More Manitoba parents choosing to homeschool kids

For JenniferdeGrootand her boysZavi, 9, andMatoli,6, there is no back-to-school, because they never left and they never started.

"I wasn't ready to pass [their education] off to a stranger and have [my kids] spend most of their waking hours with people that I didn't know," saiddeGroot.

DeGroot'sfamily may be part of a rising trend. Provincial figures suggest more and more parents are choosing to keep their kids out of the public school system and homeschool them instead.

Over the past 10years, thenumber ofchildrenschooled at home has nearlytripled in Manitoba, going from 1,133 in the 2005-06 school yearto 3,278 last year, according to the province's statistics.A CBC analysis of the records also shows that between 2000 and 2008, the number of homeschooled children remained relatively stable, until2009 when the numbers began to increasesharply, a trend that has been especially pronounced inrural areas.

DeGroot says that for those who aren't familiar with homeschooling, the practice can be seen as isolating and restrictive. For her family, the opposite is true.

"I think that there's a crowd of people where homeschooling is a way of protecting their children from the world, and for us it's a way of expanding the world actually," said deGroot.

DeGrootconsiders herself part of the "unschoolingmovement." She does not follow school curricula,and there are noset study hours. Instead, the boys ask questions as they occur to them whiletheyparticipate in all areas of life on their quiet homestead south ofMorden.

"Primarily, we just live our lives. We read lots of books, we make meals, we take care of our animals, we go to visit people, we go on outings, we go to swimming lessons, we go to plays," saiddeGroot."We just believe that learning is so much broader than what is understood by school," she said.

Many rural families struggle with a lack of options when it comes to choosing a school, she acknowledged. School days often come with long bus rides and leave little time for extracurricular activities. DeGroot says homeschooling allows her more time with her kids and the freedom to decide their schedule.

"I don't get just an hour before bed where we have to do this and this, and homework, and get ready for the next day. I get the whole day and there's all kinds of really joyous moments throughout the day," she said.

Son, 6 'doesn't love to sit'

StaceyLassnig'ssonEmiliowas supposed to begin Grade 1this fall.Lassnigsays getting the six-year-old through half-days of kindergarten wasa struggle, and had her family looking foralternatives.

"He came home from school exhausted everyday. He doesn't love to sit. He doesn't love to be inside," saidLassnig.

Lassnigsays herson's behaviour changed dramatically after coming home from school. He'd begrumpy and hard to settle down. Even the idea of a field trip could not getEmilioexcited for school.

"He dreaded it. He was terrified that he had to be gone for the whole day. And when he got home he cried for an hour in my lap because he didn't want to be gone for the whole day," saidLassnig.

That's when she and her husbanddecided to look for alternatives.Lassnig'shusband,Florian,is from Austria, where different types of schools offeringless rigid structureare available.

TheLassnigssaythat if other options were available, they may have chosen them overhomeschooling.

"There's lots of options in bigger cities, it's just that we live in a small community," saidLassnig, who also lives nearMorden.

"If we wanted to give him a Montessori-style schooling, we would have to do it at home because there isn't one here," she said.

Lassnigsaysthe decision tohomeschoolwas not well received by the rest of her family, but she's going to take it year-by-year and see how it goes.

"When I looked athomeschoolingI was a little bit nervous about how it would be perceived," she said, adding that the assumption is that parents are homeschooling for religious reasons.

"A lot of the stigma [abouthomeschooling] comes from the religious affiliation," she said, but that's not the case for her family.

"We both don't have a religious practice of any kind. It's not because of a belief that we want to avoid or to promote," saidLassnig. It's because of the freedom that it affords, she said.

Network of otherhomeschoolfamilies growing

While just below twoper cent of children in Manitoba are homeschooled, numbers in some communities are much higher.

The school districts of Garden Valley, Borderland, Pine Creek, Evergreen, andHanover,are showing much higher than average enrolment in homeschool.

Some of these school districts have made headlines in recent years after some parents andreligious groupsopposedthe formation of gay-straight alliances in schools, as well as including LGBTQissues in sexual education curriculums.

• Steinbach teen determined to start gay-straight alliance
• Steinbach student gets gay-straight alliance victory
• Hanover School Division stands behind policy prohibiting LGBTQ issues in classroom

IanMogilevsky, president of the Manitoba Association of Christian Home Schools, saysthat media attention aroundLGBTQissues in areas likeSteinbachandAltonain recent years has most likely played a role in some parents' decision tohomeschool, but doesn't think all families can be painted with the same brush.

"Seventeen years ago when [my family] started homeschooling it was almost considered radical, but nowadays it really is mainstream and is an option that most parents are considering," said Mogilevsky.

Mogilevsky says better access to resources online and a larger network of other homeschool families for parents to draw support from are among the reasons for the increase in numbers.

"Homeschooling really provides a unique situation where each child can have their learning tailored to their specific learning style," he said.

"In situations where it can be accommodated, parents are choosing homeschooling for the positive reasons, rather than avoiding the negative ones," he said.

"Parents want to instill strong values and morals and ethics, in terms of right and wrong, and I think homeschooling really provides parents with the best opportunity to do that," he said.

He also says that just because homeschooled kids are kept out of schools that doesn't mean they are kept away from other children.

"There's a misconception...that somehow homeschooling children are basically isolated and don't interact with other children and end up being awkward, inept adults. That's absolutely not true," he said.

Mogilevsky says homeschooled kids are often more socialized than public school kids because they are exposed to people of all ages, not just their own peers.

Families who teachtheir ownchildren at home participate in a variety of activities together, from sportsto field trips and group activities. He says post-secondary institutions are also starting to see the benefits of homeschooling and are actively recruiting those students.

"As the numbers of homeschoolers grow, and move into post-secondary, they see them being successful in that area."

A CBC analysis of figures provided by the province show these school divisions with highest proportion of homeschooled childrenin2015/16

• Garden Valley 12.53%
• Border Land 10.95%
• Pine Creek 8.88%
• Evergreen 7.98%
• Hanover 7.22%

School divisions with lowest proportion of homeschooled children in2015/16

• Winnipeg 0.54%
• Frontier 0.31%
• Seven Oaks 0.28%
• Kelsey 0.25%
• Flin Flon 0.20%