Maine homeschoolers enjoy flexibility, success in alternative education models

For Lisa Berry, educational “success” involves far more than a diploma or other certification.

“Most people would agree that success, in life or education, is really about being able to function well in the world, holding a job, supporting yourself or a family, contributing to your community, and engaging meaningfully with the people around you,” she told The Maine Trust for Local News (METLN).

Berry, a homeschool mom who also operated the umbrella school Freedom Academy, credited the growth of Maine homeschoolers to more families realizing the benefits for their children academically, emotionally and socially.

“Academic mastery mattered, but not in a rushed or checklist-driven way,” she said. “One of the greatest advantages of homeschooling is the time it allows, time to fully grasp a subject before moving on and time to explore interests more deeply when curiosity takes the lead.” 

‘Period of great disruption for schools’ 

As previously reported by The Lion, the state’s number of homeschooling families has almost doubled from the 2024-25 academic year (6.4%), compared to 2019-20 (3.6%). 

“The growth — which was most pronounced in central and northern Maine — follows a period of great disruption for schools, with some parents emerging from the pandemic more confident in their ability to educate their children at home,” the Maine Monitor reported. “It also comes after Maine passed a law removing religious and philosophical exemptions for school-mandated vaccines, which went into effect in 2021.” 

Public school’s “uniform schedules and standardized expectations” can frustrate families “with different moral, philosophical or family convictions,” according to METLN. 

“Parents also pointed to long-standing federal education frameworks, including policies that grew out of the No Child Left Behind era, which emphasized standardization, testing and compliance as ways to ensure accountability. 

While those policies were designed to ensure students were not overlooked, families said they can leave little room for individualized decision-making.” 

One of those families, the Poiriers in Livermore Falls, had tried a public-school environment for their daughter but found the experience lacking.  

“I had enrolled my youngest into school for fifth grade as it was a transition year and we wanted her to experience public school before she entered middle school,” said Cherry. 

“She struggled academically, socially and emotionally, so we pulled her out at the end of her fifth-grade year. We found that she was much more active with her homeschool curriculum and that she did much better in small homeschool groups rather than larger public school settings.” 

Homeschooling allowed their child to grow “into the person she is meant to be without the pressures of the public school environment,” Poirier concluded.