South Dakota sets national record in homeschool growth over last decade 

Homeschooling has skyrocketed nationwide since the COVID-19 pandemic, and its most enthusiastic state supporter over the last decade has been South Dakota, a new analysis finds. 

“According to data from Johns Hopkins University, South Dakota saw a 143% increase in homeschool enrollment in the last 10 years, the highest of any state during that span,” reports KOTA TV. 

Much of the growth came during the pandemic, with the state’s number of homeschoolers rising from 6.5% in the spring of 2020 to 12.5% in the fall, the news outlet noted. 

“I was looking back at kind of statistically what parents listed as reasons for why they choose to home school,” said Lisa Fisher, president of Families for Alternative Instruction Rights in South Dakota. “School environment is number one, then academic concerns.” 

Jessy Cole, who has homeschooled since 2013, emphasized the innate advantage parents have in overseeing their children’s education. 

“Nobody knows your kids better than you do,” she said. “And so, you can say, ‘This really isn’t working, but I know what would work really well for you. Let’s try that instead.’” 

Cole also urged prospective families to do more research before assuming alternative educational options such as homeschooling are beyond their financial reach. 

“Everybody kind of thinks that it’s a really expensive endeavor,” she said. “Honestly, our biggest expense is books, and that’s probably my own. Even a lot of homeschool groups will try to keep the cost as minimal as possible because they know most homeschool families are working on a limited budget.” 

‘Generational learning’ model revived 

Homeschool groups in the Mount Rushmore state vary from small, informal gatherings to hybrid in-person and at-home microschools. 

“For us, being home allows us to do more in the farm and work together as a family,” said Sarah VanDerVliet, a former public-school teacher who started Buffalo Christian Homeschool Academy. 

“Because agriculture is so important in everybody’s daily lives, we want students to be smart consumers and be self-sufficient, and understand freedom and their rights,” she added, noting her husband’s great-grandparents were farmers. “I want the next generation to be able to take care of me when I can’t.” 

Despite her experience in public education, VanDerVliet believes every parent, regardless of educational background, should feel qualified to teach their children. 

“In the Bible, it talks about generational learning and how grandmas and grandpas would teach, and great-grandmas and grandpas would teach. I think as a society, as a culture, we’ve kind of gotten away from that.”