The Okuda family is shown during a homeschooling study session at their home Tuesday, July 21, 2020. In the foreground from left: Oliver, 3, Emmett, 7, Malin, 5, Elynn, 12, and Macee, 9. At computers from left: Leah, 14, and Kennedy, 15, and mother Austin Okuda.
Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020 | 2 a.m.
When it’s time for school, Austin Okuda’s seven children aren’t rushing around the house searching for backpacks or scrambling to catch the bus.
Instead, they crowd around the kitchen table or plop down in another room to hit the books — or log onto the computer.
Their mother, Austin, is their teacher and has been homeschooling all of her children since her oldest daughter, Kennedy, 15, was in the fourth grade.
“My life consists of educating and being with my kids all day and I chose that. I want it,” she said.
It’s not always easy. She’s teaching preschool, grade school, middle school and high school — all at the same time.
Kennedy will be a high school junior this year. Daughter Leah, 14, is going to be a freshman, and Elynn, 12, is entering the seventh grade. Macee, 9, will be in fourth grade, Emmett, 7, is going into second grade and Malin, 5, will be in kindergarten. The youngest, 3-year-old Oliver, is a preschooler.
“While I’m helping one kid, another is doing independent work. I’m back and forth between the little kids who can’t take online classes,” their mother said.
Each child has a tailored curriculum, and Okuda helps them with lessons in reading, writing, math and science for about four hours a day.
Okuda teaches the children math until high school, then they take classes online. The older children also have mentors and tutors who are professionals in the subjects they teach.
On top of that, they attend some classes within a group of other homeschooling families and participate in activities such as theater and sports.
“You have just as many opportunities to be social in a homeschool environment, sometimes more, than you would in a public school,” Okuda said.
During a typical day, Okuda’s younger children do their school work at the kitchen table, while the older children tackle their lessons independently in another room.
They start the day with an hour of religious studies. Between 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., Okuda circles around to teach the four youngest children their individualized education plans.
In Nevada, parents who want to homeschool their children must file a notice with the local public school district. An education plan must be submitted with it.
Okuda’s older children don’t have a regular school schedule but a loose routine that includes online classes. “They’re pretty independent,” Okuda said.
About 2 p.m., all children read for an hour. Austin’s 7-year-old son, Emmet, reads to his two younger siblings.
The children study year round with no summers off, but they take breaks at different times during the year.
Leah, 14, said most of her friends are homeschooled, but she has friends who attend public schools, too.
“Our public school friends try to convince us to go to public school a lot,” she said. But, Leah said she likes learning at home because she gets to spend time with her family.
“A lot of people don’t like to hang out with their family, but we do it all the time over here, and we have a lot of fun,” she said.
Okuda’s husband, Cody, a physical therapist, works away from the house during the day, though he helps the children with math at night.
If he happens to be home during the day, things are less organized, his wife said.
“When Dad’s home, the routine goes out the window,” she said, noting it’s not a bad thing. “We don’t wish to live in perfection,” she said.
Austin Okuda said she decided to take her oldest daughter, Kennedy, out of a charter school because she didn’t feel she was getting the proper instruction and encouragement. Kennedy was interested in writing and wasn’t getting enough help, she said.
The other children followed.
The Coalition for Responsible Home Education reports an explosive growth in the number of children being homeschooled, going from 850,000 children in 1999 to 1.7 million in 2016. In Nevada, about 16,000 children were homeschooled in 2016, the most recent year data was available.
More recently, concerns about the coronavirus pandemic have prompted some families to consider homeschooling or other alternatives to public schools.
Austin Okuda doesn’t have a formal background in education or a college degree, although she has taken some college courses, she said.
“I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that you can’t teach if you don’t have a college degree. I feel like I have learned more than the typical college graduate,” she said.
Her children are also thriving in the homeschool environment, she said.
Kennedy, who initially struggled with math, benefited from being able to slow down and learn at her own pace, instead of falling behind in a class with other students.
She now takes advanced math classes and writes “better than most college graduates,” her mother said.
“When you put 30 kids in the classroom, and everybody has to learn the same way at the same pace, it’s just not healthy for those kids,” she said.
