Homeschooling was not a mainstream option for many families in the US prior to the pandemic. However, since 2020, the numbers have continued to steadily climb and the homeschooling population has become increasingly diverse. Elan Page, founder of Homeschool Our Way, sat down with Kerry McDonald on the LiberatED podcast to chat about her work supporting the increasing number of homeschoolers of color looking for support.
Elan stated that homeschooling never really seemed like an option for her family, admittedly because there was an immense lack of representation amongst families of color. “I saw homeschool families, they just never looked like my own, so I never for whatever reason saw homeschooling as necessarily an option once I had children,” she said. That all changed in 2020.
The pandemic was tragic, Elan stated, “but it also led to something beautiful for many families.” This spontaneous order catalyzed by the pandemic has dramatically increased the number of families deciding to homeschool their children. Suddenly, more and more families became aware of the benefits of unconventional education and the apparent gaps in public educational options (and even in traditional private ones, in Elan’s case), and decided to make the switch.
A new paper by Johns Hopkins University professor Angela Watson and Matthew Lee of Kennesaw State University confirms that the rising number of homeschoolers includes an influx of families of color. “While Black and Hispanic homeschoolers are underrepresented, and White homeschoolers are overrepresented, the homeschooling population looks essentially like the larger population, and recent evidence points to increasing diversity in these populations,” the researchers wrote.
Like many parents during the pandemic, Elan realized that the pacing for her children’s curriculum was lacking. She noticed during the virtual schooling sessions that her daughter would finish all of her homework and have nothing to do for the remainder of the day. “If this is happening here at home, surely this was probably happening in the school building as well. I just didn’t know,” Elan said. Her family dove into homeschooling that summer, covering subjects that were missed during the school year. She realized she and her family enjoyed it. Her children briefly went back to public school as the pandemic came to a close, but after realizing how much they missed unconventional learning, they returned to homeschooling in 2023 and have never looked back.
Soon after, Elan started her company, Homeschool Our Way, as a way of supporting those Black and Brown homeschooling families on their journey. It started with her simply sharing tips with other families about what had worked while she homeschooled her kids during the pandemic. Suddenly, there was a demand for resources. Soon, she was on social media and hosting a podcast sharing her journey with others. Her podcast is complemented by tools and resources she developed from her own experiences, including a learning style quiz and a getting-started guide for parents interested in homeschooling.
Elan says her resources are centered around supporting moms of color and their specific needs and perspectives. “I saw a statistic that said 86% of Black moms are working moms,” Elan said. “My podcast for a number of reasons speaks about things from the lens of moms of color. Things that we experience.”
Elan’s company is still going strong supporting families where they need it most as they take on their homeschooling journey. As the number of Black and Brown homeschooling families continues to increase, there will be a need for increased representation in homeschooling resources, conferences, and even policy to ensure that every community of homeschoolers are heard, empowered, and thriving. Elan’s work is a perfect example of what that looks like.
