolwork takes three to four hours.”
She now homeschools both of her daughters.
If a parent or guardian files for exempt schooling by July 15 in Nebraska, they are eligible to opt their child out of a state accredited or approved school for the following year. The state doesn’t approve or deny any exempt status; they simply file the paperwork, according to Jespersen.
Since the state does not prescribe a specific curriculum for exempt students, this leaves families free to choose the educational materials and methods that work best for them – without requirements to meet state content area standards.
Some religious homeschool families in Lincoln choose Classical Conversations, a Christian curriculum that organizes groups of families together and teaches with a memorization-focused practice.
This approach has parents teaching their children one thing from seven subjects, math, Latin, English, science, geography and history, each week putting lessons to song.
“Here, it’s like no worksheets, no screens, like stick in the sand. We just want it repeated,” said Swenson, the director of CC connections at the Lincoln Berean Church.
CC curriculum extends to CC connections- a community co-op structure for families to come together and share resources for teaching with a biblical worldview.
On Friday mornings, parents sit in on lessons taught by other parents to their own children, referred to as tutors.
“They’re modeling what we will go home and do for these different subjects,” said Robyn Zafft, a homeschooling mom in a Lincoln CC community. “I need this to help me educate my children well.”
Zafft and her husband started homeschooling in 2011 with their oldest son and joined CC as part of their educational plan in 2013.
Homeschooling co-ops like this exist across the entire state. Some include the Panhandle Homeschool Connection, Catholic Homeschool Association of Omaha, Heartland Home-Schoolers, McCook Area Homeschool Co-op and the Valley Home School Association.
For Swenson, the co-op is an important part of her children’s socialization and religion. She said it provides her child, along with other homeschooled children, a place to socialize and interact in a space where parents can intervene and where Christianity can be central in that process.
“The difference between classical conversation and everything else is that we put God at the center and not the student or the teacher,” Swenson said. “God will lead us to what our gifts are and what we should learn.”
In a 2019-2020 state report, 6,167 school-aged children in Nebraska were filed exempt for religious reasons, around 65% of all filed homeschoolers. This statistic is only available for the 2019-2020 school year because of staffing shortages, according to Jespersen, making the current number of religious exempt filings unknown.
The CC connections community at Berean Church is projected to be at full capacity – 48 students- by next spring. The other two CC connections communities in the Lincoln area are already at capacity.
Even with co-ops, every homeschool household looks different. Kari Wolfe said she follows a strict schedule, spending six to eight hours each day schooling using a Bob Jones curriculum, while others, like Anetsberger, are done before noon.
Some parents choose to facilitate their children’s learning entirely at home, without joining a co-op community. Annie Whitney teaches her two youngest children, Rock and Mya, using Abeka, a curriculum that provides thorough textbooks and lesson plans for each grade level through a biblical worldview.
“We have a lot of freedoms at home,” Whitney said. “That’s what I love so much about it.”
In the three decades of homeschooling in Nebraska, there has been minimal legislation passed to regulate exempt schooling. The most recent update was a 2016 law that established a July 15th deadline to file for exemption status.
The state does not evaluate or review any exempt students, according to Jespersen. Students are not required to take any state-mandated assessments to measure progress, and the state provides no specific guidance to follow or stay on track with Nebraska content area standards.
“The thing about homeschoolers is that we’re all pioneering,” said Liz Davids, the previous organization president for Heartland Homeschoolers, another homeschool co-op group.
Davids, a homeschooling mother of five, said she has never relied on standardized testing to measure her children’s learning progress or tracked learning hours at home.
Nebraska requires that exempt elementary students learn 1,032 hours a year and exempt high school students learn 1,080 hours a year. However, the department doesn’t require that parents submit proof of these hours.
“I think there are families that teach based on the personality of the mom,” Davids said. “Is she a type A rule follower, ‘I’m going to make sure we do this many days of schoolwork a year?’ Or am I the kind of person who’s saying ‘We go on nature walks, we are finding bugs and looking them up on my phone,’ and that’s science.”
Davids said because most homeschool moms were not taught at home themselves, some are insecure if they are teaching the right way.
“I think the average homeschool mom, 99% of us, would say there’s always a little bit of ‘Am I doing enough? Am I doing the right things?” Davids said.
For parents like Whitney, the decision to homeschool yearly is not stagnant and is reconsidered each year. Her oldest two kids recently made the transition into Lincoln Christian School, and she and her husband are considering moving their two youngest into private school even earlier. The ability to readjust helps Whitney feel like she can always make the best decisions for her children, she said.
Children are homeschooled throughout the state, with no one area being dominant, according to Jespersen. He added that the increase in larger exempt schools such as Montessori and private programs that are also not approved or accredited are boosting exempt filings.
“I think if you love your kids, there’s no wrong way to school them,” Swenson said.