Homeschooling Around the World: How Different Countries Learn at Home

For much of the twentieth century, homeschooling was a fringe idea — a small, often misunderstood choice made by a handful of families. That is no longer the picture. Home education has grown into one of the most significant shifts in how children learn, and it is no longer confined to any one country.

A movement that grew up fast

In the United States, the change has been dramatic. Before the pandemic, in 2019, roughly 1.5 million American children were homeschooled. By 2024, estimates placed the figure at over 3 million — close to 6 percent of all school-age children. The pandemic effectively doubled the homeschooling population, and while some families returned to traditional schools, the overall trend has held.

The same story is unfolding well beyond the United States. Canada counts roughly 100,000 homeschooled children. In England, the number rose from about 86,000 to 97,000 in a single year. Australia reports around 30,000. In Brazil, an estimated 35,000 students learn at home, with interest reported to be climbing sharply year over year. Across France, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, and elsewhere, researchers describe steady annual growth — commonly in the range of 2 to 8 percent.

Same idea, very different rules

What homeschooling is allowed to look like, however, varies enormously. In the United States it is legal in all 50 states, though requirements differ from one state to the next. Some countries embrace it; others regulate it tightly; a few restrict or effectively prohibit it. The global map of home education is, in other words, a patchwork — shaped by each country's history, culture, and view of the role of school.

What unites families across that map is strikingly consistent: a desire for a curriculum fitted to their own child, flexibility, and in many cases dissatisfaction with the pace or environment of conventional schooling.

What the research says about outcomes

A natural question follows all this growth: how do homeschooled students actually do? The most frequently cited body of research comes from the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI), which synthesizes studies of home-educated learners. Its reviews report that homeschooled students typically score 15 to 25 percentile points above their public-school peers on standardized tests, and that a large majority of peer-reviewed studies on academic achievement find a homeschool advantage.

Those figures deserve a careful reading. Researchers note that families who homeschool are not a random sample — they often bring particular resources, time, and commitment, and that makes clean comparisons difficult. The honest summary is this: there is no evidence that home education holds children back, and a substantial body of research associating it with strong outcomes. What matters most, as with any model, is the quality and consistency of the instruction itself.

The thread that runs through it all

Whatever the country and whatever the rules, successful homeschooling tends to share one feature: it is not improvised. It rests on structure, good materials, and — often — the support of skilled instructors who can strengthen the subjects a parent feels less equipped to teach.

That is the role KingCretot Experience is built to play. Home education is no longer a movement at the margins; it is a serious, worldwide choice. Families who treat it seriously — and reach for support where they need it — give their children the full benefit of it.

Sources & Further Reading

• National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) — research summaries on homeschool demographics and academic outcomes. nheri.org
• National and international homeschooling enrollment estimates, 2019–2024.