Schools have reopened, but most homeschooled students haven’t returned to class, reports Carolyn Thompson for Associated Press. “Homeschooling numbers this year dipped from last year’s all-time high,” but remain well above pre-pandemic levels.

In 18 states that reported data, “the number of homeschooling students increased by 63% in the 2020-2021 school year, then fell by only 17% in the 2021-2022 school year,” she writes.

Before the pandemic, about 3.3 percent of students were homeschooled, according to Census data. That’s doubled for most groups and quintupled for Black families, according to U.S. Census surveys.

Raleigh, North Carolina, mother Laine Bradley decided to homeschool her 7-, 10- and 11-year-old children when she saw the inadequacies of remote schooling.

Bradley, who works in financial services, converted her dining room into a classroom and rearranged her work schedule to take over her children’s education, adding lessons on financial literacy, Black history and Caribbean history important to her heritage.

She and her husband “plan to continue homeschooling for as long as their children want it,” writes Thompson. Bradley has created an online community called Black Moms Do Homeschool to share resources and experiences.