Like most Americans, my view of homeschooling was framed through the lens of abnormality. My own public-school education was my only frame of reference. Although my own experience wasn't great, it was familiar. It was the system I knew. As a college professor, I regularly saw the academic gaps my students carried with them from their public-school education. Yet even then, I struggled to imagine an alternative. My instinct was always to fix the existing system, not step outside of it.
"I'm just not a judgmental person like that, so I try not to pay attention to it," she said. "But I think that no one knows unless they're in my shoes what I'm dealing with and how we have to manage certain things from the outside world or even in our life that we have to go through together." She tried to clear up how some may view her parenting style.
Almost 90% of the state's school districts recorded enrollment declines from 2013-14 to 2023-24, as total K-12 enrollment dropped from roughly 3.1 million to 2.8 million students, according to the latest Topics in Demography (TiDbit) research brief released by the Cornell Program on Applied Demographics , part of the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy. The decade also saw shifts in how New York youth are being educated, reflecting growth in school choice and impacts from the pandemic, researchers said.
I always felt like there were two divergent paths for me to follow. One led to New York City, where I would live my best Carrie Bradshaw life, fiercely independent. The other led to a partner I really trusted, and a large family to structure my life around. Soon after I met my husband, Demario Davis, I realized I was moving along the second path.
Parenting approaches like co-sleeping and continued breastfeeding were part of my identity. I praised effort instead of results and consciously provided my children opportunities that emphasized exploration. I believed these core values would foster the genius minds I dreamed of. I imagined my kids learning experientially through art and travel. I studied the Waldorf and Montessori education models and threw myself into promoting whole-child learning.
Nathan Trevallion, a former chef from Bristol, and his wife, Catherine Birmingham, a former horse-riding teacher from Melbourne, bought a dilapidated property in a wooded area in Palmoli, in the central Italian region of Abruzzo, in 2021. The aim was to raise their three children Utopia Rose, 8, and six-year-old twins Galorian and Bluebell as close to nature as possible. They grew their own food, generated electricity via solar power and extracted their water from a well.
From sunup to sundown, every day was a rush, and dinner was always late as we scrambled with the kids to get homework done. Our mornings started at 5:30 a.m. Waking our four children up - now 6, 9, 11, and 14 - an hour before the sun rose was becoming a daunting task. It felt like we were becoming robots.
During elementary school, I often resisted being homeschooled or attending a private evangelical Christian school, so the summer before seventh grade, I begged my parents to let me return to public school. They agreed, but that transition was also difficult. I felt like a fish out of water, completely naive and innocent in terms of pop culture and developmental knowledge. In other words, no matter which form of schooling I endured, there were real challenges: physical, mental, and emotional.
As a child, the Columbine school shooting impacted my elementary school experience and beyond. My naivete about safety was instantly shattered. It was the first time I realized that danger could come into a classroom at any moment. Years passed, and I became a mom. As my daughter approached school age, school rules changed, active shooter drills became the norm, and every parent dreaded the emergency call that their child's school was on lockdown. I didn't want to live in that daily state of worry.
Authorities are asking the public for help locating a 9-year-old girl who disappeared last year in Santa Barbara County. Melodee Buzzard was reported missing on Tuesday after a school administrator realized she'd been absent for a "prolonged" amount of time, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office said in a news release. Melodee is homeschooled, and no one has checked on her since October 2024, ABC News reported.
The first year we lived in the US, we were in a gated community with other young families. Everything felt new and exciting - an adventure - just what we wanted. We arrived in the summer, and I remember loving the sun, constantly being at the pool, and spending endless hours with Freddie and the other young families in the neighborhood.
Former NFL star Shaun Alexander and his wife, Valerie, are adding another player to their team. The Seattle Seahawks' all-time leading rusher announced on the " Up & Adams Show" with host Kay Adams on Sept. 24 that Valerie is pregnant with the couple's 14th child. "We're just now starting to tell people, but No. 14 is in the belly," Alexander said. "We're just now starting to tell everybody."
One of the biggest shifts has been a growing demand for unique experiences. By taking advantage of flexible work opportunities, more Americans are embracing the appeal of a digital nomad lifestyle. What was once seen as an option mainly for solo travelers and young couples is now growing among a new demographic: families. Recent studies show that digital nomad families have increased in 2025, with about 15% of digital nomads now traveling with their children.
Here's the truth: I don't prioritize friendship in this season. Not because I don't like you. Not because you're not amazing, but because my time is my most expensive currency. And if I give you any of it, you're a big freaking deal.
