When her son was 8 years old, Clare Brown noticed that his stress in school was taking a toll. “He was doing well on the academic side, but having a really hard time emotionally at school,” she told HuffPost. “At that point, we didn’t know he had ADHD; that wasn’t diagnosed until we moved to Florida when he was 10.”

It was at that moment that Brown decided to take her son out of the traditional classroom and homeschool him instead.

“Homeschooling gave us a chance to slow things down, meet him where he was and take the pressure off.”

If you’ve been intrigued by the idea of homeschooling your kids, you’re not alone. Between 2022 and 2023, approximately 3.4% of children (about 1.9 million) in K-12 grades were homeschooled, an increase from 2.8% in 2019, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

But is homeschooling for everyone? Hear what some parents have to say about homeschooling their kids.

In 2020, when the pandemic forced schools to close, many children were required to participate in at-home learning. That’s one reason Jaime Smith, MA, MSEd, CEP, Educator and founder of learning platform OnlineG3.com, believes that homeschooling is becoming a more popular alternative.

“I think [parents] feared that homeschooling was difficult,” Smith, who also homeschooled her daughter since Kindergarten, told HuffPost. “But once they were forced to try homeschooling, they discovered that it worked well for their family.”

Another reason for the growing interest in homeschooling is the impact of the political climate on the traditional school system. What was the norm for many religious families, according to Smith, now applies to families who don’t want religion in school, or want to continue teaching about diversity, equity and inclusion.

In a classic school setting, the ratio of teachers is typically 1 to 20-30 kids, making it challenging for individualized learning. Homeschooling allows you to meet where your child’s needs are, focus more on their interests and provide flexibility for parents.

Because Brown and her child weren’t tied to a set schedule, she could shape lessons around his interests and where they were living at the time. “Math might happen through baking together in the kitchen and history could mean exploring the Tower of London in the UK.”

Smith also loved the idea of using the real world as their classroom.

“We went on field trips all the time — to the symphony, the history museum, the aquarium,” she recalled. “Our ‘classroom’ was our entire local community.”

Smith also credits homeschooling for her daughter’s success in college. “Colleges love independent thinkers and self-directed learners, and those qualities are often a natural product of homeschooling.”

Suzette Conrad, a proud homeschooler, found at-home learning to be beneficial, especially when her father unexpectedly passed away when she was 9 years old.

“Homeschooling gave me the space to go through the grieving process at my own pace without worrying about grades,” Conrad told HuffPost. “I struggled with my mental health because of my dad’s death and everything that comes with that, and homeschooling gave me the flexibility to heal.”

Despite the idea that remote learning allows you and your children to customize their own curriculum, there are still guidelines to be met, Smith said. There are homeschooling laws that vary by state that families must follow.

For example, states such as New York and Pennsylvania require testing, whereas New Jersey and Michigan don’t need testing. Alaska doesn’t require specific subjects to be taught, and Texas only requires homeschool curricula to cover the basics like reading, math and spelling.

Another challenge that parents and children struggle with is the blurred lines between teacher and student.

“There’s no bell at 3 o’clock, you’re always on,” Brown said. “Some days felt like a gift and other days it was heavy because I carried the worry of ‘Am I doing enough?’”

“As the oldest child, I already supported my mom a lot as a single mother and with her as my teacher, it meant we spent a lot of time together,” recalled Conrad. “I didn’t love it when she would tell me I spelled something wrong or make me rewrite a paper.”

Still, for Conrad, it felt natural for her mom to be her teacher, since she had already taught her basic life skills, such as how to walk, cook and take care of herself.

Lastly, with traditional schooling comes making friends and achieving milestones such as graduations, homecoming dances and participating in athletics. A big concern for kids and parents is how homeschooling will affect their kids’ ability to socialize.

“The only thing [my daughter] really missed was having the regular day-to-day friendships that only come with being in the same place at the same time,” Smith said. “She recognizes that those might not be the deepest relationships, but they serve a purpose in a teen’s life, and we couldn’t really replicate that.”

Both Smith and Brown can attest that any parent can homeschool their child. “Curious, self-motivated kids thrive, but even reluctant learners can do well if parents have patience and stick with it,” Brown said. “The bigger factor is the family, whether they can give the time, patience and consistency homeschooling requires.”

They shared some tips to follow if you are thinking about homeschooling your kids:

When Brown started homeschooling her son, she was trying to mimic the structure of a traditional classroom with hourlong lessons with start and end times. She quickly realized that the structure was not working for them and noticed how much more her son was engaged when she found the right routine that worked for him.

“My biggest tip is not to be afraid to throw out the ‘school model’ and find what works for your family,” she said. “Some of our best learning happened on the sofa reading together, in the kitchen baking, or out at a museum on a Tuesday morning.”

As mentioned before, each state has its own guidelines surrounding homeschooling, requiring students to complete assessments, study specific subjects and meet certain requirements. The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) is a great resource for finding out your state’s law.

A significant downside of homeschooling is the excessive togetherness. When Smith’s daughter was beginning to resist her mom’s instructions, Smith resorted to outsourcing certain lessons that helped the two of them give each other the space they needed.

Since the pandemic, several micro schools and online learning platforms have become available to help students complete their schooling at home. One of them is Smith’s own OnlineG3.com, where students like her daughter learn collaboratively with peers in real time. “It didn’t feel like ‘mom school’ that way,” said Smith.

While homeschooled kids are missing out on making friends inside a classroom, it’s important to incorporate socialization in their daily lives. Smith’s daughter frequently participated in a local youth theater program, performed with a competition dance team and even attended field trips with peers. As she entered high school, she even attended prom as a guest.

And just because your kids are homeschooled now doesn’t mean they can never go back to regular school. At 13, Brown and her family moved from Florida to Alabama, and her son wanted to attend a traditional high school realizing he’d be missing out on events like football games, prom and the entire high school experience. It was an adjustment as he was the “new kid in every way.”

“We didn’t know anyone here, so we thought it might be a good time socially as well,” Brown said, “but that part was harder than expected.”

Brown’s son also had to adjust to an entirely new routine, one with juggling assignments between several teachers, participating in group projects and completing timed tests. While there was a learning curve, Brown said his independence from homeschooling helped him adjust quickly to high school.

Even though he’s in high school, Brown’s son doesn’t regret his homeschooling experience. “He loved it through elementary and middle school; it gave him confidence and space to really explore what he cared about.”