Local mom weighs in on the benefits of homeschooling

COLUMBUS, GA (WTVM) - The number of children who are homeschooled nationwide increased by 75 percent last year and the trend is noticeable in our area too.

With some of our area's public schools closing this year, more parents are now considering the option of homeschooling. We spoke with a local mother who homeschooled all eight of her children and she says homeschooling can offer great opportunities.

"They have the opportunity to do lots of things and I think homeschooling offers more opportunity than just the cookie cutter structure public schools have to offer because of the nature of the beast," said Beth Garcia. "Because it's a classroom with 25 kids sitting in it, it's hard to mold something for every child individually but in homeschool you can do that."

Beth says all of her children have maintained excellent grades. One of her daughters attained a degree from Georgia Tech and her son also made a perfect score on the verbal section on the SAT.

Learning without pressure and exploring passion are some of the benefits children can obtain from homeschooling. Beth also said there are about four homeschooling support-groups that parents can join, if they are interested.

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